AppleScript: Set Display Brightness

Apple Thunderbolt DisplayI’ve been using AppleScript for years now, but I’ve never had the opportunity to become really good at it. I can do a few simple things, but once I get beyond that, I pretty much have to turn to the web. So it was, this morning: my office has two large windows in it, so the ambient light varies quite a bit from day to day and hour to hour. I finally decided that I’m sick and tired of adjusting the brightness on three different displays—not to mention hoping that they’re all exactly the same—on a regular basis. So as usual, I turned to the web.

After a few less useful hits, I finally came to an old blog post called “Change Monitor Brightness Using AppleScript.” It was exactly what I needed, with three exceptions:
  1. Since it’s four years old, it hasn’t been updated for Mountain Lion.
  2. It isn’t designed to change multiple displays concurrently.
  3. It doesn’t include the ability to specify the brightness level, on the fly.
Having solved all three of these problems, I post my results, in hopes that it may help someone else:

set brightness_level to (text returned of (display dialog "Set Brightness Level" default answer ".875" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button "OK")) as number

tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.displays"
tell application "System Events"
set j to (count windows of process "System Preferences")
repeat with i from 1 to j
set value of slider 1 of group 1 of tab group 1 of window i of process "System Preferences" to brightness_level
end repeat
end tell
quit
end tell

 Enjoy! :-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

*****

Image
It was a couple of months ago that my wife, Anna, decided that we should start purchasing Dean’s ® brand milk over the store brand, because she heard somewhere that, unlike store brands, Dean’s contains no hormones. As luck would have it, about a week later, CVS started having sales on Dean’s milk, pretty much every week—sales so good that it’s now actually less expensive than the store brand—so we started taking advantage. This morning, I was sitting at the table, innocently eating my breakfast, when I noticed that Dean’s has actually begun advertising this rumored fact. You probably can’t read it in the photo, but that golden, rounded fourteen-point star contains the following words: Our Farmers Pledge Not to Use Artificial Growth Hormones* So I’m thinking, “Cool! Anna was right! There’s no artificial growth hormones! How consumer-conscious of them!” But then I notice the asterisk. “Hmmm…” I think, using those exact words. “What could that be for?” I look around the label—it re...
Read more

The Running Shorts Diaries

Image
Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have been privy to a recent status update wherein I lamented my wife’s insistence that, after five months of running perfectly fine in jeans (when it’s cold) or denim shorts (when it’s not), I suddenly need to switch to running shorts. In response to those who asked why I have a problem with it, I submit this entry. First of all, I don’t need them. Admittedly, I buy lots of stuff that I don’t really need , so this is tenuous at best. The difference, however, is that running shorts are something that I not only don’t need, but I don’t even  want . It just seems silly to waste the money. At least they were only six bucks and change. Second, they’re inconvenient. Most running shorts are intensely difficult to tie tightly enough, so they’re constantly falling down. Now, my Facebook friends may be asking, “Wasn’t that your complaint about the shorts you already had?” Well, yes and no. I did have to cut my Tuesday run short, for that very r...
Read more

The Electoral College

Image
Today’s question comes from a high-school friend of mine, Erin Solej. She asks: “Jeff, I remember you commenting on the necessity of the electoral college, but I want to understand it better because I don't see how my vote counts with this system. Of course, I will vote, but can you please post your thoughts on this.” This is seriously a great question, Erin. I hear about this all the time—people don’t understand the Electoral College, and since people tend to fear what they don’t understand, a lot of them want to do away with it. On this point, though, I must respectfully disagree. Knowledge brings familiarity, and frankly, the Electoral College isn’t nearly as bad as some of the more outspoken among us make it out to be. So Erin, thank you so much for your question. Per your request, here are my thoughts: Back when our nation was still in diapers and the Constitution was still being written, there arose a big controversy between the states regarding representation. Some s...
Read more