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I'm running Mathematica on OS X and I want to create an Automator action that converts spreadsheet files. I have written this script:

#!/usr/local/bin/MathematicaScript -script

FORMATS = {"csv", "tsv", "dat", "xls", "xlsx", "odf"};
files = Rest @ $ScriptCommandLine;
data = Import /@ files;
{ext, delete} = 
  DialogInput[
   DialogNotebook @ {
     TextCell["Choose output format:"], 
     PopupMenu[Dynamic[x], FORMATS], 
     Row @ {Checkbox[Dynamic[y]], TextCell["Delete original files"]}, 
     Row @ {CancelButton[], DefaultButton[DialogReturn[{x, y}]]}
   }];
newNames = (FileNameJoin@{DirectoryName[#], FileBaseName[#]} <> "." <> ext)& /@ files;  
MapThread[Export, {newNames, data}];
If[delete, DeleteFile[files]];

When I run it, I get this error message when running DialogInput:

FrontEndObject::notavail: A front end is not available; certain operations require a front end.

Is there any work-around, or should I try a different approach?

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  • 2
    $\begingroup$ You're indeed using a lot of functions that require the FrontEnd. Not sure why you think you could run that without FrontEnd. If you want this kind of interactivity why don't you simply use a notebook? $\endgroup$ Commented May 17, 2014 at 19:35

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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You can solve the issue by wrapping your code with UsingFrontEnd[].

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  • $\begingroup$ I have both the script and the file in my home directory. If I run "./myScript data.csv" in terminal, I get this error "MathLink`Synchronized::noshare: -- Message text not found -- " $\endgroup$ Commented May 18, 2014 at 18:06
  • $\begingroup$ Sry, but it seems a different platform specific problem. When you run UsingFrontEnd[NotebookPut[Notebook[{Cell[Text["Test"]]}]]] in your script without the UsingFrontEnd you get the FrontEndObject error. You don't get any errors with. I do not know about the MathLink problem. $\endgroup$ Commented May 18, 2014 at 19:37

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