AppleScript to reveal a Numbers table which is off screen

If I understand correctly what you are trying to do then you can move the focus to your target table with something like this:

tell front document of application "Numbers"
	tell active sheet
		tell table myTargetTableName to set selection range to cell 1
	end tell
end tell

This is similar to your original idea of setting the value of a cell in the table. But instead of setting the value of a cell (which doesn't "scroll") you can set the selection range to a particular cell in the target table.

SG

Use a cell other than cell 1. I don't know what is up with cell A1 that it won't go to the table when you use that cell. If you use cell 1 or "A1", hitting an arrow key will take you there. You can make that part of the script.

I recommend using a body cell. I don't like how it scrolls the table when a header cell is used vs a body cell, some of the rows end up scrolled under the header if the table is too big to entirely fit in the window.

activate application "Numbers"
tell front document of application "Numbers"
	tell active sheet
		tell table "Table 1" to set selection range to cell "B2"
	end tell
end tell

jbh2 wrote:

the sheet is not "scrolling" to display the selected cell in the window.

I wondered whether the size/complexity of my document was somehow preventing scrolling so have tested on a simple doc with just two tables. Just to be clear, the target table is positioned on the sheet so as to be outside the Numbers window.

Perhaps try again? Definitely works here when the target table is out of sight to the right or bottom.

Perhaps you could post the exact script you are using and a screenshot of the tables.

Also, keep in mind that you can always go up to the sheet name "tab" at the top and choose the table you want from the dropdown that appears there. That will take you immediately to the table, without the need for AppleScript.

SG

jbh2 wrote:

it does work but it seems only if the specified cell is a body cell

Much easier than scripting the dropdown menu

I see that cell 1 does not work if the target table has both a Header Row and a Header Column. Otherwise, it works fine on my machine, e.g. when the first column is not a Header Column. Probably a small bug.

The dropdown menu would be tough to script. It does make it easy to navigate to a table without using a script.

SG

> While we are on this subject, I thought "activate" would unminimize a running app that was minimized to the dock

This changed in Catalina (IIRC), at the OS level, not specifically AppleScript.

Pre-Catalina, activating an application (whether via AppleScript, clicking the app icon in the dock, Command-Tab, etc.) would automatically un-miniturize its windows. In Catalina and later, the activation no longer expands miniaturized windows. So it's the OS that changed, not AppleScript, per se.

While we are on this subject, I thought "activate" would unminimize a running app that was minimized to the dock. It doesn't appear to do that now. Am I remembering wrong?