Somewhere along the way, the Mac OS X 10.4 Script Editor stopped being able to open scripts compiled using JavaScript OSA. You can compile and save scripts, but when you try and open then you’ll see this error alert:
It turns out that the 10.4 Script Editor can only open scripts saved using the “default” scripting system. The “default” scripting system is the one that is assigned to new documents – generally AppleScript.
In order to open JavaScript OSA scripts, you have to change the “default” scripting system to JavaScript OSA. The problem then is that you won’t be able to open your AppleScript scripts – sigh.
NOTE: this problem also effects Script Debugger’s AppleScript Debugging OSA component. If, for some reason, you need to open scripts saved from Script Debugger with Debugging enabled in the Script Editor, you’ll have to use the same trick.
Apple is aware of the issue and working on a fix. However, its not clear when a fix will be released.
Your article is very informative and helped me further.
Thanks, David
thanks for the helpful article. How do I get to the box you pictured where I can select javascript/applescript debugger/applescript?
The panel shown is the Script Editor’s Preferences panel. You can summon it using the Script Editor > Preferences menu item.