Error Numbers and Error Messages

This appendix describes error numbers and error messages provided by AppleScript and macOS.

AppleScript Errors

An AppleScript error is an error that occurs when AppleScript processes script statements. Nearly all of these are of interest to users. For errors returned by an application, see the documentation for that application.

Table B-1  AppleScript errors

Error number

Error message

-2700

Unknown error.

-2701

Can’t divide <number> by zero.

-2702

The result of a numeric operation was too large.

-2703

<reference> can't be launched because it is not an application.

-2704

<reference> isn't scriptable.

-2705

The application has a corrupted dictionary.

-2706

Stack overflow.

-2707

Internal table overflow.

-2708

Attempt to create a value larger than the allowable size.

-2709

Can't get the event dictionary.

-2720

Can't both consider and ignore <attribute>.

-2721

Can't perform operation on text longer than 32K bytes.

-2729

Message size too large for the 7.0 Finder.

-2740

A <language element> can't go after this <language element>.

-2741

Expected <language element> but found <language element>.

-2750

The <name> parameter is specified more than once.

-2751

The <name> property is specified more than once.

-2752

The <name> handler is specified more than once.

-2753

The variable <name> is not defined.

-2754

Can't declare <name> as both a local and global variable.

-2755

Exit statement was not in a repeat loop.

-2760

Tell statements are nested too deeply.

-2761

<name> is illegal as a formal parameter.

-2762

<name> is not a parameter name for the event <event>.

-2763

No result was returned for some argument of this expression.

Operating System Errors

An operating system error is an error that occurs when AppleScript or an application requests services from the Mac OS. They are rare, and often there is nothing you can do about them in a script, other than report them. A few, such as "User canceled", make sense for scripts to handle—as shown, for an example, in the Examples section for the display dialog command.

Table B-2  Mac OS errors

Error number

Error message

0

No error.

-34

Disk <name> full.

-35

Disk <name> wasn’t found.

-37

Bad name for file

-38

File <name> wasn’t open.

-39

End of file error.

-42

Too many files open.

-43

File <name> wasn’t found.

-44

Disk <name> is write protected.

-45

File <name> is locked.

-46

Disk <name> is locked.

-47

File <name> is busy.

-48

Duplicate file name.

-49

File <name> is already open.

-50

Parameter error.

-51

File reference number error.

-61

File not open with write permission.

-108

Out of memory.

-120

Folder <name> wasn’t found.

-124

Disk <name> is disconnected.

-128

User cancelled.

-192

A resource wasn’t found.

-600

Application isn’t running

-601

Not enough room to launch application with special requirements.

-602

Application is not 32-bit clean.

-605

More memory needed than is specified in the size resource.

-606

Application is background-only.

-607

Buffer is too small.

-608

No outstanding high-level event.

-609

Connection is invalid.

-904

Not enough system memory to connect to remote application.

-905

Remote access is not allowed.

-906

<name> isn’t running or program linking isn’t enabled.

-915

Can’t find remote machine.

-30720

Invalid date and time <date string>.

Apple Event Errors

An Apple event error may occur when an app attempts to process an event sent by a script or a script attempts to process the reply.

Table B-3  Apple Event Manager errors

Error number

Error message

-1700

Bad parameter data was detected or there was a failure while performing a coercion.

-1701

An Apple event description was not found.

-1702

Corrupt data was detected.

-1703

The wrong data type was detected.

-1704

An invalid Apple event description was detected.

-1705

The specified list item doesn’t exist.

-1706

A newer version of Apple Event Manager is required to perform this operation.

-1707

The event isn’t an Apple event.

-1708

The script doesn’t understand the <message> message. The event was not handled.

-1709

An invalid reply parameter was received by AEResetTimer.

-1710

An invalid sending mode (something other than NoReply, WaitReply, or QueueReply) was detected or interaction level is unknown.

-1711

The user canceled while waiting for an event reply.

-1712

The Apple event has timed out.

-1713

User interaction is not allowed.

-1714

There is no special function for this keyword.

-1715

A required parameter is missing.

-1716

The target address type of an Apple event is unknown.

-1717

Unable to find a matching event or coercion handler.

-1718

Unable to access the contents of an event reply because the reply hasn’t been received yet.

-1719

The specified index is invalid or out of range.

-1720

The specified range is invalid, such as 3rd to 2nd or 1st to all.

-1721

The wrong number of arguments was detected.

-1723

The accessor was not found.

-1725

There is no such Boolean operator.

-1726

An invalid comparison was made or an invalid logical descriptor was detected.

-1727

AEResolve was given a non-object parameter.

-1728

The referenced object doesn’t exist. This is a run-time resolution error, such as when attempting to reference a third object when only two objects exist.

-1729

An object counting procedure returned a negative value.

-1730

Attempted to pass an empty list to an accessor.

-1731

An unknown type of object was detected.

-10000

The Apple event handler failed.

-10001

A type mismatch has occurred.

-10002

Invalid key form was detected.

-10003

The specified object cannot be modified.

-10004

A privilege error has occurred.

-10005

The read operation was denied.

-10006

The write operation was denied.

-10007

The object index is too large.

-10008

The specified object is not an element.

-10009

Unable to provide the requested type.

-10010

The Apple event handler doesn’t support the specified class.

-10011

The event is not part of the current transaction.

-10012

There is no such transaction.

-10013

Nothing is selected by the user.

-10014

The Apple event handler only handles single objects.

-10015

The previous action can’t be undone.

-10016

The Apple event handler does not handle remote events.

-10023

The specified constant value is invalid for this property.

-10024

The specified class can’t be an element of the specified container, such as when attempting to make or duplicate an object.

-10025

An invalid combination of properties was provided, such as for the set, make, or duplicate command.

Open Scripting Architecture Errors

An Open Scripting Architecture error may occur when the scripting system itself encounters an error.

Table B-4  Open Scripting Architecture errors

Error number

Error message

-1750

A scripting component error has occurred.

-1751

An invalid script ID was detected.

-1752

The script isn’t a supported type.

-1753

A script error has occurred.

-1754

A bad selector was detected.

-1756

The source is not available.

-1757

There is no matching dialect.

-1758

The data format is obsolete.

-1759

The data format is too new.

-1761

There is a component mismatch—parameters are from two different components.

-1762

Unable to connect to the scripting system matching the specified ID.

-1763

Unable to store memory pointers in a saved script.