AppleWorks 6
This web page last updated 30 August 2009.
AppleWorks 6 is productivity software that includes modules for word processing, spreadsheet, database, drawing, painting and presentation. It's available for Mac OS 8.1 thru to Mac OS X. A Windows version is also available from Apple's Education Store.
This web page is an overview of the resources available to AppleWorks 6 users, including frequently asked questions, web sites, software, email groups and forums, books, and AppleScript.
Web sites
Most of these web sites provide general information to help you use and troubleshoot AppleWorks. Cynthia O'Hora's Macintosh Know How web site contains many tips and tutorials for AppleWorks. You can also talk to a real person about AppleWorks by visiting the AppleWorks Discussions site, or the AppleWorks Users Group forum. There are a number of unrecognised AppleWorks Geniuses that hang out in both places just to help others.
Software
These are various programs that are either designed specifically for AppleWorks 6, or which other AppleWorks users have found helpful.
- AFP Client Update, Apple Computer
- AppleWorks Accelerator, Seriously Lazy Software
- Enhancement Pack, T&B
- Sidekick for AppleWorks 6, dmg software
- WebMerge, Fourth World
Email groups and forums
Books
There are many books available for AppleWorks 6. A reasonably complete list can be found at Amazon. But don't forget to try the in-built AppleWorks Help available from the Help menu. It's well set out and comes with a table of contents, an index, and is searchable. My favourite book is the AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual.AppleScript
AppleWorks has broad support for AppleScript, though it's not perfect. Here's some web pages to get you going, and books by Danny Goodman and Matt Neuberg that I've found to be excellent resources.
- AppleScript (Apple Developer Connection)
- AppleScript (macosxautomation.com)
- AppleScript books from apress
- Matt Neuberg's AppleScript: The Definitive Guide
- Tutorial for AppleScript using AppleWorks
Frequently asked questions
Questions
- What is the latest version of AppleWorks and where can I get an Updater?
- Where is AppleWorks? I've just installed Mac OS X!
- Why does the spinning beachball cursor appear?
- Why isn't AppleWorks working correctly? What can I do?
- How do I import Address Book contacts into an AppleWorks database?
- How do I export addresses from an AppleWorks database into Address Book?
- Why are AppleWorks' recent items not sorted?
- How do I make new documents that use my favourite fonts and settings?
- Where are the Macros and the Publish & Subscribe features in AppleWorks 6? I'm using Mac OS X.
- Why does the font change to Helvetica when I paste text into a document?
- Does Appleworks have a future?
Answers
Q: What is the latest version of AppleWorks and where can I get the Updater?
A: The latest version is 6.2.9. It is available from an Apple Support web page.
Q: Where is AppleWorks? I've just installed Mac OS X!
A: If you can't find AppleWorks after installing Mac OS X then AppleWorks has been deleted. AppleWorks isn't part of Mac OS X. So when you erased your hard drive to install Mac OS X you also erased AppleWorks. The good news is that you can reinstall AppleWorks from the discs that came with your Mac, from your AppleWorks 6 disc (if purchased). To learn how to restore software from a disc please read How to restore your Apple software.
Q: Why does the spinning beachball cursor appear?
A: This is Mac OS X's way of telling the user that an application is busy doing something. If AppleWorks stays busy for too long it almost always means it has too many recent items and is having trouble processing them. The solution is to delete the recent items. Here's how.
You can either quit AppleWorks and use Sidekick to clear all recent items, or read on to learn how to do this manually.
- Quit AppleWorks.
- Locate the Recent Items and delete the aliases inside it.
If you're using Mac OS X, the Recent Items folder can be found here:
Macintosh HD/Users/YourName/Documents/AppleWorks User Data/Starting Points/Recent Items.
If you're using Mac OS 8 or 9, you can find the Recent Items folder at:
Macintosh HD/Documents/AppleWorks User Data/Starting Points/Recent Items. - You're done!
Q: Why isn't AppleWorks working correctly? What can I do?
A: Apple provide excellent articles to help you troubleshoot problems with your Mac: Isolating issues in Mac OS X and Mac OS X: How to troubleshoot a software issue. But if it's only AppleWorks that is misbehaving then deleting its preferences often fixes the problem. The simplest way to delete its preferences is to use the Reset AppleWorks feature of my program called Sidekick for AppleWorks 6.
Q: How do I import Address Book contacts into an AppleWorks database?
A: Address Book saves people's details in the standard vCard format. AppleWorks cannot import vCard files, but it can import ASCII Text files. So we need to convert our addresses from a vCard format to an ASCII Text format. NB An ASCII Text file is really a tab separated values (.tsv) file. Web sites like VersionTracker and MacUpdate offer freeware and shareware programs that convert vCard files to a TSV format. Just search at these sites using the phrase “Address Book”.
Q: How do I export addresses from an AppleWorks database into Address Book?
A: Save your AppleWorks database as an ASCII Text file, choose the File > Import > Text file... menu item, select the ASCII Text file you created earlier, and then match the database fields to Address Book fields to import them. See the Address Book Help article titled “Importing contacts into Address Book” for more info. NB This has only been tested with Address Book in Mac OS X 10.4.
Q: Why are AppleWorks' recent items not sorted?
A: AppleWorks 6 displays your recent documents in two places: 1) the File > Open Recent menu item, and 2) the Recent Items tab of the Starting Points window. Both the Open Recent menu item and the Recent Items tab list documents in alphabetical order, rather than in the order in which they were last saved. This does not seem to be an AppleWorks bug as it appears Apple intentionally designed the feature to work this way.
A workaround for this issue is to drag the Macintosh HD/Users/YourName/Documents/AppleWorks User Data/Starting Points/Recent Items folder to the Dock so you can quickly open the folder. Then set the folder to use List View with the contents sorted by 'Date Modified'. Another option is to use my shareware program Sidekick as it displays recent items sorted by the date they were last modified.
Q: How do I make new documents that use my favourite fonts and settings?
A: The inbuilt AppleWorks Help explains how to create default templates containing your own text, images and other settings to be used for new documents. Please start AppleWorks, choose the Help > AppleWorks Help menu item, and search for an article titled “Setting up default templates (Options documents) for specific document types”. NB A default template for new documents is not the same as the AppleWorks Stationery feature. The difference is that a default template applies to every new document created from the File > New menu item. But a stationery document must be chosen from the Starting Points window to create a new document.
Q: Where are the Macros and the Publish & Subscribe features in AppleWorks 6? I'm using Mac OS X.
A: These features were removed from the Mac OS X version of AppleWorks 6. Originally, Mac OS X 10.1 did not provide a way for any program's macros to work. And Mac OS X does not support the Publish & Subscribe feature found in Mac OS 9. If you wish to use either of these features you must use AppleWorks in Classic. The simplest way to do this is to use my shareware program Sidekick as you only need to select its "Classic AppleWorks 6" menu command.
Q: Why does the font change to Helvetica when I paste text into a document?
A: Text copied and pasted into a document may change its font to Helvetica, regardless of the default font. This known amongst AppleWorks users as the "Helvetica Bug". It's has been an issue in AppleWorks 5 as well as version 6. Two solutions are provided below; one for your existing documents and another solution for new documents you create.
Solution for an existing document
- With a document open, choose the Format > Show Styles menu.
- Open the following item in the Styles window: Available Styles > Default > Text Attributes.
- Text Attributes should state that the Text Font is Helvetica.
- Highlight the Text Font and then click the Edit button within the Styles window.
- Move the mouse cursor to the Text > Font in the toolbar menu and select your preferred font. This updates the Text Attributes in the Styles window.
- Click the Done within the Styles window.
In future when you paste text, it should appear in the chosen font. The topic "Editing styles in the Styles window" in AppleWorks Help describes this procedure in detail.
Solution for new documents
Each document has its own style sheet. So even if you change the Text Attributes in a particular document, it's only fixed for that document. The solution is to make a default WP (word processing) template with your chosen font saved as the default. The template must be saved with the name of "AppleWorks WP Options" and in the Templates folder. Now when you open a new WP document, you'll avoid the font defaulting to Helvetica. The topic Setting up default templates (Options documents) for specific document types in AppleWorks Help describes this procedure in detail.
Q: Does Appleworks have a future?
AppleWorks has a limited future. Apple stopped selling AppleWorks from 15 August 2008. Apple have built the successor to AppleWorks - iWork. iWork was originally released on 11 January 2005 at the annual MacWorld Expo. The current version is iWork '09 which includes a word processor (Pages), spreadsheet (Numbers) and presentation program (Keynote). It does not include a database, drawing or painting program as AppleWorks did.