May 01, '12 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: guillaumegete
Launch Automator and create a new Service. Add the Run AppleScript script action, then paste the following code:
on run {input, parameters}
try
set MyText to input as string
set NombreSignes to the number of characters of MyText
set NombreMots to the number of words of MyText
set NombrePara to the number of paragraphs of MyText
set LeResultat to "The selected text contains :" & return & "- " & NombreSignes & " sign(s) ;" & return & "- " & NombreMots & " word(s) ;" & return & "- " & NombrePara & " paragraph(s)."
display dialog LeResultat buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon note
on error errmsg number errnum
display dialog errmsg & " [" & errnum & "]" buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon stop
end try
return input
end run
To use the service, select any text in a text application (this does not work in Word, however), then choose your service in the contextual menu.
You can download a precompiled service here. This has been tested successfully on Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7.
[kirkmc adds: This works as advertised. For some reason, however, when I install the precompiled service, while its name is "Count characters in selection," it displays in the Services menu as "Compteur de signes," which is French for character counter. If you're unfamiliar with using services in OS X, you can see this Macworld article I wrote earlier this year.
We ran a hint using AppleScript to count words and characters back in 2007, which uses a different approach, requiring that you copy text to the clipboard.]
