The following tables list the features offered in Script Debugger 8, the free Script Debugger 8 Lite, and by the previous versions of Script Debugger.
Editing
Feature |
8.0 |
8.0
Lite |
7.0 |
6.0 |
Text Themes |
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Tabbed document windows |
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macOS native tabbed window |
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Multiple windows on the same script |
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Restore open scripts on launch |
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Script templates |
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Code folding |
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Split-pane editing |
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Regular Expression find and replace |
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Auto-Indentation |
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Auto-pairing of delimiters ({[« »]}) |
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Auto-close AppleScript blocks |
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Auto-generate tell blocks (by dragging applications from dictionary or using Paste Tell command) |
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Generate tell blocks using application IDs |
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Add library use statement when pasting library commands |
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Auto-generate object specifiers (by dragging from explorers or using the Paste Tell command) |
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Auto-generate variable references (by dragging from Variables tab) |
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Auto-generate file references (by dragging from the Finder) |
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Option-click to lookup ASObjC references in Dash |
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AppleScript block and delimiter balancing |
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AppleScript block highlighting (when mouse hovers in gutter) |
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Line number display |
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Line wrapping |
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Invisible and control character display |
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Escape whitespace characters when compiling |
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Navigation Bar |
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Line Commands |
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Move Up |
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Move Down |
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Insert Line Before |
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Insert Line After |
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Cut Lines |
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Copy Lines |
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Delete Lines |
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Duplicate Lines |
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Table of contents menu |
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Text substitution (with clipping placeholder support) |
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Tell block builder |
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Open Quickly (discontiguous Spotlight script searches) |
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Open Dictionary |
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Applications |
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‘use’d script libraries |
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Manifest |
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Status bar |
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Versions support |
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External editing of scripts (using BBEdit or another ODBEditorSuite compatible editor) |
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Code completion of AppleScriptObjC terminology |
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AppleScriptObjC refactoring |
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Shift/Indent lines |
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Entab and Detab |
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Implicit parent script |
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Implicit tell target |
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Dropped file handling |
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Create tell block for dropped application |
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Paste file reference |
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Name |
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Alias |
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Posix path |
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«class furl» path |
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HFS path |
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Finder file reference |
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Invoke on open handler |
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Clippings menu and clippings inspector |
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Show user clippings at top of clippings menu |
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Hide system clippings |
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Clipping placeholder support |
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Clippings placeholders |
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Dates, times, usernames, paired and unpaired names |
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Application picker |
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Library picker |
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Enumeration Pickers |
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Custom Pickers |
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ASObjC placeholders |
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Tell Context inspector |
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Dictionary inspector |
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Recording |
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AppleScript recording |
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Recording explorer actions |
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Files
Feature |
8.0 |
8.0
Lite |
7.0 |
6.0 |
Open and save all AppleScript file formats |
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Browse past document versions |
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View/Restore past versions |
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Execute past versions without restoring |
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Debug past versions without restoring |
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Code Signing |
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Developer ID signing on save |
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Developer ID signing on export |
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Ad hoc deep signing on save (Big Sur) |
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Ad hoc deep signing on export (Big Sur) |
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Hardened runtime signing/notarization integration on export with SD Notary |
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Always-on code signing on save |
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Code signing on export Run-Only |
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Bundle editing |
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Bundle attributes (bundleID, copyright, version, build number) |
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Auto-increment build number on save |
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Auto-increment build number on export |
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Minimum OS version |
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Application Transport Security control |
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Create background only applets |
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Droplet file filtering by Uniform Type Identifiers |
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Droplet file filtering by filename extensions |
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Bundle contents (script libraries, resources, etc.) |
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Auto-Save and recovery |
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Recover damaged scripts |
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Export Run-Only |
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One-click direct export |
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Convert bundled scripts to Run-Only |
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Embed used libraries |
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Code signing |
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Create enhanced applets and droplets |
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Prevent dependant application launches when opening scripts |
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User created script templates |
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Execution
Feature |
8.0 |
8.0
Lite |
7.0 |
6.0 |
Run script and see result |
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Debugging |
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Single step execution |
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Tracing |
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Breakpoints |
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Break on AppleScript exceptions |
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Expressions |
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Code coverage |
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Call stack displaying associated local variables |
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Floating mini debugger window |
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External debugging (debug scripts running within other applications) |
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Script timer |
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Display properties and global variables (when script finishes) |
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Display properties and global variables (while paused when debugging) |
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Variable deletion (while paused when debugging) |
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Drag & drop manipulation of variable values |
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Drag & drop manipulation of list, records and script objects |
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Event simulation (open, run, idle, quit, Folder Actions, Digital Hub) |
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Implicit tell target |
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Display arbitrary expressions |
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Expression tooltips |
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Leaked resources detection (e.g. unclosed file references) |
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Event logging |
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Always-on event logging |
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Filter by target application |
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Filter by content |
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Event logging window (separate from script window) |
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Event result explorer |
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Show source line for event log entry (when debugging) |
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Dictionary Viewer
Feature |
8.0 |
8.0
Lite |
7.0 |
6.0 |
Dictionary finder |
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Running |
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Recent |
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Favourite |
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Script Libraries |
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Known applications |
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Dictionary searching |
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Cross dictionary searching |
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Launch and quit applications |
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Object model hierarchy display |
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Object model inheritance display |
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Expanded dictionary documentation |
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Explorer outlining of objects |
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AppleScript lists and records |
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“Best” date display |
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“Best” file display with Reveal In Finder and QuickLook |
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“Best” HTML string display |
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“Best” image display |
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“Best” NSColor display |
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AppleScript Objective-C scalar display (NSString, NSDate, NSNumber, etc.) |
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AppleScript Objective-C collection display (NSArray, NSSet, NSDictionary) |
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Exploration of running applications |
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View elements and properties |
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Edit property values |
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Delete object instances |
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Move object instances (Drag & Drop) |
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Duplicate object instances (Drag & Drop) |
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Outliner reloading and scope bar |
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Explorer windows (separate from script window) |
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Building
Feature |
8.0 |
8.0
Lite |
7.0 |
6.0 |
Produce Native Applets for Apple Silicon |
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Codesigning & Notarizing |
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Bundling Preferences |
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Build & Export Settings |
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Direct Export of Run-Only scripts |
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Miscellaneous
Feature |
8.0 |
8.0
Lite |
7.0 |
6.0 |
Respond to applescript:// URLs |
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Act as default editor for .scpt, .scprd and .applescript files |
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Raw Apple Event code display (script, dictionary, outliner, explorer AEPrint view) |
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|
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Native on Apple Silicon |
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Dark Mode support (with text themes) |
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Big Sur Appearance |
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Searchable Preferences |
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Scripting interface |
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Document handling (open, close, save, compile, execute) |
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Document introspection (get variable and handler meta-data) |
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Document view settings |
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Dictionary handling (open, close) |
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Dictionary view settings |
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Themes |
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Keyboard shortcut customization |
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Free maintenance updates |
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