The General preferences pane collects a number of options having mostly to do with Script Debugger’s startup behavior and how Script Debugger opens and saves script files.

On Startup:

Remember open scripts. If checked, then when Script Debugger quits, all open scripts are remembered and will be reopened automatically the next time Script Debugger starts up.

Remember open dictionaries. If checked, then when Script Debugger quits, all open dictionary windows are remembered and will be reopened automatically the next time Script Debugger starts up.

Create new script if nothing else is open. If checked, then when Script Debugger starts up, if no other window opens, a new script window will be created.

On Reopen:

Create new script if nothing else is open. If checked, then when Script Debugger gets a Reopen event, if no window is open, a new script window will be created. A Reopen event is sent, for example, when you click on Script Debugger’s Dock icon (but not when you press Command-Tab to switch to Script Debugger).

Saving:

Script Debugger is always creator vs. Keep original creator vs. No creator. The question here is, when you open a saved script file in the Finder, what application should open the file.

Keep backup files. If checked, then just before saving an already existing file, a copy of the currently saved version of the file will be saved as Filename~ (the same name as the file, plus a tilde character).

Opening:

Remember Result drawer state. If checked, then when Script Debugger opens a script file, it opens the script’s result drawer if the file was previously saved by Script Debugger with the drawer open. Otherwise, saved script files will be opened with their result drawer hidden.

Warn when applications may be launched. If checked, then when Script Debugger begins opening a script file, it puts up a “Launch Applications?” dialog if continuing to open the file might cause AppleScript to launch an application targeted in the script.

Mac OS Settings:

Respond to applescript:// URLs in web pages. The applescript protocol permits a hyperlink (in a web browser, a PDF document, and so forth) to contain AppleScript code, to be displayed by a script editor application when the link is clicked. (The script editor application does not automatically run the code, as that would be a security violation.) By default, the protocol sends its messages to Apple’s Script Editor, and Apple provides no interface for changing this target. This checkbox is provided so that you can switch the routing of the protocol to Script Debugger.

Default editor for OSA scripts, applets, and droplets. Mac OS X may ignore a file’s creator code and determine from the filename extension what application opens the file. This checkbox lets you associate the relevant filename extensions (.scpt and so on) with Script Debugger. (It also causes Script Debugger to be the editor that responds to the Edit button in an applet’s runtime error dialog.)

In theory, you could accomplish the same thing by choosing Script Debugger in the Default Script Editor popup menu of Apple’s own AppleScript Utility. However, the AppleScript Utility’s behavior may be buggy — for example, it may incorrectly associate all text files with your chosen default script editor — so its use is not recommended.