How do I 'commit' a value in a text field with GUI scripting?

Question

I have a script to change the dates of a "Roll" in iPhoto. I can insert the text into the proper field, but it doesn't 'stick'. When I click on another item, the text field returns to the old date. If I click on the text field before I run the script, then a Tab or Return from the keyboard will set the field properly.
Do I need to programatically set the 'focus' on the field first? Without setting the focus first, a "keystroke return" is caught by the top window and either beeps or opens a photo for edit (as one might expect).
tell text field 2
set value to rDate -rDate is a string "4/30/06"
keystroke return
end tell

Answer 1

Thanks for the reply. Backstory: My iPhoto library got corrupted, so I created a new one and dragged in the old Library. The Rolls all have the date the new rolls (directories) were created; all the same in this case. Sorting the rolls by date is thus nonsensical. The AppleScript for iPhoto doesn't handle what I want to accomplish, but the UI scripting might help me out.
When the whole Library is picked, you can 'view' by "Film Rolls" and the date appears in the bar above each roll of photos. You can change the date in the "Information" area available at the lower left. (The same area you change the title of the rolls or photos, too.) I want to change the roll dates to match the photos' dates.
So I fired up UI scripting and figured out that I can fetch the date range of the photos in a roll and then set a date for the roll. I can see the date change in the text field, but it doesn't 'stick'. Only if the field has been clicked on prior to running the script, can I "keystroke return" to 'enter' the field. Otherwise I'm looking for suggestions.
Slightly off topic: The whole right side of the iPhoto screen is a big black hole for UI events. You can't tell anything about it with the UI Element Inspector. I can't automagically 'pick' anything in there, so I can't 'select' the rolls from a script. I'll settle for clicking on a roll and then running a script to correct its date.
Here's the whole script, without a bit that verifies that the 'assistive devices' box has been checked in the Universal Access pref.
tell application "iPhoto"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "iPhoto"
activate
tell window "iPhoto - rebuilt Library"
tell group 1
tell splitter group 1
tell splitter group 1
tell static text 5 --either 'from' or 'date'
set theLabel to value
end tell
if theLabel is "date" then
tell static text 6
set rDate to value
end tell
else --get date from 'to' field
tell static text 8
set rDate to value
end tell
end if
tell text field 2 --roll's date
set value to rDate
keystroke return --might not work
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell