Is it possible to make a global keyboard command for an Applescript application?

Question

I have created an application with Applescript, and I want to create a global keyboard command that brings up an input dialogue.
If that's not possible, is there a way to make a dialogue appear when the Dock icon is clicked?

Answer 1

The regular keyboard shortcuts work with whatever application is currently active, so that leaves option number 2.  To add a dynamic menuu item to the dock menu, you can add a couple of handlers to the CocoaAppletAppDelegate.scpt, which is located in the bundle contents of the Cocoa-AppleScript applet (created when you use the File > New from Template menu item):
  on applicationDockMenu_(sender) -- dynamically add a menu item to the dock tile
    set myDockMenu to current application's NSMenu's alloc's initWithTitle_("") -- don't really need a title here
    myDockMenu's addItemWithTitle_action_keyEquivalent_("My spiffy new menu item", "menuAction:", "")
    return myDockMenu
  end applicationDockMenu_
  on menuAction_(sender) -- do something when the dock menu item is selected
    set menuTitle to sender's title() as text
    # do something
    tell current application to activate -- make sure dialog is in front
    display dialog "The " & quoted form of menuTitle & " menu item was clicked…"
    tell application "System Events" to keystroke tab using {command down} -- switch to previous application
  end menuAction_