TUAW Post > AppleScript Productivity > Create OmniFocus Followups from Contacts

ofocus_scriptAs an OmniFocus for Mac user, it's important that I can quickly create tasks at any time, in any app. OmniFocus makes this pretty easy, by providing integration with OS X Mail, a keyboard shortcut for clipping content in apps such as Safari, a system-wide Quick Entry window, and a Services menu item. One feature OmniFocus lacks, however, is direct integration with the Contacts app. Suppose I am in Contacts, for example, and I need to schedule a followup phone call or email to one of my clients? Sure, I could bring up the Quick Entry window and enter the task, but I want something a bit more streamlined. I can accomplish just what I need by writing some custom AppleScripts. The following two examples demonstrate how to write AppleScript-based plug-ins for the Contacts app, which add OmniFocus followup options right into the email and phone number popup menus of your contacts.

[Read more on TUAW...]

TUAW Post > AppleScripting Notification Center > Scheduling Do Not Disturb

nc_scriptMountain Lion's Notification Center is great for keeping you in the loop, but it can be a huge distraction when you need to get stuff done. Sometimes, a little peace and quiet is all you need to stay productive.

As you may know, iOS 6 includes a handy Do Not Disturb feature, which can be turned on to disable notifications. It can even be set to automatically enable/disable itself at scheduled intervals. Mountain Lion also lets you disable Notification Center. Just open Notification Center and drag down to access a Show Alerts and Banners toggle switch. Note that this is a temporary setting, and disabled notifications automatically re-enable at midnight.

Unlike iOS 6, though, Mountain Lion doesn't give you an option for enabling/disabling notifications on a schedule. At least, it doesn't provide a built-in option for this. With a little customized help from AppleScript, Automator, and the Calendar app, it is possible.

In this post, you'll create two Calendar Alarm Automator workflows, which can be configured to run at scheduled times to enable or disable Notification Center alerts and banners.

[Read more on TUAW...]

TUAW Post > Preparing High-Res Icon Files with Automator

automatorThis week's post is for all those Mac app developers out there. If you're not an app developer yet, it's a New Year, and I'm sure becoming an app developer is at at the top of your resolution list. In any case, if you plan to develop apps, then you need to prepare icons for those apps.

[Read more on TUAW...]

TUAW Post > AppleScript Desktop Icon Race

2012-12-23-Waldie-03Scripty Claus' gift to you this Holiday Season is a fun little AppleScript that lines up your Desktop icons and races them across the screen until one of them reaches the finish line.

Here's how to set it up...

[Read more on TUAW...]

TUAW Post > Where Automator Actions and Workflows Live

Automator's great for streamlining some of the repetitive things you do each day on your Mac. With Automator, you can create your own custom plugins for the Services menu, Folder Action workflows that run when files are placed into a folder, add-ons for the print window's PDF menu, and more. In most cases, when you save a workflow, Automator puts it where it needs to go automatically. But, where do your workflows actually live? If you want to remove or edit one, you'll need to know. In this post, we'll take a look at the various places workflows are found on your Mac.

[Read more on TUAW...]

MacTech Article > Understanding AppleScript Dictionaries

Over the years, I’ve written dozens of AppleScript articles for MacTech.  Check the archives, and you’ll find my introductory articles on scripting various applications, error protection, looping, branching logic, and much more.  One topic that has somehow eluded my column is AppleScript dictionaries.  Since dictionaries continue to be a source of confusion for many scripters (trust me, I receive questions about them all the time), I’d like to take this opportunity to try to clear the air.

[Read the full article in MacTech magazine's August 2012 issue, available in print and in the MacTech iPad Newsstand app]

MacTech Article > Automation and App Usage in Mountain Lion

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard rumors about automation-related changes in Mountain Lion.  Here are the big ones going around… Gatekeeper doesn’t let you run apps or scripts that aren’t in the Mac App Store – third party app and script distribution is dead!  Sandboxing prevents apps from talking to one another – AppleScript and inter-application automation are dead! First, let’s get something straight.  These are rumors.  Second, like lots of rumors, they aren’t true.  So, what’s the real deal, then?

[Read the full article in MacTech magazine's July 2012 issue, available in print and in the MacTech iPad Newsstand app]

Display Notification Center Alert Automator Action 1.0.1

Added support for international and unicode text.  Get the action here!

Mac Productivity: Mountain Lion GateKeeper Workaround

If you're a Mountain Lion user, then you've probably encountered GateKeeper.  This is Apple's latest security mechanism, which restricts the apps that can be launched on your Mac.  By default, GateKeeper only allows apps to run that are from the Mac App Store, or digitally signed by official developers who have registered with Apple.  Try and launch an app from an unknown developer, and GateKeeper shuts it right down. What if you need to use the app, though?  Can you launch it without disabling GateKeeper entirely?  Sure you can. [Read more on the Peachpit blog...]

Display Notification Center Alert Automator Action 1.0.0

I've written a new Automator action for displaying a notification center alert in Mountain Lion.  You can use it to display a notification when a workflow is complete, to remind you to buy your wife flowers, or anything else that might require a custom alert. I hope you find it useful.

-Ben

P.S. If you like this, please check out my other Automator actions.

Configuring the action for use. You can specify a title, subtitle, and message

A Notification Center alert displayed by the action

A Notification Center message displayed by the action

 Display Notification Center Alert 1.0.1

 

Version History

2012-08-26 - Version 1.0.0
2012-08-29 - Version 1.0.1 - Added support for international and unicode text