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automator for reminders from mail

It seems like it should be possible to create a reminder in ical from an email message (reproducing the "todo" functionality lost in the lion upgrade). I can manually create a reminder, then drag an email onto it, creating a link in the url field. I've tried creating a service to do this using automator, but I don't really know enough to pull it off. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Oct 25, 2011 6:26 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 26, 2011 7:18 AM

Can I answer my own question?

Here's an applescript that creates a reminder from an email, and inserts a url link to the email in the reminder. It inserts the body of the email into the "note" section of the reminder.


I've added this as a service to mail.app. I have to have some text selected in the body of the email in order to have the service available. Not sure why this should be. (I created the service to receive no input).


on run {input, parameters}

tell application "Mail"

set theSelection to selection

set theMessage to item 1 of theSelection

set theurl to "message://%3c" & theMessage's message id & "%3e"

set thedes to theMessage's content

set input to theMessage's subject

end tell


tell application "iCal"

tell calendar "YOUR CALENDAR HERE"

make new todo at end with properties {url:theurl, summary:input, description:thedes}

end tell

end tell

return input

end run

44 replies

Aug 8, 2012 4:03 PM in response to Chuck Kalish

Thanks for this great script, however is there a way to do this with keystrokes instead of using the trackpad? I would love to have a mail message selected and then just hit a keyboard shortcut and it makes it into a task or reminder int he reminders app. Any suggestions? I've tried using the keyboard shortcut menu in system preferences and it dosen't seem to work.

Aug 22, 2012 1:46 PM in response to vaughn.c

No problem. I actuall saw this in an article somewhere.


One more thing to note, if you drag a mail message to the Notes app, it will create a link in the note back to that mail message.


Oddly enough the link shows up as a link in Notes on my iPad but clicking it obviously does nothing (but would be cool if it did jump me to the mail app in iOS).

Aug 23, 2012 7:33 AM in response to dunyazade

Are you dragging the mail item to the Reminders list of your choice? When you drag the mail item be sure to drag it onto the Reminders list you want. See the picture below, drag the mail item to the list (like Work or Reminders) as opposed to dragging the item to the white part of the app (hopefully that makes sense I haven't had coffee yet today). One more note/annoyance, if you drag the mail item to the reminders dock icon, it will place the reminder in the list closes to the top (for example below, it adds it to my list of Exchange Tasks). Since Mountain Lion still groups Calendar and Reminders together in Exchange Preferences I cannot delete the "Tasks" list.



in whatever List is at the top of list view. User uploaded file

Feb 24, 2014 2:39 PM in response to Chuck Kalish

Hey All,


I found this thread while trying to make an email reminder script in Mavericks. Here's what I have:


(choose from list {"20 Minutes", "2 Hours", "4 Hours", "Tomorrow", "2 Days", "3 Days", "1 Week", "1 Month", "3 Months", "6 Months", "1 Year"} with prompt "When should we follow up?")

set list_answer to result as text

if list_answer = "20 Minutes" then

set list_answer to "16"

else if list_answer = "30 Minutes" then

set list_answer to "30"

else if list_answer = "2 Hours" then

set list_answer to "120"

else if list_answer = "1 Day" then

set list_answer to "1440"

else if list_answer = "1 Month" then

set list_answer to "43200"

end if

tell application "Calendar" to activate

tell application "Calendar"

set miniaturized of window 1 to true

tell application "Mail"

set theSelection to selection

set theMessage to item 1 of theSelection

set theurl to "message://%3c" & theMessage's message id & "%3e"

set thedes to theMessage's content & "Show in Mail " & "message://%3c" & theMessage's message id & "%3e"

set input to theMessage's subject

end tell

end tell

tell application "Calendar"

tell calendar "Email Reminders"

set ReminderDate to (current date) + list_answer * minutes

set new_event to make new event with properties {description:thedes, url:theurl, summary:input, location:theurl, start date:ReminderDate, end date:ReminderDate + 10 * minutes}

end tell

tell new_event

make new mail alarm with properties {trigger interval:0}

end tell

show new_event

end tell



I'm new to this so I am sure there is a more elegant method of doing this. However, the problem I am having is that the event and mail reminder seem to be creating just fine, but the email alert never is delivered, only the on screen alert activates. If I create the reminder manually, the email is delivered just fine. Anyone have any ideas ideas or tips?


Rick

automator for reminders from mail

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