Hi, I found this AppleScript to add time stamps to any todo that is selected in things 3. It works nicely, but I wonder if there is a way to automate this more so it becomes a more consistent (and in my view thus more useful feature).
Rather than using a hotkey to activate this in a macro would there be a way to
- grab any time a new item is entered in macOS and automatically execute this script, e.g. with keyboard maestro?
- occasionally grab any new item since this was last run and also automatically execute this script (to catch those items entered through iOS)?
That way every item entered would have the creation date in the notes consistently. Any ideas how to accomplish that?
Any help appreciated!
This is the AppleScript (copied from the source )
-- Creation date: Dienstag, 24. Februar 2010, 23:30:54
-- Created by: ljr_nbg (http://applescript.bratis-lover.net)
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--c- SETTINGS
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property myName : "ToDo · Add creation date to notes"
property myVersion : "1.0"
--c-- insert creation date
--c--- insert where?
property appendCreationDate : true
-- true: creation date is inserted at end of notes
-- false: creation date is inserted at top of notes
--c--- prefix to creation date
property cdPrefix : "Created: "
--c--- separator between creation date and original notes
property cdSep : "--
"
-- must end with "\n" (linefeed) to get its own line
-- if notes are initially empty no separator is used
--c--- format of date
on fmtDate(theDate)
local theDate
return short date string of theDate & " " & time string of theDate
end fmtDate
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--c- DESCRIPTION
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(*
The purpose of this script is to add the creation dates to the notes of the selected
to dos in Cultured Code's Things (http://culturedcode.com/things) without any
user interaction.
Already present creation dates are detected and not overwritten or multiplied.
The format, the position (at the top or at the end of the original notes) and the
separator (e.g. "--\n") of the creation date can be modified in the first section of
the script.
NOTE: For some reason, this only works if the to do is not active for editing.
WWW: http://applescript.bratis-lover.net/applescripts/things/creation-date-to-notes/
*)
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--c- MAIN
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property lf : linefeed -- line endings to use
property toDoLst : {}
try
tell application "Things3"
--c-- get to dos
set my toDoLst to selected to dos
set len to count my toDoLst
if len = 0 then display dialog "No ToDo selected" with icon 2 buttons ¬
{"OK"} default button 1 cancel button 1 with title myName
--c-- loop trough to dos
repeat with i from 1 to len
--c--- add creation date to notes
set thisToDoProps to (my toDoLst's item i)'s properties
set crtdStr to cdPrefix & my fmtDate(thisToDoProps's creation date)
set toDoNotes to thisToDoProps's notes
if toDoNotes does not contain crtdStr then
-- do not multiply existing creation dates
if toDoNotes ≠ "" and appendCreationDate then
set notes of (my toDoLst's item i) to ¬
thisToDoProps's notes & lf & cdSep & crtdStr
else if toDoNotes ≠ "" and not appendCreationDate then
set notes of (my toDoLst's item i) to ¬
crtdStr & lf & cdSep & thisToDoProps's notes
else
set notes of (my toDoLst's item i) to crtdStr
end if
end if
end repeat
end tell
--c-- error
on error eMsg number eNum
my errorHandler("Hmmm... Something went wrong...", eMsg, eNum)
end try
on errorHandler(customMsg, eMsg, eNum)
if eNum ≠ -128 then
display dialog customMsg & "
Error: " & eNum default answer eMsg ¬
buttons {"Cancel"} default button 1 cancel button 1 with icon 0 ¬
with title myName giving up after 15
error number -128
end if
end errorHandler
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--c- TERMS OF USE
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(*
This script was written by ljr_nbg (http://applescript.bratis-lover.net).
It is released under the following terms:
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies
or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
THE SOFTWARE.
*)