Repeating Tasks
Omni Automation in OmniFocus (v3.8+) provides the ability to set the repetition rules for a task. The repetitionRule property of the Task class is used to access and set any repeating parameters.
repetitionRule (Task.RepetitionRule or null) • If repetition is enabled for the task, the value of this task property is an instance of the Task.RepetitionRule class.
The Task.RepetitionRule Class
A Task.RepetitionRule describes a pattern of dates using a ICS formatted recurrence string (iCalendar.org) and a Task.RepetitionMethod to describe how those dates are applied to a Task.
The properties of the Task.RepetitionRule class:
method (Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • The method used to create the repetition rule.
ruleString (String r/o) • The ICS rule string used to create the repetition rule.
The Task.RepetitionMethod Class
DeferUntilDate (Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • XXXXX
DueDate (Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • XXXXX
Fixed (Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • XXXXX
None (Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • The task does not repeat.
all (Array of Task.RepetitionMethod r/o) • An array of all items of this enumeration. Often used when creating action forms.
| New Repeating Task | ||
| 01 | var task = new Task("My Weekly Task") | |
| 02 | var ruleString = "FREQ=WEEKLY" | |
| 03 | task.repetitionRule = new Task.RepetitionRule(ruleString, Task.RepetitionMethod.DueDate) | |
And to disable repetition, set the property value to null:
| Stop Repetition | ||
| 01 | var task = taskNamed("My Weekly Task") | |
| 02 | task.repetitionRule = null | |
The Rule Info Plug-In
Aside from using the free RRULE Tool at iCalendar.org, perhaps the simplest way to derive an ICS rule string is to set up an example repeating task in OmniFocus using the standard application interface, and then use Omni Automation to retrieve the corresponding ISC rule string from the selected task. You can then use the extracted ICS rule string in your scripts to define the specified repetition parameters.
The plug-in provided below will both display the ICS string and log it to the console for you.
| Rule Info for Selected Task | ||
| 01 | /*{ | |
| 02 | "type": "action", | |
| 03 | "targets": ["omnifocus"], | |
| 04 | "author": "Otto Automator", | |
| 05 | "identifier": "com.omni-automation.of.task-rule-info", | |
| 06 | "version": "1.1", | |
| 07 | "description": "This action will display an alert showing the ICS rule string and repetition method of the selected task or project.", | |
| 08 | "label": "Rule Info for Selected Item", | |
| 09 | "shortLabel": "Rule Info" | |
| 10 | }*/ | |
| 11 | (() => { | |
| 12 | var action = new PlugIn.Action(function(selection, sender){ | |
| 13 | // action code | |
| 14 | // selection options: tasks, projects, folders, tags | |
| 15 | if (selection.projects.length === 1){ | |
| 16 | var item = selection.projects[0] | |
| 17 | var alertTitle = "Project: " + item.name | |
| 18 | } else { | |
| 19 | var item = selection.tasks[0] | |
| 20 | var alertTitle = "Task: " + item.name | |
| 21 | } | |
| 22 | ||
| 23 | var rule = item.repetitionRule | |
| 24 | var ruleString = item.repetitionRule.ruleString | |
| 25 | var repetitionMethod = item.repetitionRule.method | |
| 26 | var msg = "" | |
| 27 | var methodName | |
| 28 | switch(repetitionMethod) { | |
| 29 | case Task.RepetitionMethod.DueDate: | |
| 30 | methodName = "Due Date" | |
| 31 | break; | |
| 32 | case Task.RepetitionMethod.Fixed: | |
| 33 | methodName = "Fixed" | |
| 34 | break; | |
| 35 | case Task.RepetitionMethod.DeferUntilDate: | |
| 36 | methodName = "Defer Until Date" | |
| 37 | break; | |
| 38 | default: | |
| 39 | methodName = "None" | |
| 40 | } | |
| 41 | msg = "ICS Rule String: " + ruleString + "\n" + "Repetition Method: " + methodName | |
| 42 | ||
| 43 | console.log(msg) | |
| 44 | new Alert(alertTitle, msg).show() | |
| 45 | }); | |
| 46 | ||
| 47 | action.validate = function(selection, sender){ | |
| 48 | // validation code | |
| 49 | // selection options: tasks, projects, folders, tags | |
| 50 | return ( | |
| 51 | selection.projects.length === 1 && | |
| 52 | selection.projects[0].repetitionRule != null || | |
| 53 | selection.tasks.length === 1 && | |
| 54 | selection.tasks[0].repetitionRule != null | |
| 55 | ) | |
| 56 | }; | |
| 57 | ||
| 58 | return action; | |
| 59 | })(); | |
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