VCOF0062

OmniFocus: Append to Note Text

A voice command that will append the text of the note of the selected project or task, with the text dictated or entered into the presented form field.

NOTE: includes spacing options for setting spacing between entries and inserting a date stamp.

NOTE: Appended text will retained the current formatting of the note.

Scope and Syntax

Language: English (United States 🇺🇸 · Great Britain 🇬🇧 · Australia 🇦🇺 · Canada 🇨🇦) • Scope: OmniFocus

Command phrase variations (words in [brackets] are optional):

• “Append [to] Note Text”

Requirements

• Application: OmniFocus 4
• System: macOS 12.3, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, visionOS 1.0

PLAY PAUSE BACK REWIND

Installing Voice Control commands on iOS · iPadOS · visionOS While Apple’s mobile operating systems currently do not support the Open URL action used in the voice commands files provided on this website, you can still create and use customized Omni Automation voice commands for iPhones and iPads! To create your voice commands, we’ll use specialized Shorcuts workflows that you can “tap-to-install” from the various example pages. Simply follow these steps or view the illustrated instructions here: First, install an Omni Automation shortcut from one of the provided links. (below) Next, in the mobile Settings app, tap Accessibility ▸ Voice Control ▸ Customize Commands ▸ Custom ▸ Create New Command… and in the forthcoming New Command interface select the installed shortcut as the value for the “Action” parameter. Enter one of the command phrases from the example’s documentation page (above) for the value of the “Phrase” property, and… Finally, set the value of the “Application” parameter to either “Any” for global access or choose the Omni app to target from the provided list of installed applications. You can then activate Voice Control and use your voice command to trigger the shortcut to run the Omni Automation script! Installing Siri commands on iOS · iPadOS · visionOS To use this voice command with Siri, simply install the provided Shortcuts workflow. To trigger the command, summon Siri and say: “Hey Siri, [Name of installed Shortcuts workflow]” NOTE: After installation of the shortcut, you can rename it to whatever phrase fits your needs.

Downloads

• ⇩ COMMANDS-FILE OmniFocus 4.0 (macOS)
• ⇩ SHORTCUT-LINK (“XXXXXX”) (iOS · iPadOS · visionOS)

Using the Command

A dialog will present the input field for the note text, as well as controls for setting spacing between note entries, and whether to include a date/time stamp prepending the text entry. The chosen settings will be retained between command executions.

Voice Command Code

Here’s the Omni Automation code for the command:

Append to Note Text
Copy

(async () => {
	try {
		function createUtterance(textToSpeak){
			langCode = Speech.Voice.currentLanguageCode
			voiceObj = Speech.Voice.withLanguage(langCode)
			utterance = new Speech.Utterance(textToSpeak)
			utterance.voice = voiceObj
			utterance.rate = Speech.Utterance.defaultSpeechRate
			return utterance
		}
		synthesizer = new Speech.Synthesizer()
		
		sel = document.windows[0].selection
		selCount = sel.tasks.length + sel.projects.length 
		if(selCount === 1){
			if (sel.tasks.length === 1){
				var selectedItem = sel.tasks[0]
				var objectType = "task"
			} else {
				var selectedItem = sel.projects[0]
				var objectType = "project"
			}
		} else {
			throw {
				name: "Selection Issue", 
				message: "Please select a single project or task."
			}
		}
		
		// INSTANCIATE PREFERENCES
		preferences = new Preferences("com.omni-automation.voice-control")
		defaultSpacingMethodIndex = 4
		defaultShouldIncludeTimeStamp = true
	
		// RETRIEVE STORED FORM PARAMETER VALUES
		spacingMethodIndexValue = preferences.readNumber("spacingMethodIndex")
		if(spacingMethodIndexValue === null){
			spacingMethodIndexValue = defaultSpacingMethodIndex
		}
	
		shouldIncludeTimeStampValue = preferences.readBoolean("shouldIncludeTimeStamp")
		if(shouldIncludeTimeStampValue === null){
			shouldIncludeTimeStampValue = defaultShouldIncludeTimeStamp
		}
		console.log("shouldIncludeTimeStampValue", shouldIncludeTimeStampValue)

		// CREATE FORM ELEMENTS
		textInputField = new Form.Field.String(
			"textInput",
			"Text to append",
			null
		)
		
		checkSwitchField1 = new Form.Field.Checkbox(
			"shouldIncludeTimeStamp",
			"Include date/time stamp",
			shouldIncludeTimeStampValue
		)
				
		menuItems = ["Nothing","Single Space", "Double Space","Single Line","Double Line"]
		spacingItems = [""," ","  ","\n","\n\n"]
		menuIndexes = [0,1,2,3,4]

		menuElement = new Form.Field.Option(
			"spacingMethod", 
			"Prepend with", 
			menuIndexes, 
			menuItems, 
			spacingMethodIndexValue
		)
		menuElement.allowsNull = false
		
		// CREATE FORM AND ADD ELEMENTS
		inputForm = new Form()
		inputForm.addField(textInputField)
		inputForm.addField(menuElement)
		inputForm.addField(checkSwitchField1)
		
		// VALIDATE TEXT INPUT
		inputForm.validate = function(formObject){
			inputText = formObject.values['textInput']
			return ((!inputText)?false:true)
		}
		
		// USER PROMPT
		utterance = createUtterance("Enter text to append")
		synthesizer.speakUtterance(utterance)
		
		// DISPLAY FORM
		formPrompt = "Text and Options:"
		buttonTitle = "Continue"
		formObject = await inputForm.show(formPrompt, buttonTitle)
		
		textValue = formObject.values['textInput']
		includeTimeStamp = formObject.values['shouldIncludeTimeStamp']
		methodIndex = formObject.values['spacingMethod']
		if(includeTimeStamp){
			var timeStamp = new Date().toLocaleString()
			textValue = timeStamp + "\n" + textValue
		}
		prependText = spacingItems[methodIndex]
		textToAdd = prependText + textValue
		
		// APPEND TEXT RETAINING CURRENT FORMATTING
		noteObj = selectedItem.noteText
		currentStyle = noteObj.styleForRange(noteObj.range)
		newTextObj = new Text(textToAdd, baseStyle) 
		newTextObj.styleForRange(newTextObj.range).setStyle(currentStyle)		
		noteObj.append(newTextObj)	
				
		// STORE PREFERENCE VALUES
		preferences.write("spacingMethodIndex", methodIndex)
		preferences.write("shouldIncludeTimeStamp", includeTimeStamp)

		// RESPOND USING INPUT
		utterance = createUtterance("Done!")
		synthesizer.speakUtterance(utterance)
	}
	catch(err){
		if(!err.message.includes("cancelled")){
			utterance = createUtterance(err.message)
			synthesizer.speakUtterance(utterance)
			//new Alert(err.name, err.message).show()
		}
	}
})();