Ben Waldie

email ben@automatedworkflows.com
blog http://www.automatedworkflows.com/blog/
twitter @applescriptguru

Ben Waldie is president of Automated Workflows, LLC, a company offering AppleScript, Automator, workflow, and productivity consulting services to Apple-based businesses. For years, Ben has developed professional workflow solutions for companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Adobe Systems, Apple Inc., CNN, Microsoft, NASA, PC World, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, and Time Magazine. Ben is the author of "Automator for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide" (Peachpit Press) and "AppleScripting the Finder" (Automated Workflows, LLC), has written content for Apple.com, Macworld, MacTech, MacScripter.net, Peachpit.com, TUAW, and more, and is host of the "Mac Automation Made Simple" video podcast series (Peachpit Press). Ben is also the author of an introductory AppleScript training CD for the Virtual Training Company, and is a frequent presenter at Macworld and other industry events.

Ben Waldie's Latest Posts

Adding copy-to-clipboard rollovers in Contacts app via AppleScript

by Ben Waldie (Apr 29th 2013 7:00AM)

Apple's Contacts app includes a lot of great shortcuts for initiating different forms of communication. Just click an email address, phone number or URL field label to display a list of available options. You can send an email, show a phone number in large type or start a FaceTime call, for example. ...

0 Comments

Extract App Resource Icons with AppleScript

by Ben Waldie (Apr 22nd 2013 7:00AM)

Whether I'm preparing for a demo or writing an article, blog post, book, or technical documentation, I often find myself performing the same set of repetitive steps. I need to navigate into an app's packaged resources folder, find one or more icon files, occasionally convert them to PNG and scale ...

0 Comments

AppleScripting OmniFocus > Send completed task report to Evernote 2

by Ben Waldie (Apr 15th 2013 7:00AM)

In February, I provided instructions for using AppleScript to send completed task reports from OmniFocus to Evernote. The script was quite well-received by readers, and I've had numerous requests for enhancements. This post provides an updated version of the script, which includes a number of ...

0 Comments

AppleScripting Email > Developing a Quoted Reply Service

by Ben Waldie (Apr 8th 2013 8:00AM)

A reader recently wrote to me with a problem. Apparently, Microsoft Outlook no longer contains the ability to create quote level chunks of text when replying to messages in plain text format. Why this functionality was removed, I can't say. But, with a little help from AppleScript and Automator, I ...

0 Comments

AppleScripting Microsoft Outlook > Announce New Emails By Voice

by Ben Waldie (Apr 1st 2013 10:00AM)

In my last post, I demonstrated how to write an AppleScript that verbally announces when new emails arrive in Mail. Some readers asked whether the same thing could be accomplished with Microsoft Outlook. It certainly can. Here's how... Creating and Installing the Script 1. Launch AppleScript ...

0 Comments

AppleScripting Mail > Announce New Emails By Voice

by Ben Waldie (Mar 25th 2013 8:00AM)

You're in the kitchen cooking dinner, or sitting down watching TV, or exercising. Ding! You have a new email. Quickly, run to your Mac to see who it's from. Meh, spam. Ding! Meh, a message from your boss. Ding! Meh. Sure would be nice if Mail could announce who's emailing you. That way, you could ...

0 Comments

Triggering AppleScripts from Calendar Alerts in Mountain Lion

by Ben Waldie (Mar 18th 2013 2:00PM)

AppleScripts are great tools for increasing your daily productivity. They're even better when they can be set to run unattended, at night, on weekends or during downtime. In Lion, iCal included a handy option for attaching a script to a calendar event. Just create an event, add a Run Script alarm, ...

0 Comments

More Tips for Troubleshooting Automator Workflows

by Ben Waldie (Mar 11th 2013 11:30AM)

In my last post, I shared some useful tips for troubleshooting Automator workflow problems. I didn't cover everything, though. There are lots of other ways you can troubleshoot your workflow. Here are some more tips to help. 1. Use Get Selected Finder Items Wisely Automator workflows are ...

0 Comments

Tips for Troubleshooting Automator Workflows

by Ben Waldie (Mar 4th 2013 7:30AM)

Automator's great for streamlining time consuming and repetitive tasks on your Mac. It's easy. Just launch it, find a few actions, and string them together to form a workflow. Then, run your workflow anytime you want to perform that series of tasks again. What happens if your workflow doesn't ...

0 Comments

AppleScript Productivity > Create OmniFocus Followups from Contacts

by Ben Waldie (Feb 25th 2013 8:00AM)

As 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 ...

0 Comments