Omnifocus/applescript issue when setting context
 

I'm trying to change the context of an existing task using applescript.

I've got the following code:
set context of theSelectedTask to "Phone"

I have a phone context at the root level


When I try to run through the code, I get the following error:

OmniFocus got an error: Can’t make "Phone" into type context, missing value.


I've spent hours on google trying to figure it out, but all examples I find seem to be doing things the same way I am, but without the error.

I've tried changing the context and other stuff, but no luck yet.

I'm sure I'm doing something dumb, any thoughts?

greeno

It's often a bit easier to debug someone else's code when you can actually see it :-)

A context is not assigned by assigning the name of the context as you've done here. You have to use the actual context object associated with that name.

Here's a small example which creates a test item in the Miscellaneous project with context Home (using the parse tasks verb), then finds the context Office and assigns it to the test item instead of Home.

[code]
tell application "OmniFocus"
tell front document
set mytask to first item of (parse tasks with transport text "test item > Miscellaneous @Home")
set mycontext to first flattened context where name is "Office"
set context of mytask to mycontext
end tell
end tell
[/code]


The "flattened context" bit allows you to find a matching context even if it is nested inside another ("Errands : Office") whereas the same statement without the "flattened" adjective would only find items at the top level ("Office").

And if there is any chance of the code trying to assign a context which does not yet exist in the database, you may also need to add a line to create that context on the wing.

Sth like:

[CODE]tell application "OmniFocus"
tell front document
set mytask to first item of (parse tasks with transport text "test item > Miscellaneous @Home")

set lstContexts to flattened contexts where name is "Office"
if length of lstContexts > 0 then
set context of mytask to first item of lstContexts
else
set context of mytask to (make new context with properties {name:"Office"})
end if
end tell
end tell[/CODE]

Fantastic folks, turns out the issue with the script was with the setting of the task rather than the context. Not sure why, but all working now.