Creating a quick event in iCal using LaunchBar & AppleScript

applescripticallaunchbar

what i want to figure out is how to send a String to iCal 5 on 10.7 which is interpreted the same way as creating a quick event, as if you press CMD+N with iCal in focus and then just type "tea at 5" into the popover.

a simplistic sketch (which doesn't work):

on handle_string(theString)
    tell application "iCal"
        make new event with theString
    end tell
end handle_string

i'm comfortable with programming but never done anything with AppleScript. Is there a reference for application commands?

edit:

this works and it's not even slow, the only caveat is that it breaks the clipboard:

on handle_string(theString)

    tell application "LaunchBar"
        perform action "Copy" with string theString
    end tell

    tell application "iCal" to activate

    tell application "System Events"
        keystroke "n" using {command down}
        keystroke "v" using {command down}
        keystroke return
    end tell

end handle_string

it's sort of finicky to use the clipboard in a script? i can't figure out how to temporarily hold the clipboard content in a variable, and then set the clipboard back to it. i'll accept your answer if you help me with that.

Best Answer

Here's a script that lets you restore the clipboard:

set oldClip to the clipboard as string --save the old clipboard
set the clipboard to "hello world" --put your stuff in the clipboard
log (the clipboard) --do your stuff here
set the clipboard to oldClip as string --restore the old clipboard
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