Plain Text Productivity - Airmail email client messages become new tasks in a text file

airmail-to-textfile.scpt

-- Create a new task based on the currently selected message in Airmail
-- When Script is run (I suggest FastScripts https://red-sweater.com/fastscripts/) A new line will be added to the taskpaper file of your choice.
-- Quite a lot modified to input text into a plain text file like used by taskpaper. Originally based somewhere back in time on Efficient Computing's AppleScript: http://efficientcomputing.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2012/03/17/copy-email-message-in-mail-app-to-evernote-applescript/
set theTaskFile to "/Users/tbendt/Dropbox/_Tim/Projects/_tasks/projects.taskpaper"

tell application "Airmail 2"
	--get selected messages
	set theSelection to selected messages
	
	--loop through all selected messages
	repeat with theMessage in theSelection
		
		--get information from message
		set theMessageDate to short date string of (get current date)
		set theMessageSender to the sender of the theMessage
		set theMessageSubject to the subject of the theMessage
		set theMessageContent to the content of the theMessage
		set theMessageURL to selectedMessageUrl
		
		
		
		--import message to text file
		my WriteLog("- resolve: " & theMessageSubject & " from " & (word 1 of theMessageSender) & " " & (character 1 of word 2 of theMessageSender) & "." & " @due(" & theMessageDate & ")")
		
	end repeat
end tell


on WriteLog(the_text)
	set this_story to the_text
	--set this_file to (((path to desktop folder) as text) & "test.txt")
	set this_file to (POSIX file theTaskFile)
	my prepend_to_file(this_story, this_file)
end WriteLog

on prepend_to_file(this_data, target_file) -- (string, file path as string, boolean)
	try
		--set the target_file to the target_file as text
		
		open for access target_file
		set fileContents to (read target_file from 7 to eof)
		close access target_file
		
		set the open_target_file to ¬
			open for access file target_file with write permission
		
		set newInboxData to "Inbox:" & return & "	" & this_data
		
		--set fileContent to searchAndReplace(fileContents, "Inbox:", newInboxData)
		--write fileContents to the open_target_file starting at 0
		write newInboxData & fileContents to the open_target_file starting at 0
		
		close access the open_target_file
		return true
	on error
		try
			close access file target_file
		end try
		return false
	end try
end prepend_to_file

I tried this with Airmail 3 & TP 3, and get the error:

 > error "The variable theTaskFile is not defined." number -2753 from “theTaskFile"

I’m sure the path I specified in line 4 is correct? Do you know what the problem is?

One possibility is that you used a ~/ in your path — which applescript doesn't expand correctly for some reason.