LaunchBar and iCal integration

LaunchBar 5.0 has been updated to release candidate 1. It is a really easy way to add events and To Do's to iCal without having to switch between applications.

In iCal make a new calendar. Give it an unique name: in my case I called the calendar icsh (short for ical schedule).
You can choose not to create a new calendar and use an existing calendar like Home or Work.

In LaunchBar preferences, go to Index>Show Index. Make sure Calendars is checked. Update all rules.

Invoke LaunchBar again and type in the name of the calendar you want to use. In my case, I wanted to use icsh. So, with the calendar selected I typed a space, and it was ready for my input of Events or To Do's.

Creating Events and To-do Items

Events are created by entering a description, followed by a date and time specification, separated by an @sign. For example:

To Do Items are created by entering a description, and an optional due due, separated by a right angle bracket (>). For example:

You can press the Tab key to insert the required @ sign more conveniently. And if you press the Tab key again, the @ turns into a >.
Press Return to create the new iCal item. Instead, you can press Command+Return to open the event in iCal and review and optionally amend the item.

Alarms
You specify alarms with leading or trailing exclamation marks for example, !30m, !1.5h, 3d! or 2w!. If no alarm is specified, the default alarm setting of iCal is applied.
Priority
You set priority by appending 1-3 exclamation points.

Examples:

• Workplace Retreat @ Mar 16 creates an all day event.
  


• Meeting with Sanjoy @ Apr 20 4-6pm creates an event with a start and end time.
  


• Watch ManU vs. Liverpool @ next sun 14:45 creates a one hour event at the specified time.
  


• Trip to New Orleans @ Sept 15 5d creates a multiday event that spans 5 days.
  


• Call Joe @ tomorrow 3pm 15m! creates an event with an alarm 15 minutes before.
  


• Buy Butter !! creates a To Do with medium priority.
  


• Clean the garage > next sun creates a To Do with a due date.
  


• Pay taxes > May 15 !7d creates a To Do with an alarm 7 days before due.

This makes interacting with iCal so much easier.

LaunchBar: Open Multiple files at once

This is one of the cool tricks you can use for LaunchBar 5.0 Beta.

Step 1: Make a folder in your documents folder (cmd+n). Name it. Choose a small name. In this case "lbb" is the name I chose.


Step 2: Make aliases of the files you want opened (cmd+l). Or, just highlight the files in the folder, hold down the cmd and opt key and drag the files into the folder you created. If you noticed, what you dragged are file aliases and not the actual files. Alias files are distinguished by having the little squiggly arrow in the bottom left corner of the icon.





Step 3: Now go to LaunchBar. Update the index. Type in the name of the folder you want. In this case, "lbb". Hold down the Ctrl key and hit return.






Voilà. You have all the files you wanted loading automatically.


Usage: You might have noticed that you work in sets. A set of files/applications when you are online, a different set of files/applications when you are doing web research, a different set of files/applications when you are doing homework. You can set up specific folders for all these tasks and have aliases of the files/applications in them, that way when you need to switch between tasks, you launch the contents of a particular folder instead of each of the items individually. Saves time and makes you feel like a LaunchBar guru.