Add Attendees (name AND phone no.) from Address Book to iCal for iPhone use

Question

Hello scripting gurus and newbs alike.
I've looked through the forums, but can't find a COMPLETE solution to what I believe should be a fairly straightforward problem. I'll start by asking the question as concisely as I can, then bring in more information about what I have tried, and learned, so far. I'll also outline my broad (mini) project aims at the end, in case anyone is interested.
* Q: How can I add attendees, from my Address Book, to an iCal event, so that **ALL** the attendee details are included?
Note: It is VITAL to me that attendees' phone number(s) are available through iCal, not just {display name, email, participation status}. This is because I want MobileMe to synch the event with my iPhone, so I can call attendees directly from iCal. (or at least have iCal open the attendee's Contacts record so I can call from there!)
WHY DO I THINK IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE?
Manually, I can simply dbl-click on the event, click into the attendees field, start typing the attendee name, and hit enter. When I do this, it works. MobileMe synchs it to the iPhone, I open iCal, select the event, tap the attendee, and I'm calling.
WHAT I'VE TRIED USING APPLESCRIPT
When I try the following script, I've only managed to set Sheila's name/email/participation status. I can retrieve her phone number from Address Book using the above approach, but unsure how to make it stick in iCal * such that I am able to use it to call directly from iCal on the iPhone *
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tell application "Address Book"
set anAttendee to name of (first person whose name contains "Sheila")
end tell
tell application "iCal"
set newEvent to make new event at end with properties ¬
{summary:"Meeting Info.", location:"ZIP", description:"More yak", start date:SD, end date:SD + 120 * minutes}
make new attendee at end of attendees of newEvent with properties {display name:anAttendee}
end tell
++++++++++++++++++++++
WHERE I'VE LOOKED FOR SIMILAR EXAMPLES
Thanks to Rob (et al) for providing script examples used to create the above, see here: http://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?id=5692
I've also looked at the following article, which makes me think I somehow need to use the PERSON ID in the event attendee list. Unfortunately, I have only managed to retrieve the ID, but had no joy trying to set it.
http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech … index.html
THE PROJECT
I'm a surveyor, and using dialog(s) to enter relevant info., I'm looking to streamline my preparation for surveys when I make each new appointment.
My mini-project presently enables me to print survey forms (based on a Pages template) with details relating to the specific property (address/contact name&no./appointment date&time etc.) It also uses the appointment date&time to create the appropriate event in iCal.
I'm also confident I can add the contact details, such as agent/owner name(s) and phone number(s) in Address Book.
IF I COULD ONLY ADD THESE AS ATTENDEE(S), AS IF ADDED MANUALLY, I WOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO PHONE THE PROPERTY OWNERS WITH A COURTEOUS REMINDER WHEN I'M ON THE WAY!!
Can anyone help me achieve this?
Here's hoping.
Phil (wiimixer)

Answer 1

Phil
Referencing the attendee in iCal will only directly record the properties you mention - because that's how it's designed to work and there's no way around the restriction unless iCal is changed.
You could set the phone number elsewhere in the iCal event - e.g. notes, location, ... - and that would probably allow you to call from iCal (I don't have an iPhone so I can't be sure), but I am not sure I see the advantage over using the link to iPhone's Address Book which is set up by adding an attendee to the event. This might be because I am being dense, so if this is the case please elaborate.
EDIT:
I have read your original post in more detail since I wrote the above. It seems to me that you are saying that when you add the person to the iCal event via AppleScript that you do not get the link to the iPhone's Address Book when you sync via MobileMe. You imply, however, that it does work when you type the name manually. Are these both correct statements?
Message was edited by: Bernard Harte