Group Mailer ~ There is no outgoing Mail message. (-2700)

Question

Hi
I am attempting to use the group mailer function in automator.
I have tried a variety of different work arounds with the same effect.
The process I have created has four stages:
1) Get Specified Address Book Items
2) Group Mailer
3) Get Specified Mail Items
4) Send Outgoing Messages
I have tinkered with the order of stages and with the 'ignore previous results' as suggested on other forums - all to no avail.
The Action reaches Stage 2 (Group Mailer) and then stops with the error message There is no Outgoing Mail Message (-2700).
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Thank you, in advance
Adam

Answer 1

Sorry about that. The one I sent was not the latest version. This one addresses the repeated asking for file attachments and the automatic message sending issues.
Here is the latest version:
click here to open this script in your editor<pre style="font-family: 'Monaco', 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; overflow:auto; color: #222; background: #DDD; padding: 0.2em; font-size: 10px; width:400px">property GreetingWanted : ""
property theGreeting : ""
property GreetingNameOrder : {"First and Last Name", "First Name Only", "Last and First Name", "Last Name Only"}
property theCompleteGreeting : ""
property theSubject : ""
property theContent : ""
property FileAttached : ""
property theAttachment : ""
on run {input, parameters}
set theNumberOfInputItems to count of items in input
set CountOfAttachments to (count of items in input) - 2
-- Gather Contact Info
tell application "Address Book"
set theEmailGroup to last item of input
set FirstNames to first name of people of theEmailGroup
set LastNames to last name of people of theEmailGroup
set EmailAddresses to value of email 1 of people of theEmailGroup
end tell
-- Generate emails
tell application "Mail"
-- Email info
set theSubject to subject of first item of input
set theMessage to content of first item of input
set theAttachments to items 2 thru (CountOfAttachments + 1) of input
-- Greeting info
display dialog "Would you like to add a greeting?" buttons {"Yes", "No"} default button 1
if button returned of the result is equal to "Yes" then
set GreetingWanted to true
display dialog "Please enter the opening for the greeting." default answer "Dear "
set theGreeting to text returned of the result
set GreetingName to (choose from list GreetingNameOrder with prompt "Please select the choice of name for the greeting" default items item 1 of GreetingNameOrder) as text
else
set GreetingWanted to false
end if
-- File Attachment info
display dialog "Would you like to add a file attachment(s)?" buttons {"Yes", "No"} default button 1
if button returned of the result is "Yes" then
set FileAttached to true
else
set FileAttached to false
end if
repeat with i from 1 to count of EmailAddresses
if GreetingWanted then
if (GreetingName = item 1 of GreetingNameOrder) then set theCompleteGreeting to theGreeting & item i of FirstNames & space & item i of LastNames
if (GreetingName = item 2 of GreetingNameOrder) then set theCompleteGreeting to theGreeting & item i of FirstNames
if (GreetingName = item 3 of GreetingNameOrder) then set theCompleteGreeting to theGreeting & item i of LastNames & space & item i of FirstNames
if (GreetingName = item 4 of GreetingNameOrder) then set theCompleteGreeting to theGreeting & item i of LastNames
if GreetingName = false then set theCompleteGreeting to theGreeting
set theCompleteContent to theCompleteGreeting & "," & return & return & theMessage & return
end if
-- Generate email
set email to make new outgoing message with properties {subject:theSubject, content:theCompleteContent, visible:true}
tell email to make new to recipient with properties {address:item i of EmailAddresses}
-- Add attachments
if FileAttached then
my MoveToEndOfContent()
repeat with i from 1 to CountOfAttachments
tell email to make new attachment with properties {file name:item i of theAttachments}
end repeat
end if
send email
end repeat
end tell
return input
end run
on MoveToEndOfContent()
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Mail"
keystroke "a" using command down
key code 124 -- right arrow
keystroke return
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
end MoveToEndOfContent
</pre>
There are a few other refinements that could be added:
1) Avoiding the asking if attachments want to be added by checking whether there were any assigned in the Automator "Get Specified Finder Items" dialog;
2) There is a rather annoying bounce/notification by Automator after the initial "New Mail Message" action. Gathering all the information first and then creating a template with the "New Mail Message" action would avoid this annoyance. Unfortunately, as you know, I am using that action as a quick way to gather the subject, message, and account information.
3) Rename the actions by using a Ctrl click on the action title bar to more clearly indicate what information is being requested in the dialogs.
PowerBook 12"   Mac OS X (10.4.8)