I have a number of pre-defined text strings I like to insert into e-mail messages--address, bank account, etc. I've written a 'quick & dirty' AppleScript to do this for me. You may find it useful too, or as the basis for a fully-fledged script.
In my ~/Library -> Scripts -> Mail Scripts folder, I've created a Glossary folder, and in there, I have a number of these scripts (identical except for the GlossaryEntry property). To insert into an e-mail, just position the cursor at the appropriate point in the body of the message, and run the script from Mail's scripts menu.
Here's my Address entry script:
-- 2004-06-24 Tom Robinson
property GlossaryEntry : "Tom Robinson" & return & ¬
"xx Garfield Street" & return & ¬
"Brooklyn" & return & ¬
"Wellington" & return & ¬
"Aotearoa New Zealand" & return
KeyIt(GlossaryEntry)
on KeyIt(WhatToKey)
tell application "System Events"
set CharBuffer to ""
repeat with i from 1 to number of characters in WhatToKey
set ThisCharacter to character i of WhatToKey
if ThisCharacter is "'" then
keystroke CharBuffer
set CharBuffer to ""
keystroke "}" using option down
else if ThisCharacter is "—" then
keystroke CharBuffer
set CharBuffer to ""
keystroke "_" using option down
else if ThisCharacter is "…" then
keystroke CharBuffer
set CharBuffer to ""
keystroke ";" using option down
else if ThisCharacter is "–" then
keystroke CharBuffer
set CharBuffer to ""
keystroke "-" using option down
else
set CharBuffer to CharBuffer & ThisCharacter
end if
end repeat
if CharBuffer > "" then keystroke CharBuffer
end tell
end KeyIt
Special characters like ellipses and em-dashes were causing problems for keystroke, that's why they're special-cased above. Note: 'Enable access for assistive devices' needs to be turned on in the Universal Access System Preferences panel in order for this to work.
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=2004092815480274