I wrote this script to sort the files in my “downloads” folder
set ifolder to path to downloads folder from user domain
set imgfolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:Images"
set pdffolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:pdf"
set appfolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:app"
set automatorfolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:app:Automator Actions and Workflows"
set appext to {"dmg", "mpkg", "pkg", "app"}
tell application "Finder"
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is "png") to imgfolder
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is "pdf") to pdffolder
move {every file of ifolder where name extension is item {1} of appext} to appfolder
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is item {2} of appext) to appfolder
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is item {3} of appext) to appfolder
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is item {4} of appext) to appfolder
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is "action") to automatorfolder
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is "workflow") to automatorfolder
end tell
As you see, i have repeated “move” command for each of the four items in the list “appext”. How do i avoid it?
(I still have to add several extensions)
Secondly, how do i automate it-------i mean, every item ,a file is placed in “downloads” folder, the script should run automatically. (I guess, it requires suitable modifications to be used as a “Folder actions” script.)
Lastly,
if a folder contains a file with extension “app” then i would also want that entire folder to go to "“Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:app”
can it be done?
I have not fully tested the code here, it does compile (though I had to make a substitute for downloads folder, since that does not exist in 10.4).
One method is to use a list of records. Each records represents a category of files. It holds a list of extensions (exts) that qualify the file for that category and the destination folder (dest).
set ifolder to path to downloads folder from user domain
set imgfolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:Images"
set pdffolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:pdf"
set appfolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:app"
set automatorfolder to "Leopard:Users:oneonly:Downloads:app:Automator Actions and Workflows"
set moveList to {{exts:{"png"}, dest:imgfolder}, {exts:{"pdf"}, dest:pdffolder}, {exts:{"dmg", "mpkg", "pkg", "app"}, dest:appfolder}, {exts:{"action", "workflow"}, dest:automatorfolder}}
tell application "Finder"
repeat with moveItem in moveList
move (every file of ifolder where name extension is in (exts of moveItem)) to (dest of moveItem)
end repeat
end tell
Yes, Folder Actions are the likely route for this. The code will be a bit different though. For example, the list of new items will be provided, so you do not have use every file of ifolder. Also, where can not be applied to lists such as the one you will be provided with in a Folder Action handler. You would have to loop through each item in the list and apply a the tests to it “by hand”. Search for Folder Action scripts around here, and in the AppleScript examples and see what you can come up with.
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