Copy files to subfolders based on first 3 characters of filename

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
#1

I’m seeking a way to copy files from a folder to subfolders based on the first 3 characters of the filename.

For example, my root folder “images” contains diverse filenames like so:

1234567.jpg
abcdefg.jpg
ertfge34-893.jpg
etc.

The script will create multiple levels of subfolders in a new folder (imagesnew) if they don’t already exist and move the files to the created folders like so:

1234567.jpg → imagesnew/1/2/3/1234567.jpg
abcdefg.jpg → imagesnew/a/b/c/abcdefg.jpg
ertfge34-893.jpg → imagesnew/e/r/t/ertfge34-893.jpg

Any help with this would be hugely appreciated!

THANKS

#2

Hi,

try this


property baseFolder : "Mac HD:path:to:folder:" -- the colon at the end is crucial
property deleteOriginals : true -- set to false to keep the original files

set theItems to list folder baseFolder without invisibles

repeat with oneItem in theItems
	set {name:Nm, folder:Fo, package folder:Pa} to (info for file ((baseFolder as text) & oneItem))
	if not Fo or Pa then
		set {TID, text item delimiters} to {text item delimiters, "/"}
		set destFolder to (characters 1 thru 3 of Nm & Nm) as text
		set destination to quoted form of (POSIX path of baseFolder & destFolder)
		set text item delimiters to TID
		do shell script "ditto " & quoted form of ((POSIX path of baseFolder) & oneItem) & " " & destination
		if deleteOriginals then do shell script "rm -r " & quoted form of ((POSIX path of baseFolder) & oneItem)
	end if
end repeat
#3

Stefan,

It worked perfectly!

I want to thank you so much. I’m awed by your skill and generosity. Please let me know if I can offer you anything in return.

Best,
Jason

#4

You’re welcome.

I wrote a similar script some months ago, which I had just to modify a bit.
There is a big advantage using ditto, which creates the intermediate directories silently

#5

Nice work Stefan, I had something similar worked out and then spiraled down the path of keeping it all in the shell LOL

#6

I can immagine that a pure shell version is the best solution but unlike AppleScript my UNIX knowledge is much more limited

#7

My only problem with the script thus far is that Mac assumes upper and lower-case chars to be the same. Since, I will need these files served on the Internet, character-case will be necessary.

For example:
abc123.jpg served from /A/b/c/abc123.jpg will be a broken URL.

The script is placing both abc123.jpg and Abcdef.jpg in: /A/b/c/

#8

Stefan, here’s a purely shell version

set baseFolder to POSIX path of (choose folder with prompt "Select your source folder please")
set destFolder to POSIX path of (choose folder with prompt "Where should I make \"imagesnew\" ?")

do shell script "cd " & quoted form of baseFolder & "; find . -type f -name '*.jpg' | sed -e 's%\\(.//*\\)\\(.\\)\\(.\\)\\(.\\)\\(.*\\)%ditto \\1\\2\\3\\4\\5 " & quoted form of (destFolder & "imagesnew") & "/\\2/\\3/\\4/%' | sh"