Hi, I’m only a basic scripter, but here’s what I’m trying to do…
I want a script that will watch a folder (trying to stay away from folder actions if possible) which is on a remote server. When something goes in there, i need it to alert me with a list dialogue, let me choose a file and then have it open in Photoshop.
How hard would something like that be?
Thanks in advance,
My opinion of the difficulty is based on my rudimentary understanding of launchd, which is a part of the Unix core and is designed to launch scripts whenever a specified folder changes. A big question is whether or not your machine is connected to the remote server at all times. If the connection is stable and operating whenever your machine is running, that is at least a start, as your launchd agent can sit there and wait for changes. The problems begin when you only log into the server occasionally, then, every time you log on, it is considered a change, and therefore the launchd agent is called at every login.
The other potential issue involves the concept of user feedback. Under most circumstances, anything launched with launchd has to operate without any feedback at all from a user, including a simple display dialog command. I am sure there are ways to overcome this, although I have not experimented very much with that sort of thing.
For a plain vanilla solution, save this as a stay-open application. I don’t have any way to test it with a remote folder. Let me know if it works.
-- assuming the "watched" folder is mounted
property tWatchFiles : missing value -- properties "keep" from run to run
property tProjects : missing value
on run -- this runs when the application is started
set WatchedFolder to (choose folder) as alias
checkFiles(WatchedFolder)
end run
on idle -- idle scripts are saved as stay-open AppleScript applications and cycle periodically.
if exists WatchedFolder then
checkFiles(WatchedFolder)
else
beep 3 -- or display dialog, or whatever - it's not mounted
end if
return 30 -- these are seconds before the next 'look'
end idle
to checkFiles(WatchedFolder)
set newFiles to {}
try
tell application "Finder" to set tFiles to files of entire contents of WatchedFolder as alias list
on error -- only one, so as alias list doesn't work (a bug)
tell application "Finder" to set tFiles to files of entire contents of WatchedFolder as alias as list
end try
repeat with F in tFiles
if contents of F is not in tWatchFiles then set end of newFiles to contents of F
end repeat
try
-- do stuff with the new files
on error e
display dialog e
end try
set tWatchFiles to tFiles -- update the file list
end checkFiles
Langley: Here’s my version (quickly hacked together)
property serverName : "Graphics Works"
property watchedFolder : "¢¢ Resources"
property delayTime : 5 -- How long to wait befor checking the folder
global defaultFileCount
tell application "Finder"
-- Do Inits... Checking for server and folders...
if serverName is in (list disks) then -- Check for the mounted volume
if (watchedFolder as Unicode text) is in (name of every folder of disk serverName) then -- Check for the folder to watch
set watchedFolder to (folder watchedFolder of disk serverName)
set defaultFileCount to (count files of watchedFolder) -- Count the number of files present when the script first runs.
else
display dialog "Watched folder \"" & watchedFolder & "\" not found."
end if
else
display dialog "Server volume \"" & serverName & "\" not found."
end if
end tell
on idle {}
tell application "Finder"
set fileCount to (count files of watchedFolder) -- Count the files again to see if it's changed
if fileCount ≠defaultFileCount and fileCount ≠0 then -- If there's a mismatch AND there ARE files in the folder...
set chosenFile to (item 1 of (choose from list ((name of every file of watchedFolder) as list) without multiple selections allowed and empty selection allowed)) -- Pick your file.
if chosenFile ≠{} then
try -- This is optional to force users not to open files directly from the server.
set dupedFile to duplicate (first file of watchedFolder whose name is chosenFile) to desktop
on error
if button returned of (display dialog "File exists on Desktop." buttons {"Replace", "Cancel"} default button "Cancel") = "Replace" then
set dupedFile to duplicate (first file of watchedFolder whose name is chosenFile) to desktop with replacing
open dupedFile -- Or do whatever to it.
end if
end try
end if
set defaultFileCount to fileCount -- Cache the new count
end if
end tell
return delayTime
end idle
As Adam said, save it as a stay-open application. You can change the properties to match your server/folders.
Have fun,
Jim Neumann
BLUEFROG