Capitalized finder item with automator

I've quite a lot of items on the finder that I want to quickly capitalize the name of it,
how can I do that with automator?

I figured out a way to use variables in the Rename Finder Items.
In my case I want to rename the files to a sequential name. I can't link the variable to the "New Name" box in the Automater GUI.
But it helps to know that that the Automator is just creating an XML file and you can edit this directly.
To do this, create the Automator workflow and save it. Give the variable some distinct name like "myVariable".
In Finder, right click the Automator file and select Show Package Contents. Within this folder go to Contents and find the document.wflow file. This is the XML file, so open it with TextEdit or something.
Search the file for your variable name. The first instance of it should be in a section that starts with <key>variables</key>. All the variables will be listed here. Each variable has several lines to define it. The first will be the UUID. The UUID will have a line that is something like: <string>BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E</string>. The BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E is how Automator refers to your variable. Search the file for this UUID string and you will see. Whenever Automator wants to insert the variable, it will enter $(BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E).
Copy this string, with the $() surrounding it. Close the wflow file. Now you can go back to Automator itself and paste it wherever you want your variable to appear, even if you can't normally insert the variable into that field.

Similar Messages

Rename Finder Items with Automator in Leopard

I used following automator actions to rename all files contained in selected folders in Mac OS finder:
1. Get Selected Finder Items
2. Get Folder Contents (repeat for each subfolder found option on)
3. Rename Finder Items (Add Text before name, Show action option on)
First two actions were executed flawlessly. Unfortunately after keying in text to be added in front of every file name in text field of popup window on execution of last action, no file name was changed. Then I realized that same actions performed in automator application instead of invoking through Finder's contextual menu worked as expected. So the problem seem to be related to initialization of text value in text field of the action.
I decided to try with new variable feature introduced in Leopard version of automator. Clicking on Variables button next to Actions button in menu bar of Automator, then select following item:
Library > Text & Data > New Storage
I managed to provide a text value for the New Storage variable through "Library > Text > Ask for Text" and "Library > Utilities > Set Value of Variable" actions, but text field in Rename Finder Items action seem to reject the New Storage variable completely. So the attempt to provide text value to the Rename Finder Items action through user initialized variable failed without reason.
May I know how can I make use of variables to set text fields in Rename Finder Items action ? Is the above mentioned failure a confirmed bug of Leopard waiting to be fixed by Apple (after one whole year of beta testing !!) ? Thanks in advance.

I figured out a way to use variables in the Rename Finder Items.
In my case I want to rename the files to a sequential name. I can't link the variable to the "New Name" box in the Automater GUI.
But it helps to know that that the Automator is just creating an XML file and you can edit this directly.
To do this, create the Automator workflow and save it. Give the variable some distinct name like "myVariable".
In Finder, right click the Automator file and select Show Package Contents. Within this folder go to Contents and find the document.wflow file. This is the XML file, so open it with TextEdit or something.
Search the file for your variable name. The first instance of it should be in a section that starts with <key>variables</key>. All the variables will be listed here. Each variable has several lines to define it. The first will be the UUID. The UUID will have a line that is something like: <string>BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E</string>. The BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E is how Automator refers to your variable. Search the file for this UUID string and you will see. Whenever Automator wants to insert the variable, it will enter $(BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E).
Copy this string, with the $() surrounding it. Close the wflow file. Now you can go back to Automator itself and paste it wherever you want your variable to appear, even if you can't normally insert the variable into that field.

Selecting Finder Items in Automator

I am a long-time MAC user but have never used applescript or automator. I work in a Prepress department and need to find a simple way to select certain folders quickly.
Here's the scenario:
I have a folder full of jobs. They would look something like this:
12345_AdvertisingAgency
12349_CarCompany
13245_WhoeverCompany
13568_AnyCompany
Typically this folder would contain 500-600 folders with the same naming convention.
I need to find a way to ignore the first six characters (all 5 numbers + the underscore) and select the folder by the first letter after the underscore so that I can put all the "A's" in one folder, all the "B's" in another folder, and so on through the alphabet.
Does anyone know of an automator action that can do this?
Thank for any help.

Your Prep:
1. Create the destination folders, A, B, C, etc.
Your workflow:
1. Find Finder Items - Where= +jobs parent folder+ | Whose=Name-Contains-_A
click on Options and select 'Show Action When Run'
2. Move Finder Items- To= +destination folder+ ( A )
click on Options and select 'Show Action When Run'
Running it:
Hit the Run button. The first time you run it, the options are already set to move all the A jobs so you should be able to just hit Return to move through.
On subsequent runs, just change the letter/folder in Whose and To

"get specified finder items" in automator pulling more than specified

In part of a larger workflow I copy 5 files to my iDisk. In the next step I select one of those items again using 'get specified finder items' from the same location, add a date to its name in the next step with the 'add date or times to finder item names' then finish the workflow.
However what is happening is the 'get specified finder items' I'm using to grab the file to be renamed, is actually grabbing all 5 of the files from the previous step. Only the one is showing in the 'get specified finder items' list but it grabs all 5 anyway.
Anyone see this before? Know a way to fix it?
Your help as always is very much appreciated. Thank you!

Keith Kaiser1 wrote:
In part of a larger workflow I copy 5 files to my iDisk.
In the next step I select one of those items again using 'get specified finder items' from the same location,
control-click on this "get specified items" action and select "ignore input". otherwise the previous action in the workflow will pass its output as input for this one. that's what's causing the doubles.
add a date to its name in the next step with the 'add date or times to finder item names' then finish the workflow.
However what is happening is the 'get specified finder items' I'm using to grab the file to be renamed, is actually grabbing all 5 of the files from the previous step. Only the one is showing in the 'get specified finder items' list but it grabs all 5 anyway.
Anyone see this before? Know a way to fix it?
Your help as always is very much appreciated. Thank you!

Rename Finder Items from Automator doesn't work correctly!

I made a rename finder items in Mac OS X 10.4 by just using rename finder items task and save as a plug in for finder. It was working fine. I tried to use it in 10.5, but it doesn't really change the names. I created a new one or even tried to modify the workflow, but it still not working. Can someone verify the issue? Thank you.

I can verify the issue, but I have no solution. Very frustrating, as I used to batch rename all the time in just the same way.

Automator (move finder items)

I have a service that moves finder items to a particular folder. Since I started using this I noticed I occasionally will need to move an item with the same name into this folder. Is there a way I can get the service to move the second item with the same name, but instead of overwriting the first item, have it add a -1 or something? If I open something like a zip file multiple times in finder, it creates the second one with a 1 after the name. That's exactly what I need. Any way to do that with a service like this?

No, I didn't give up on the thread, I just went to work with what you gave me to see what I could do with it. It's just that you've been nothing but extremely helpful and patient with me in the past; and I started to feel like I was coming to the board, putting up my problems, and you do everything for me. I know you're here to contribute to the community, but I don't like to take advantage. I am making an effort to learn this stuff now, I just have to make baby steps!
Okay, here is the deal with this item. I actually want to apply this with more than one operation, but the basic script or concept would remain pretty much the same. We create lots of documents like invoices, receipts, shipping labels, etc., that usually get saved as pdf onto the desktop. Then, they are named, often with the date and particular file name and finally moved into the proper folders. For example, shipping labels get saved to desktop with the default name of something like
vty3RlsIK.LabelGenerationServlet.part
Then I would change the name to something like
12-31-2009USPSLabel.pdf
Then, I would move it to the folder where we keep the shipping labels for records.
So, the service I created actually does more than just moving the file. It goes like this:
service receives selected pdf
in finder
name single item in finder item names (to: USPS_Label.pdf)
add date or time to finder item names (before name, underscore separator)
move finder items (to target folder)
open finder item (with default application)
The other ones I need would be similar, except they don't usually need to be opened afterward, just named and moved, for the most part. I figured I could continue to just use the name change function of automator before running the script, but if would run faster or more efficiently if that were also part of the script, I suppose that would be better. And I would like to be able to have the numbers go up through as many as I need. If it's a matter of just adding in all the possibilities of existing names up to the number I need, that's tedious work I don't mind doing now to save on having to name all these files in the future!
Also, these files are always named differently, so the source file would need to just be selected file, not the actual name.
Finally, I tried to play with the script to name the desktop like you said, but would it be something like
set source_folder to folder (path to desktop)
or
set source_folder to (path to desktop)
I still need to learn a little more before I understand the way that works. I am so used to only using the unix path, I like the ability to use (path to desktop) that's really interesting.
I think I may have rambled a bit, but that should explain the details of what I'm trying to accomplish.
thanks

Automator's Filter Finder Items behaves incorrectly

Can anyone confirm the misbehaviour of the Filter Finder Items in Automator when set to filter items whose date created is not in the last 7 days? I have a workflow being used as a folder action to keep my downloads folder tidy but never runs right as it gets rid of content that I've just downloaded.
Link to workflow: http://cl.ly/1S0h1I3m3r1t3l2a1W1J
Insight would be appreciated.

The only reliable way to do that would be to take an inventory of the filesystem, and compare it with an earlier inventory. I don't know of any easy way to do that with built-in tools. If you use Time Machine, there are third-party tools such as BackupLoupe that compare snapshots. Or you could try something like Uninstaller, though it's quirky and doesn't seem to be maintained much anymore.
At an advanced level, there are UNIX tools such as mtree, which is built in, radmind, or tripwire, but you probably don't want to go there. I use radmind and mtree for different purposes, but they're not for the squeamish.

Can't save PowerPoint as images with automator

I am trying to use automator to create a set of slides from power point for a screensaver. I want the user to be able to drag the power point onto the automator App, generate an image from each slide, and save it to the 'Slideshow' folder and delete the pdf used to make the images. Then it should delete the pdf and images generated and either move the power point file to another folder or delete it. I'm using OS 10.8.4.
Here's what I have so far:
STEP 1: Convert Format of PowerPoint (to pdf)
STEP 2: Render PDF Pages as Images
STEP 3: Move Finder Items (to Slideshow folder)
STEP 4: Find Finder Items (with extension pdf)
STEP 5: Move Finder Items to Trash
When I run a test I get a green checkmark on all the steps, but this workflow does absolutely nothing. At one point I tried saving the photos in iPhoto but that didn't work either. What should I do to make this work?
Thanks.

I solved, is it possible to close this topic? thanks.

Batch printing with automator or applescript

Hey all,
I would really appreciate any help people could offer. I've looked at a bunch of forums and can't seem to find a solution to this problem though many people have similar problems that haven't been solved. I need to print a set of about 50 documents (mix of pdfs and docs) in a fixed order, multiple times throughout the week. I'd like any of the documents that are multiple pages to be double sided and stapled (we have a Ricoh 6000 that can staple) and for some of the items I need multiple copies (sometimes 4 copies, sometimes 2). I'm comfortable coding but new to automator and applescript so I'm having trouble finding the right combination.
I tried using automator as follows:
*do shell script*
defaults write com.apple.print.custompresets com.apple.print.lastPresetPref 2SidedPacket
*get specified finder items*
*print finder items*
with the idea that the shell script would change my printer settings to use the saved preset 2SidedPacket which is double sided and staples. i used get specified finder items and dragged the items that i needed from the finder. for items that i needed multiple copies, i just dropped them in "get specified finder items" the appropriate number of times. then "print finder items" speaks for itself.
The problem is that while the appropriate number of copies prints, the settings are not used and so i get a bunch of single sided sheets that aren't stapled.
Please help! This will save me quite a bit of time if I can get it to work.
I'm happy to hear any ideas; scrap mine entirely if you want and start from scratch if you think you have a solution that will work. or add to mine. whatever you want.
I appreciate your help.
-Jake

Hey all,
I would really appreciate any help people could offer. I've looked at a bunch of forums and can't seem to find a solution to this problem though many people have similar problems that haven't been solved. I need to print a set of about 50 documents (mix of pdfs and docs) in a fixed order, multiple times throughout the week. I'd like any of the documents that are multiple pages to be double sided and stapled (we have a Ricoh 6000 that can staple) and for some of the items I need multiple copies (sometimes 4 copies, sometimes 2). I'm comfortable coding but new to automator and applescript so I'm having trouble finding the right combination.
I tried using automator as follows:
*do shell script*
defaults write com.apple.print.custompresets com.apple.print.lastPresetPref 2SidedPacket
*get specified finder items*
*print finder items*
with the idea that the shell script would change my printer settings to use the saved preset 2SidedPacket which is double sided and staples. i used get specified finder items and dragged the items that i needed from the finder. for items that i needed multiple copies, i just dropped them in "get specified finder items" the appropriate number of times. then "print finder items" speaks for itself.
The problem is that while the appropriate number of copies prints, the settings are not used and so i get a bunch of single sided sheets that aren't stapled.
Please help! This will save me quite a bit of time if I can get it to work.
I'm happy to hear any ideas; scrap mine entirely if you want and start from scratch if you think you have a solution that will work. or add to mine. whatever you want.
I appreciate your help.
-Jake

Rename finder item withouth user to choose find string.

Hi,
I've built an automator workflow in wich I create a standard folder /w subfolders. Automator then renames the folders, by rename finder item with replace text.
The new name is a projectname an user can give in. But I don't want the user to change the find string. Is there a way to work this out?
I've tried to do an ask for text, but I don't know to how I can put the result into the replace field?
Thx,
Marlon
Powerbook G4 (1Ghz) Mac OS X (10.3)

I figured out a way to use variables in the Rename Finder Items.
In my case I want to rename the files to a sequential name. I can't link the variable to the "New Name" box in the Automater GUI.
But it helps to know that that the Automator is just creating an XML file and you can edit this directly.
To do this, create the Automator workflow and save it. Give the variable some distinct name like "myVariable".
In Finder, right click the Automator file and select Show Package Contents. Within this folder go to Contents and find the document.wflow file. This is the XML file, so open it with TextEdit or something.
Search the file for your variable name. The first instance of it should be in a section that starts with <key>variables</key>. All the variables will be listed here. Each variable has several lines to define it. The first will be the UUID. The UUID will have a line that is something like: <string>BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E</string>. The BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E is how Automator refers to your variable. Search the file for this UUID string and you will see. Whenever Automator wants to insert the variable, it will enter $(BD464B7A-ACDE-4A63-B595-FAF1DA6DE26E).
Copy this string, with the $() surrounding it. Close the wflow file. Now you can go back to Automator itself and paste it wherever you want your variable to appear, even if you can't normally insert the variable into that field.

"Ask for Finder Items" Automator action broken?

OK, I'm pulling my hair out on Automator (again). I'm on OS X Lion 10.7.1.
Here's what I want to do: I have image files named "something-something (S1).png" and I want to create a copy of each file named "something-something (S2).png" then resize that copy to 50% the size of the original. A perfect choice for Automator, I would have thought.
So here's the workflow I came up with:
1. Ask for Finder Items: Type set to Files and Allow Multiple Selection checked.
2. Duplicate Finder Items: To create a copy, hopefully named "something-something (S1) copy.png".
3. Rename Finder Items: Set to Replace Text, with Find set to "(S1) copy" and Replace set to "(S2)" (in basename only).
4. Scale Images: Set to By Percentage 50.
I would have thought that would have worked. Trouble is, it doesnt even get to first base. When I run the workflow I see the expected choose file dialog, and I choose a test PNG file. Then Automator happily announces that "Ask for Finder Items completed" in the log, and proceeds to sit .. and sit ... and sit. It says it's running, but nothing is happening. No duplicate file action happens, no rename .. nothing. Oh, and yes, I do see the selected filename in the "Results" area for the Ask for Finder Items action.
What's going on? Any ideas? For a supposedly intuitive tool I find automator inscrutable (and I'm a 30 year seasoned operating system oftware developer).
TIA,
--Tim

FWIW, if you've found a bug, please contact Apple Support folks or (if you have access) use the BugReport tool.
(This is a user forum, and the Apple Engineering folks may or may not see any reports that are posted here.)

Automator 2.2 "Copy Finder Items" Action Error

Hello all,
When I try to create an Automator workflow that finds a type of file (pdf) in a nested folder structure and copies those files to another folder - essentially extracting the pdfs from their nested folders - I get an error message.
1) I use the "find Finder items" action. I specify the top-level folder and set the kind to "document"
2) It returns 56 items
3) I use "copy Finder items" action and specify a new folder
4) The copy action fails stating that a given file "couldn't be saved in the folder". It does not always error-out on the same file. Changing or creating a new folder doesn't help.
I have tried this under two user accounts with the same result. I have tried deleting preferences. The same error results.
Any ideas?
I am running 10.7.1 on a 15" MacBook Pro, early 2011.

I was having the same issue.
I found another solution: instead of copying files, you could move files.
1) Duplicate your original folder (unless you want to move/extract your files entirely to the new folder) (right click the folder and select duplicate)
2) Create a new folder as the destiny folder
3) Open automator and use the following actions (in order) on the workflow
- Find Finder Itens (browse to your source folder; select "any"; select "extension"; select "end with"; type "pdf") (you can do the same thing with the actions "get specified finder items" combined with "filter finder items")
- Get Folder Contents (and mark repeat for each subfolder found) (use this action if you have subfolders)
- Move Finder Itens (browse to your destination folder, that you created previously)
Now you can delete the duplicated folder.

Automator Copy Finder Items - file couldn't be saved error

I have a simple automator sequence that suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason. Copy Finder Items has started returning an error "the file xxx couldn't be saved to the folder yyy" Happens for different files and folders. Can't see anythng that's changed. Any ideas?

I'm currently having the same issue, and have had it with mulitple automator scripts on multiple computers, but it's not fixing itseltf. Anyone know what this error could be?
I've noticed that I get the above error most often after getting and then correcting permissions errors in the same workflow. Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks!

Pass input to Automator's "Ask for Finder Items"

Hi,
I have created an Applescript in Automator, which is set up to determine a folder location where config files reside.
I would like to pass this location to "Ask for Finder Items", so that the default config file is selected, but the user can select their own config file if they prefer.
I can't see any way to reference my location variable in the "Ask for Finder Items" action.
I've also tried to view the "Ask for Finder Items" sourcecode for a hint, but can't figure out how to do this either.
Any help greatly would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Dan

Found this approach which is working for me:
set config_file to choose file with prompt "Locate the config file and click OK" default location MYLOCATIONVARIABLE
This opens the finder at the correct folder.

Automator Open Finder Items Won't Work in Plug-In

I'm having another Automator problem in Leopard.
This time I have a workflow that is intended to combine PDFs selected in Finder and open the resulting document in Preview. The steps are:
1. Get Selected Items
2. Combine PDF Pages, Combine by appending pages
3. Open Finder Items, Open with Preview
The workflow runs fine if I'm running it from within Automator. When I save it as a plug-in, the Open Finder Items portion doesn't work. If I turn on Show this Action, I get a dialog box with a dropdown list of programs with Preview already selected along with Cancel and Continue buttons. Clicking the Continue button does nothing.
As a test, I tried removing the Combine PDF Pages step from the workflow and saving it as a plug-in. My expectation is that this version would simply open the items selected in Finder. Unfortunately, that didn't work either.
Anyone have a clue for me?

I'm having a similar problem. When running from within Automator everything is fin, but the plug in doesn't get the finder items. Oddly, I have ONE old workflow that takes the word "folder" away from a file name. That one works fine, but doesn't require any action once I select it. It doesn't even open the automator show action dialog window to make any changes. Weird how this one is still working and the other ones won't.

Capitalized finder item with automator

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