Droplet - getting name of dropped file

Question

This post does not need answering, as I have already solved the problem described. I have put it here in case it might help someone else save a bit of time. However, feel free to make comments and observations for further enlightenment of myself and others who are grappling with various aspects of AppleScript.
Recently, I decided to learn to use droplets and open handlers. In my first attempt, I set out to modify an existing script which prompted the user to choose a file which is then processed in various ways. My aim was to drop the file on the new droplet version of the script, with the droplet identifying the file automatically, and have it run as before from there onwards. So far, through trial and error and a fair bit of internet searching, I have been able to work out most things in a reasonably short time. One that took me a while involved getting the name of the file which is dropped onto the droplet - the file name could be anything, but the script needed its name for the various things which happen in the script.
I quickly discovered that a droplet can quite happily and easily give a list of the names of files inside a folder which is dropped onto it. When it comes to just one single file, it took a bit of work.
I started off with something like this (with a few variations):
(the display dialog bit is there to show if I got exactly what I wanted - it's not necessary for the correct running of the droplet, but droplets don't have "Result" and "Event Log" available for seeing what's happening)
+on open Dropped_File+
+tell application "Finder"+
+set NameOfFile to name of Dropped_File+
+display dialog NameOfFile+
+end tell+
+end open+
There was usually an error message such as: Can't get name of {alias "Macintosh HD:Users:username:Desktop:filename.txt"}, or another one about not being able to make the acquired information into the right data type. Generally I was getting the complete pathway of the file, but couldn't separate out what I wanted from the rest of it.
As part of my looking for a solution, I tried duplicating the file and getting the name of the copy. Success, in the sense that I could get the name of the copy.
+on open Dropped_File+
+tell application "Finder"+
+set CopyOfFIle to duplicate Dropped_File to desktop+
+set NameOfCopyOfFIle to name of CopyOfFIle+
+display dialog NameOfCopyOfFIle+
+end tell+
+end open+
After more experimentation I found the "info for" command (in StandardAdditions), and ended up with the following successful droplet:
+on open Dropped_File+
+tell application "Finder"+
+set NameOfFile to (name of (info for Dropped_File))+
+display dialog NameOfFile+
+end tell+
+end open+
I hope this saves somebody some time. About a third of my scripting attempts are usually assisted unknowingly by someone else who has been trying something similar and, having succeeded, posted their results online for others to benefit from.

Answer 1

Hi Pierre,
I tested both at the same time with the following code:
+on open Dropped_File+
+tell application "Finder"+
+set Name1OfFile to name of item (item 1 of Dropped_File as alias)+
+display dialog Name1OfFile+
+set Name2OfFile to name of (item 1 of Dropped_File as alias)+
+display dialog Name2OfFile+
+end tell+
+end open+
Both versions gave the desired result - just the name of the file - whereas when I had tried using "as alias" (obviously not in the same place and not using "item 1 of") I had received error messages. From memory, I think I had tried "name of (item Dropped_File) as alias".
I "fiddled" with your suggestion a little, and found that the following (omitting the "item" and "item 1 of") also works:
+on open Dropped_File+
+tell application "Finder"+
+set Name1OfFile to name of item (Dropped_File as alias)+
+display dialog Name1OfFile+
+set Name2OfFile to name of (Dropped_File as alias)+
+display dialog Name2OfFile+
+end tell+
+end open+
It looks the correct placement and usage of "as alias" did the trick.
Thank you very much for taking the time to examine the problem and come up with a solution which should work equally well under both System 10.4 and 10.5.
Message was edited by: Steven Jones