Finding/Spotlighting Selected Files

I copied some old websites from my PC over to my Mac. They were made in Microsoft FrontPage and feature lots of weird files, many of them named Thumbs.db. I discovered that I type the name of a file into Spotlight, then click Show All to reveal all of them, after which I can choose Select All and delete them.
The problem is there are also files named Thumbs.db in some of my software programs, especially Photoshop. So is there a way to search and/or select ONLY files named Thumbs.db that occur in User > Sites?
Thanks.

I opened up Script Editor and pasted in the code you provided. It processed it for a while, then issued the following error message:
"Finder got an error: AppleEvent timed out."
However, when I click on Finder, I get the spinning icon that tells me it's still processing. When I click off Script Editor, I get the following message:
Do you want to save the changes you made in the document "untitled"?
My hunch is that the script you gave me is working, but my memory is overwhelmed because of the sheer number of files that need to be deleted. If so, that may spawn a new thread: What happened to the second GB of memory I installed yesterday?
Thanks.

Similar Messages

Finder de-selects files when they are locked/unlocked

I have several encrypted disk images that I use to store various personal info on: financial data, logins/passwords, health info, etc.
Whenever I update the content on any of them I make a copy of the .dmg file, then rename the copy with the date and time in the filename. For example, if I have a test.dmg file, when I update content in it, I would make a copy and rename the copy like test_201401051459.dmg. That way I have a series of backups of each iteration of the encrypted disk image file. (I've had encrypted disk image files get corrupted in the past, so this is a simple way to make sure I can open at least one of the previous backup files if necessary.) I also "lock" each dated copy of the .dmg file to prevent accidental deletion.
At the end of each month I move all of the dated backup .dmg files to an "_Old Data" folder. In order to do that, I select all the .dmg files I want to move into the subfolder, then right-click (or ctrl-click) on them and -- continuing to hold the Ctrl key down -- I click on "Get Summary Info" to open a single "Get Info" dialog for all of the files so I can unlock them before I move them (if I don't unlock them, then Finder will make copies instead of moving them). As soon as I de-select/uncheck the "Locked" option in the "Multiple Item Info" dialog, Finder de-selects all of the selected files in the Finder window and also narrows the column they're displayed in (I always use Column View in Finder windows). This forces me to manually re-widen the column so I can see the entire file names, and manually re-select all of the files so I can move them into the sub-folder.
This is changed behavior from Snow Leopard (from which I upgraded to Yosemite). In Snow Leopard, Finder left things alone. It didn't decide all on its own that files should be de-selected and that column widths should be narrowed to what it thinks is right. This turns a relatively simple operation into an unnecessarily-more-complex operation. Pure PITA.
Mid-2011 iMac
<Edited by Host>

Hi Dan,
The issue occurs on specific file type or all files have the same issue?
We have an FAQ thread which could help troubleshooting network slowness issue. Please see if it could help:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/7bd9978c-69b4-42bf-90cd-fc7541ccb663/forum-faq-troubleshooting-network-file-copy-slowness?forum=winserverPN
If you have any feedback on our support, please send to [email protected]

Paste clipboard's contents to selected file's Get Info (Spotlight) comments

Hi,
Could someone please help me in building an AppleScript that would paste the clipboard's current contents to the currently selected (in the Finder) file's Get Info (Spotlight) comments?
I know this can be done with an Automator workflow or Folder Action, but prefer an AppleScript.
Many thanks!

The following script will add (a space and then the clipboard) to the comments of the currently selected file. In case there are several items selected it only deals with the first one, and there is also a dialog to edit the final content:
<pre title="this text can be pasted into the Script Editor" style="font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 10px; padding: 5px; width: 720px; color: #000000; background-color: #E0E0E0; overflow: auto">set TheClipboard to (get the clipboard)
tell application "Finder" to try
set TheFIle to the first item of (get the selection)
set TheComment to the comment of TheFIle
set TheName to text ((length of (path to home folder as text)) + 1) thru -1 of (TheFIle as text)
if TheName ends with ":" then
set TheType to " folder "
else
set TheType to " file "
end if
display dialog ("Change the comment for the" & TheType & return & quoted form of TheName & "?") with title "Edit Spotlight Comment" default answer (TheComment & space & TheClipboard)
set comment of TheFIle to text returned of the result
end try
</pre>

Why my spotlight can not find my personal files ? It can find them before but can not find them now,I want to know why?

why my spotlight can not find my personal files ? It can find them before but can not find them now,I want to know why?

From the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences ▹ Spotlight ▹ Privacy
The list of items excluded from Spotlight indexing is shown (it may be empty.) Click the plus (“+”) icon to add an item to the list. Select your boot volume (under DEVICES) and add it to the list. Then remove it from the list by selecting it and clicking the minus (“-“) icon.
Spotlight will rebuild the index. If you try to do a Spotlight search now from the magnifying-glass icon in the top right corner of the display, a pulsing dot will appear in the icon. When the dot disappears, the indexing is complete.

I can't seem to open (view) my photos. I get an error message that says "the file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it. To view or change permission, select the item in the finder and choose File. Get info."

I can't seem to open (view) my photos. I get an error message that says "the file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it. To view or change permission, select the item in the finder and choose File. Get info." I have never had this happen before? Thanks!

Try the following:
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
2 - Run Option #1, Repair Permissions.
OT

Finding Selected Files

I started a thread asking how I can find and delete selected files at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6435289#6435289
I was advised to paste the following script into Apple's Script Editor...
tell application "Finder"
delete (every file of entire contents of folder "Sites" of home whose name is "Thumbs.db")
end tell
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. It just times out, my Finder freezes, and I have to manually restart my computer.
However, it does at least FIND every instance of the file I'm looking for. So I'd like to ask about a few variations of this script so I can understand how it works.
Suppose that instead of searching for every instance of Thumbs.db in the folder Sites I wanted to search for every instance of Thumbs.db in User/Sites/MySite. What script would I write to do that? What about searching for the file in User/Sites/MySite/includes ?
Also, what about searching for text on a page rather than a file name? For example, I would like to compile a list of every file in a website that includes a PHP database query. I think I could find all of these queries by searching for mysql_ in each web page's source code. So how could I search for every file that includes "mysql_" in User/Sites/MySite?
Thanks.

1. Use:
tell application "Finder"
delete (every file of entire contents of folder "Sites:MySite" of home whose name is "Thumbs.db")
end tell
2. This is best done with a tool such as TextWrangler instead of with AppleScript.
(28479)

I can not open documents I get a message that says To view or change permissions, select the item in the Finder and choose File Get Info. help

I have a mac with os X. I have saved documents and photos on my computer and am now not able to open them. I get a message that tells To view or change permissions, select the item in the Finder and choose File > Get Info. I do that and it is not locked. confused. help

In the Info window it's this:
Do you have read and write privileges?

Finding the directory of selected files

I have selected files in the following manner
set new_file to (choose file with prompt "Choose files to save as PDF files.:" with multiple selections allowed)
What I now need the the path of the folder these files came from but am not having any luck with this. Thanks if anyone can help.

You can ask Finder for any item's container, which in this case would be a folder:
click here to open this script in your editor<pre style="font-family: 'Monaco', 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; overflow:auto; color: #222; background: #DDD; padding: 0.2em; font-size: 10px; width:400px">set new_file to (choose file with prompt "Choose files to save as PDF files.:" with multiple selections allowed)
tell application "Finder" to set new_folder to the container of first item of new_file</pre>

How to copy selected files in Finder (applescript)

I don't like to use hotkeys (such as CMD+C, etc.) and would prefer to copy and paste files in OS X with the mouse just like I did in Windows.
Unfortunately Finder has no such copy and paste buttons in its toolbar like I know them from Windows Explorer. It bothers me that I always have to use the context menu or hotkeys. So I intend to write small scripts with AppleScript and move them into the Finder toolbar to have my custom made buttons.
Unfortunately I am newbie to Applescript and did not yet manage to get such simple script to work despite many trials.
The first script must only copy marked/selected files or folders in Finder to the clipboard so that I can paste them into another Finder window.
The second script should simply paste the clipboard content into Finder.
I tried this but nothing is being copied:
tell application "Finder"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
key down {command}
keystroke "c"
key up {command}
end tell
Would be great if somebody can help me with these few lines.
Thanks in advance

meanwhile got a reply in another forum that works like charm exactly as I want...I post it here below for future newbies...
tell application "Finder" activate
delay 0.2
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
keystroke "c" using command down
end tell
end tell
end tell
save as program and then drag to Finder toolbar.
You can even change the icon.
Thanks for your attention guys

How to use spotlight to find and reveal files in the finder

Hello, Spotlight in Yosemite gives you the opportunity to reveal all files in the Finder (show all files in Finder) but can it reveal in finder just the want you want? We could that with Maverick, using command. Command now seems shows you only where it is, but it doesn't take you to take to finder. Thank you

Thank you Brenden,
Sorry for not being more clear, I looked at your links but I couldn't find the solution. Spotlight allows you to show "all results from your Mac in the Finder" but my questions is: can spotlight reveal a specific file in the finder? Showing all results in the finder is not very helpful because it shows too many. I used to be able to do it all the time with Maverick but I don't know how to do it with Yosemite, maybe it is no possible.
Thank you,
Andrés

Finder jumping to previously selected file - iMac 10.6.8

I am having the frustrating problem on my IMac running 10.6.8 that the finder is jumping to previously selected file whenever I expand a new folder. So, if I select file A in Folder A, then scroll down and expand Folder B, the Finder automatically jumps back up to file A at the top of the screen. Sometimes I don't even have to open a new folder, if I just scroll down the list of files/folders, it will sometimes jump back up to the selected file. Is this a bug? A setting? It wastes a lot of time as I have to keep going back to where I was in the finder window...
I have searched this on this forum and on Google and nobody seems to have any answers. I would hope that Apple would fix this bug in an update if it is indeed a bug, or, if it is a setting, where can I change it?
Thanks for any help!

The white iMacs from 2006 can only be upgraded as high as 10.7 which is Lion, not Mountain Lion. RAW files work fine on my 2006 white iMac with Lion so upgraded to 10.7 and then try out RAW images before you purchase a new machine. On a side note, I found the white iMacs quite slow (what with their age) and so I installed an SSD drive. Well worth the money! Impressively quick for an older machine.

Spotlight Can't Find My Raw Files

For months now, Spotlight has been unable to find my raw files. If I type .CR2, it finds them just fine, if I type any digit(s) at all before the .CR2, it can't find them. The same problems happen with my older camera that ends raw files .CRW
I'm not concerned with the metadata, just the file by name.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
George

Ah, the difference is between using the "quickie" Spotlight versus the full Command-F, which returns much better results.
Reading what you are getting strikes me as showing that the metadata importer handling your new camera's files is not working quite right. Thus, I have one drive that is searchable with Spotlight, but not indexed (it is a bit tricky to set it up that way). If I do a quick Spotlight search on "4039" my camera raw files that are on the fully indexed drives all show up, but the copy on the non-indexed drive does not. If I do a full Command-F search, with the two criteria of Kind:Canon Camera and Name Contains 4039, then it does show up. So I would guess that your new files are behving as if they are not fully indexed, and that the camera raw support in the metadata importer is lacking for that camera's files. Perhaps your new camera's raw format is just not fully supported yet. Have you run the latest Camera Raw updater from Apple?
Also you might try one of the search utilities that doesn't depend on indexing, EasyFind is free:
http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/index.html
You might find you like it better. Because it does a brute force search it can be rather slow. If you restrict it to just the folder that contains images, even if the folder is quite large with many sub-folders, rather than having it do a whole drive, its performance is actually quite fast.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Under finder select file and under file print is not highlighted

I select finder and then file but cannot select print under file menu because print is not in bold!

It would be much more helpful if you provided a more complete description including the version of OS X installed on the computer. By complete what type of file is it, i.e. the file extension information.

Finding strings in "Selected Files in Site" not working

When searching files for a string, and selecting "Selected Files in Site", Dreamweaver (starting today) will only search the root directory, NOT the selected subdirectory. This is uselss. I've been using Dreamweaver for years. Today I switched to mapping the site with an IP address instead of a server/domain name, could this be the culprit?

I encountered exactly the same problem.
I'm trying to solve this problem...

Spotlight where files are stored?

Is there a way to get spotlight to show the Path of a file? I don't want to just open it, I want to know where it is.

The only way I've come up with to do it is to to view the Spotlight results in the Finder by selecting Show All in Finder.
You can also just do your search in a Finder window in the first place.
In the Finder make sure that View>Show Path Bar is selected.
MattShow

Finding/Spotlighting Selected Files

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for