Turn finder contents into text?

Question

any way to take an open finder window with file name, date modified, date created, etc columns and turn it into a text file?
thank you

Answer 1

David:
There's an easy way to do it without using command line input—use Automator.
In your Applications folder, open the Automator application and create a workflow using the following procedure:
1. In the Library column on the left, expand the Applications library.
2. Select the Finder library.
3. Drag the *Ask for Finder Items* action to the workflow build area on the right.
4. Using the Type drop-down selector, choose Type: *Files and Folders*.
5. Drag the *Get Folder Contents* action to the workflow build area under the previous action. Check the "Repeat for each subfolder found" checkbox
6. Back in the Library/Applications column, select the *Text Edit* library.
7. Drag the *New Text File* action to the workflow build area under the previous action.
8. Go to Automator's File menu and select *Save As...*
9. You have the option of saving as a workflow that you can run in Automator, or saving it as a stand-alone application that will run on its own. It's usually handier to save as an application if you're going to be running it often.
When you run the application it will display a *Choose a Finder Item* dialog and file browser. Use the file browser to navigate to the desired folder and click on Choose. The application will create a text file listing each folder, along with its complete file path. If you just want the folders and files, you can use TextEdit's Find and Replace function to eliminate the unwanted directory information. Alternatively, you can export (Copy and Paste) the information to another text editor with more extensive find and replace features. You can also copy and paste the information to Microsoft Excel for additional formatting and manipulation, if that serves your purposes.