applescript_finder_operations.md•2.84 kB
# Finder Operations in AppleScript
Finder is macOS's file management application, and AppleScript can interact with it to perform various file system operations. This document explains some of the most useful operations.
## Count Items on Desktop
```applescript
tell application "Finder"
set desktopItems to count of items on desktop
return "Finder has " & desktopItems & " items on the desktop"
end tell
```
## Get Selected Finder Items
```applescript
tell application "Finder"
if selection is {} then
return "No items selected in Finder"
end if
set selectedItems to selection
set itemPaths to {}
repeat with anItem in selectedItems
set end of itemPaths to POSIX path of (anItem as alias)
end repeat
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to linefeed
set pathsText to itemPaths as text
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
return "Selected items:" & linefeed & pathsText
end tell
```
## Create New Folder
```applescript
tell application "Finder"
set newFolderName to "My New Folder"
if not (exists folder newFolderName of desktop) then
make new folder at desktop with properties {name:newFolderName}
return "Folder '" & newFolderName & "' created on Desktop"
else
return "Folder '" & newFolderName & "' already exists on Desktop"
end if
end tell
```
## Move Files
```applescript
tell application "Finder"
set sourceFile to (path to desktop as string) & "source.txt" as alias
set targetFolder to (path to documents folder) as alias
move sourceFile to targetFolder
return "Moved file to Documents folder"
end tell
```
## Get File Information
```applescript
tell application "Finder"
set targetFile to (path to desktop as string) & "example.txt" as alias
set fileSize to size of targetFile
set fileModDate to modification date of targetFile
set fileCreator to creator type of targetFile
set fileType to file type of targetFile
return "File size: " & fileSize & " bytes" & linefeed & ¬
"Modified: " & fileModDate & linefeed & ¬
"Creator: " & fileCreator & linefeed & ¬
"Type: " & fileType
end tell
```
## Notes
- Finder operations require the Automation permission for Finder to be granted to the application running the script
- Many operations can be performed using either Finder or direct file operations (`read file`, `write to file`, etc.)
- Finder operations are generally more user-friendly and handle aliases and packages well
- For better performance with many files, consider using shell commands via `do shell script`
- For simple operations on a few files, Finder commands are usually easier to understand
- Finder operations show visual feedback to the user (like file moves showing animation)
- Consider using `with showing packages` option if you need to work with package contents
