Applescript to open all InDesign files in a folder - applescript

I am trying to make a script which opens all InDesign files in a folder and edits them.
Currently trying to open the files, here is what I have:
tell application "Adobe InDesign CC 2015"
open (every file of folder "test1" whose name ends with ".indd")
end tell
but I get a snytax error:
Expected “,” but found “"”.

InDesign has no idea at all what files and folders are.
Only the Finder (and System Events) have knowledge about the file system
tell application "Finder" to set indesignFiles to (files of folder "test1" whose name extension is "indd") as alias list
tell application "Adobe InDesign CC 2015"
open indesignFiles
end tell
Consider that in the Finder the folder test1 is a subfolder of the desktop folder.

InDesign doesn't understand "every file of folder". The expression you are using is something you would say to the Finder.

Related

Move every file of every folder to another folder

I am looking to write an AppleScript to move every file in every folder to another folder.
Currently, this is what I have:
tell application "Finder"
move (get every file of every folder of folder "Source_Folder" of desktop) to folder "Destination_Folder" of desktop
end tell
But this throws an error saying: error "Finder got an error: Can’t get document file \"ALGE71FL.cpg\" of folder \"Destination_Folder\" of folder \"Desktop\" of folder \"THIS_USER\" of folder \"Users\" of startup disk." number -1728 from document file "ALGE71FL.cpg" of folder "Destination_Folder" of folder "Desktop" of folder "THIS_USER" of folder "Users" of startup disk
Where ALGE71FL.cpg is the first file of interest.
Any solutions to this?
If you are looking to move only the files in the folders and not the folders themselves. This following AppleScript code is one way to achieve your goal.
activate
set searchFolder to choose folder with prompt "Choose The Folder To Search"
activate
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Choose The Folder To Move Files To"
tell application "Finder"
set theFiles to (files of entire contents of searchFolder) as alias list
move theFiles to destinationFolder
end tell

Applescript to rename a file in the applications folder

I'm trying to use a script to rename a text file in the applications folder. I'm trying the following
tell application "Finder"
set name of file "File.txt" of applications folder to "File.txt.OFF"
end tell
But this gives an error:
Can’t get file "Text.txt" of applications folder.
Its definitely in there and called that (it's a copy and paste). I then tried removing the folder bit:
set name of file "File.txt" of applications to "File.txt.OFF"
But got another error:
Finder got an error: Can’t set every application to "Text.txt.OFF".
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers
applications folder in Finder terminology does not point to the standard folder /Applications. It seems to be a legacy reference to some pre OS X item.
Try this, but you might not have permission to change the name and you are discouraged anyway from putting arbitrary data like text files into /Applications
set applicationsFolder to path to applications folder
tell application "Finder"
set name of file "File.txt" of applicationsFolder to "File.txt.OFF"
end tell
or use System Events
tell application "System Events"
set name of file "File.txt" of applications folder of local domain to "File.txt.OFF"
end tell

Applescript trouble with moving files in script

this is the script I'm trying to use:
on open thisItem
set this_folder to (the POSIX path of thisItem)
set export_folder to "Macintosh HD:Users:j****.*******:Desktop:AUTOMATOR:export"
set pdf_folder to "Macintosh HD:Users:j****.*****:Desktop:AUTOMATOR:PDF"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator" to open thisItem
tell application "Adobe Illustrator" to save current document in export_folder as pdf with options {class:PDF save options, PDF preset:"Low res proofing"}
tell application "Adobe Illustrator" to close current document
tell application "UltraLowPDF" to open
tell application "Finder" to move every file of folder "Macintosh HD:Users:j*****.*****:Desktop:AUTOMATOR:PDF" to container of this_folder
end open
This script should do a few things:
1. It creates a pdf file from an .ai file using adobe illustrator.
2. It then runs that pdf file through an automator workflow, which then spits out a pdf into a folder on my desktop.
3. It then moves that pdf file from the desktop, back to the folder of the original .ai file.
Every part of the script works fine except for step 3, it just seems to ignore it entirely. I've tried adding a delay, thinking the script was getting ahead of itself.
I've also tried isolating the move part of the script, using this droplet:
on open thisItem
set this_folder to (the POSIX path of thisItem)
tell application "Finder" to move every file of folder "Macintosh HD:Users:j****.******:Desktop:AUTOMATOR:PDF" to container of this_folder
end open
But this just throws up an error saying that it can't get the «class ctnr» of the file dropped on it (-1728).
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
(note: I've starred out the user name part of the filepath for privacy)
EDIT: It seems that it's the Automator part of the script that is the problem, (the ''UltralowPDF"" app). After this runs, nothing after it in the script will run.
The problem is that thisItem is actually theseItems (aka a list). Either you need a repeat loop or – as in the following code – get the first item of the list.
The Finder does not accept (slash separated) POSIX paths. It works only with (colon separated) HFS paths.
The script uses the relative path path to desktop which point always to the desktop of the current user.
on open theseItems
set automatorFolder to (path to desktop as text) & "AUTOMATOR:"
set thisItem to item 1 of theseItems
set export_folder to automatorFolder & "export:"
set pdf_folder to automatorFolder & "PDF:"
tell application "Adobe Illustrator" to open thisItem
tell application "Adobe Illustrator" to save current document in export_folder as pdf with options {class:PDF save options, PDF preset:"Low res proofing"}
tell application "Adobe Illustrator" to close current document
tell application "UltraLowPDF" to open
tell application "Finder" to move every file of folder pdf_folder to container of thisItem
end open

POSIX file works in tell block

The following works in Script Editor (or an Applescript App), but not in XCode:
tell application "Finder" to set folder_list to items of folder POSIX file "/Users"
Specifically, I get at runtime:
Finder got an error: Can’t make «class ocid» id «data optr000000002094230000600000» into type integer. (error -1700)
If I try "double coercion":
...((folder POSIX file "/Users") as POSIX file)
I get:
Can’t make «class cfol» «script» of application "Finder" into type POSIX file. (error -1700)
I did see something similar discussed here, but the solution did not work for me:
"POSIX file" works in Applescript Editor, not in XCode
Thanks!
//Reid
p.s. I know I could just use "Macintosh HD:Users"... This works, unless somebody renamed their hard drive.
Applescript has the "path to" command to find paths to well known folders, like a user's home folder, desktop, documents folder etc. That's the best way to access the folders. You can see all the locations applescript knows in the Standard Additions applescript dictionary for the "path to" command. It also knows where the users folder is. As such I would write your code like this...
set usersPath to path to users folder
tell application "Finder" to set folder_list to items of usersPath
You can try to smoothen it out yourself, as I suspect the AppleScript editor does for you:
tell application "Finder" to set folder_list to items of folder (POSIX file "/Users" as text)
What I did, was to coerce the posix file to text, otherwise it is of class furl which really isn't what Finder can take. I'd try to coerce your posix file statements to text, and see if that helps.
This compiles and runs, both from within my Editor, and from the script menu:
tell application "Xcode"
tell application "Finder"
set m to folder (POSIX file "/Users" as text)
set n to name of m
tell me to display alert n
end tell
end tell
I hope this helps.

Open a local file with applescript within application

How would I go about opening a file from within an applescript application? I'd place it in /Contents/Resources of my applescript application. What I want to know is what I would tell the actual script to do?
To get the path to your application, use the path to me command and build a path to your resource. Then, you can use Finder to open the file with the default program, or you can tell a specific program to open the file.
set filepath to (path to me as string) & "Contents:Resources:file.ext"
tell application "Finder"
open alias filepath
end tell
--OR
tell application "Microsoft Word"
open alias filepath
end tell

Resources