How to run an AppleScript automatically once I insert a USB drive? - applescript

Question

I need to rename and fill about 70 USB sticks. Having an Applescript run automatically when they are inserted would make it much simpler.

Answer 1

Any external drive you connect to an OS X machine is mounted into /Volumes. If you watch that folder for changes, you can pick up on added external drives and process these. Running this code:
property ignoredVolumes : {"Macintosh HD", "Time Machine Backups"} -- add as needed
tell application "System Events"
set rootVolume to disk item (POSIX file "/Volumes" as text)
set allVolumes to name of every disk item of rootVolume
repeat with aVolume in allVolumes
if aVolume is not in ignoredVolumes then
set name of disk item (path of rootVolume & aVolume) to newName
end if
end repeat
end tell
will rename drives that are not in your ignoredVolumes list (unplug all but those you want to ignore, run ls /Volumes in Terminal and add the names to the property) to newName. To have this triggered on every change, modify the codes to be a Stay-Open script application:
property pollIntervall : 60 -- in seconds
property ignoredVolumes : {…} -- from above
on run
my checkVolumes()
end run
on idle
my checkVolumes()
return pollInterval
end idle
on checkVolumes()
tell … end tell -- from above
end checkVolumes
and save it in AppleScript Editor (select “AppleScript application”, make sure you tick “Stay Open” when you do). Once launched, the script will keep running, executing the on idle handler every pollInterval seconds.
This will do fine if you are basically doing a once-in-a-while batch job. If you want a more permanent solution that does not rely on running a stay-open script application, you can either
attach a Folder Action Script to the /Volumes folder (hat tip to Philip Regan on Ask Different; details on how to configure the action in this Mac OS X Hints post) – the advantage being you strictly process additions to /Volumes, or
use launchd by creating a LaunchAgent with the StartOnMount key set to true – that will trigger the script / app the agent starts every time a filesystem is mounted (tip of the hat to Daniel Beck at Ask Different; see Apple’s Technical Note TN2083 for the gory details).