Way to move files to multiple folders in single Folder Action

automationautomator

I'm trying to set a Folder Action that will move all of the files that are in my downloads folder into their appropriate folders so that I don't have to do them manually. (movies to movie folder, music to music folder etc…)

Is there a way I can do this in a Folder Action without having to create separate Folder Action script for each type of file?

Best Answer

You can use a shell script like this:

for f; do
  case $f in
    *.mp3|*.m4a) mv -n "$f" ~/Music;;
    *.jpg) mv -n "$f" ~/Pictures;;
    *) mv -n "$f" ~/Documents;;
  esac
done

mv -n skips a file when a file with the same name exists in the target.

Automator Droplet

You can do this with an Automator workflow and a script (I'm using Python, but it could be done with Bash, Applescript or anything else really).

Open up Automator, and choose Application type.
Add a Run Shell Script action to the workflow.
In the Run Shell Script action, set the Shell option to /usr/bin/python, and Pass input: to as arguments.
Set the script text to the script as shown below. Be sure to change the destination path to your desired destination.
Save the application to your desired location.

Script

import sys
import os
import subprocess

destinationPath = '/Users/rob/Desktop/test'

for f in sys.argv[1:]:
    name = os.path.basename(f)
    newdir = os.path.join(destinationPath, name[:1], name[:2], name[:3])
    print newdir

    if not os.path.exists(newdir):
        os.makedirs(newdir)

    subprocess.call(['mv', f, os.path.join(newdir,name)])
#eof

Important: Change the destinationPath = line to the path you want (i.e. the folder that contains your numbered folders). Make sure to retain the single quotes around the path.

Usage

Just drag and drop the files you want onto the application file you saved, and they'll be moved accordingly. If the proper folders don't exist already, they will be created.

Batch-processing Image Files in a Folder using a folder action with Automator

As you already have Hazel installed anyway, it might be easier to use it to trigger the image resizing as well. Create a new rule in Hazel to watch the folder and execute the command:

enter image description here

Best Answer

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Usage

Batch-processing Image Files in a Folder using a folder action with Automator

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