OS X V10.6 Snow Leopard :: Automator Won't Do More Than One Sequential File Rename
Jun 18, 2012
I am very new to automator, but relatively savvy with macs and such. Having a strange problem where an Automator file action to rename a file with a sequential number is only working one time. The second time a new file drops into the folder, nothing happens. If I edit the Automator File Action, change the number to a new higher number, it will work one more time, and then not again.  The basic task is to rename a file with a new text and sequential number each time a file is dropped or saved to a folder. I am using a slide scanner, and the default image file that is saved is called 'untitled' each time. Having this work would let me automate the entire scanning process to one click...Â
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 3.06 Intel Core 2 Duo
I've set up an Automator to batch rename files. The renaming works fine. The problem arises when it renames a file which doesn't contain it's extension (a common MacOS practice). Is there some way to make sure it preserves the filetype? For instance, this works fine:Â
Original:
Output:
 And this results in an error:Â
Original:
Output (file type has been replaced with generic "document" type)
I've able to get an automator service to rename a bunch of files exactly the way I want by having it "Copy Finder Items" and then Make Finder Items Sequential". But it then dumps all the renamed files on the desktop.How do I add an option for it to either create a folder to put it in or dump the files into a pre-existing folder?
I'm using Automator to rename 200 odd pictures I have taken to the date the photograph was taken. I have tried renaming them, sorting them then reloading in other applications and trying to save. I see no option in changing the name to a new name, it just adds to the existing name and the filename is now massive. I did not copy originals. There must be something I can do. I tried a program called file merger (something like that) but same sort of thing happened. I have tried around ten fee downloads.
I'm attempting to use Automator to rename picture files. I select "Make Sequential" and put the name in that I want. However, once everything is completed my pictures are not in the same order they were out of the camera. I like how my camera imports the photos in the order that I took them. Now when I look through my pictures my vacation is completely out of chronological order. How do can I set Automator so that this does not happen in the future?
If I look up "renaming of folders" in the indexes in manuals like the "Mac OS X Snow Leopard by David Pogue" or "Mac OS X Snow Leopard for Dummies" I can't find any information about this very basic subject!The same about "how to create a sub folder"
I just noticed today when i was trying to use this, did Snow leopard erase all my finder automator plugins? I used to beable to right click images on desktop and using automator menu rename and convert images but now its all gone.
I have successfully created a script to resize images. Now, everytime I clik on a file or on a folder Automator runs that script and I get promped to select the file to resize. How do I stop or control this?
Info: MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
I want to use automator to make a time lapse video, but I'd like the video snapshots taken to come from my external isight camera (not the built-in isight). Â
I see that someone else had the same question a few years back (https://discussions.apple.com/message/11257733#11257733), but I thought I'd try again. Maybe things have changed since 2010?Â
I'm running snow leopard on an early 2008 black macbook.
I am trying to set up a folder action to do the following... When a file is added to the "images" folder a new dated subfolder would automatically be created, and the file would be moved to this new dated subfolder.Â
Here's what I have so far (which I'm sure is way off base)Â
1) Folder action receives files and folders added to "Images"
2) Filter finder items - Find files where ALL of the following is true: Kind is ANY
3) New Folder - Name is "_" Where: "Images"
4) Add Date or Time to Finder Item Names: Add Date to folder name
5) Move Finder Items: This is the step that I'm stuck on. I don't know how indicate the newly created folder in step 3Â
Another question I have is how to make automator check to see if there's already a subfolder with the current date and put the file in that subfolder instead of creating a new subfolder with a duplicate name.Â
Info: MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
i tried to see if anyone was able to create something like this and i think that the automator script that i got only created a folder with /todays/ date. what i am hoping for is a script that will /constantly/ update the name of the folder to todays date. the reason i need this is that if i have one of these in my documents folder it allows me to easily see /when/ the last successful backup occurred on my external drives. it is a really nice comfort to see this easily and know quickly that the backup was successful.Â
I have set up an automator service that TAR's a folder into an archive for me and it works quite nicely. Idealy however, I would like to be able to highlight several folders, right click and have automator tar each folder into it's own TAR archive, but do it one by one. Â
[Code]...
I'm not 100% sure so I guess it would be a good time to verify, is there a problem with having the system try to TAR multiple folders at one time? If it is not a problem then I guess this discussion itself is pointless and I can simple right click on each folder and select "TAR Folder" and just wait until they're all finished. I would think that it would be ideal for the system to do each one individually and not try to do them all at one time.Â
is there a better way of renaming a file / folder than clicking to select the icon, waiting a couple of seconds, then clicking again on the name (and waiting a tick) to edit the fil name? like a keyboard shortcut im not aware of, im a seasoned mac user but need enlightening,
I'm working on an Automator Application which would expand a Rar-archive full of pictures, and turn those into a PDF.This I got working, but now I want the output PDF to be named as the rar-archive's filename that I use as Application input. I tried around with some variables, but just couldn't manage to get the Application working in the end.How do I get the Application to name the output PDF like the input?
I want to make sure that the file names in iPhoto are unique. For some reason, my digital camera was set to reset its file namer to start at IMG_0001 with every roll, so I have several dozen files with the same file names. Within iPhoto, it's generally not a problem, but if I need to work with a group of files outside of iPhoto, copy-dragging a bunch of photos across rolls to a single folder generally bombs out because of the conflicting file names. iPhoto doesn't seem to have any sort of file renamer at all, I can change the title, but that doesn't actually change the file name. I could and will now use the iPhoto exporter because it seems to do the trick, but sometimes that isn't as convenient as selecting a bunch of files and dropping them into my preferred folder.
I have an AFP share on my nas box containing many files. My problem is that when I try and to rename files by hitting enter, the finder window refreshes and I lose focus of the file rename. This seems to be happening when finder is refreshing the thumbnails for each file's icon.
How can I stop this very frustrating behavior. This doesn't happen when not using AFP.
you can rename, move or even trash a file when you still have it opened in preview or textedit.In win, such action will be stopped by the message "can't do that, the file is open somewhere". Would that data going to be kind of homeless or become a "ghost"?
On Snow Leopard I was very used to pressing enter and renaming a file by simply typing a new name while preserving the extension. Now I've noticed that in Lion when you press enter and start typing the new name, you'll have to type in the extension too.
I have a bunch of mp3 files that I would like to rename the original file name. Itunes only allows me to change metadata, but to fix broken names and keep organized, I need to change the file name. Once I rename the file, it shows the new name, and then upon playing it, it reverts back to the original name. I do not have any locked permissions. I have parallels and tried to rename them on the windows 7 side but same effect. I tried to shut all programs off so the file was not in use. I even tried to export it as a acc file type. I am exhausted looking for a solution, this is why I am using this forum as a last ditch effort.
I have a large collection of files that I'd like to run through Automator to batch edit some qualities of these pictures. However, these images have been submitted from multiple people, moved around, and just "existed" for long enough that some of the files have lost their file extensions. The problem occurs when I try to run them through Automator. Everything runs fine until it comes across a file without an extension, then it stops, and displays an error message. Does anyone know a way around this in Automator? Does an Applescript exist that would be able to add these file extensions back in?
I have an automator script I made myself that I use constantly. When I run the script one of the steps takes a screenshot and saves it as a PNG file. When I run the script again, it replaces the old PNG file with a new one. I would really like it to save the PNG file so that file name begins with the current date at the beginning of the name. Meaning the PNG file would be named something like "6/23/10 screenshot". Is this possible?
I'd be almost as happy if I could at least get it to simply make a new PNG with any random filename just so long as it doesn't overwrite the old version. That way I could simply look at the date created column in the finder and get the same info.
startup banner.JAWBONE UPDATER ERROR: Failed to inspect the lock file '/Users/[user]' (error 2: No such file or directory)."Â Jawbone support writes, "get in touch with Apple Support, so they can help you unlock the file on your Mac.Â
It says that it can't be deleted.I got this problem when I was downloading a photo with Google chrome, but that photo was downloaded successfully. Downloads window in chrome is now empty.
I'm kind of new to Automator and I'm trying to come up with a sequence that will severely save me a few hours a day moving files from two larger folders into smaller folders. Basically the setup is that I have two folders, one constantly being populated with images and the other with video files. They each have file names starting with a two digit number (i.e. 12, 11, 10...) or "BG" and then a two digit number (i.e. BG12, BG11, BG10...) with the digits corresponding to a year. Essentially, I'd need to move the files into folders corresponding to the year (i.e. files starting with BG12 and 12 would be moved to 2012, files starting with BG11 and 11 would be moved to 2011, etc). As it stands now, I've only been able to get the 2012 folder populated.
Cannot seem to upload to a ftp server (permissions are correct on the home folder of the user!)But I get this result:
ftp> put /Users/[userfolder]/Documents/untitled.rtf local: /Users/[userfolder]/Documents/untitled.rtf remote: /Users/[userfolder]/Documents/untitled.rtf 227 Entering Passive Mode (99,254,236,63,209,169) 553-Can't open that file: No such file or directory 553 Rename/move failure: No such file or directory Â
I'm a new Mac user and was just reading about "Automator" My question is would it be possible to create a workflow etc, to save an excel or word file to two different locations or directories?
