[oscar]

Is there a way to use applescript to move a file to an invisible folder. Ive tried naming the folder .Folder, and changing the invisibility bit, and both result in an error. i can post my code if is needed, but any way around this?

[Diggory Laycock]

Try making the folder invisible in the terminal first.

e.g. mv myFolder .myFolder

or do you want to create the invisible folder dynamically as part of the script?

[oscar]

This is the script

Code:
on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items
	set Videofolder to ":Users:oscar:Documents:Stored_Folder:"
	set PDFfolder to ":Users:oscar:Documents:PDFs:"
	set TXTfolder to ":Users:oscar:Documents:"
	tell application "Finder"
		repeat with aFile in added_items
			if name of aFile contains {".jpg"} or name of aFile contains {".mpeg"} or name of aFile contains {".png"} or name of aFile contains {".mpg"} or name of aFile contains {".tiff"} or name of aFile contains {".asf"} or name of aFile contains {".mov"} or name of aFile contains {".asf"} or name of aFile contains {".wmv"} or name of aFile contains {".avi"} then
				tell application "Finder"
					try
						move file aFile to folder Videofolder with replacing
					on error err
						display dialog err
					end try
				end tell
			end if
			if name of aFile contains {".pdf"} then
				tell application "Finder"
					try
						move file aFile to folder PDFfolder with replacing
					on error err
						display dialog err
					end try
				end tell
			end if
			if name of aFile contains {".mp3"} then
				tell application "Finder"
					try
						open file aFile
						move file aFile to trash
					on error err
						display dialog err
					end try
				end tell
			end if
			if name of aFile contains {".rtf"} or name of aFile contains {".doc"} or name of aFile contains {".txt"} then
				tell application "Finder"
					try
						move file aFile to folder TXTfolder with replacing
					on error err
						display dialog err
					end try
				end tell
			end if
		end repeat
	end tell
end adding folder items to

It's suppose to be attached to a folder action.

[Diggory Laycock]

Sorry - I don't quite understand - where is the invisible folder in that script?

[edit]

do you mean that when you try to get the files moved to an invisible folder you get this:

[oscar]

Originally posted by Diggory Laycock:
Sorry - I don't quite understand - where is the invisible folder in that script?

[edit]

do you mean that when you try to get the files moved to an invisible folder you get this:

Yes, the script craps out if the "sorted" folder is invisible. If it isnt, works like a charm

[Diggory Laycock]

It would be a bit of an ugly hack - but you could unhide the folder before the move - then re-hide it again after the move.

[MarkDouma™]

How about the following:

property video_extension_list_ : {"jpg", "png", "mpeg", "mpg", "tiff", "asf", "mov", "asf", "avi"}
property pdf_extension_list_ : {"pdf"}
property mp3_extension_list_ : {"mp3"}
property txt_extension_list_ : {"rtf", "doc", "txt"}

on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items
tell application "Finder"
set Video_ to ":Users:oscar:Documents:Stored_Folder:" as string
set PDF_ to ":Users:oscar:Documents:PDFs:" as string
set TXT_ to ":Users:oscar:Documents:" as string
set Videofolder to folder Video_ as alias
set PDFfolder to folder PDF_ as alias
set TXTfolder to folder TXT_ as alias
repeat with aFile in added_items
if name extension of aFile is in video_extension_list_ then
try
move file aFile to folder Videofolder with replacing
on error err
display dialog err
end try
end if
if name extension of aFile is in pdf_extension_list_ then
try
move file aFile to folder PDFfolder with replacing
on error err
display dialog err
end try
end if
if name extension of aFile is in mp3_extension_list_ then
try
open file aFile
move file aFile to trash
on error err
display dialog err
end try
end if
if name extension of aFile is in txt_extension_list_ then
try
move file aFile to folder TXTfolder with replacing
on error err
display dialog err
end try
end if
end repeat
end tell
end adding folder items to

I don't think the fact that the folder is invisible is causing the problem, rather how you referenced the folder.

"set Videofolder to ":Users:oscar:Documents:Stored_Folder:"" is probably being set as a text string which won't do you much good. Notice that you can first set it to a string like you have, and then set that string to an alias (file/folder reference) in the Finder. (You'll need to do these "set's" inside the Finder tell block, otherwise you'll get an error when trying to use the "set Videofolder to folder Video_ as alias".

Hope this helps....

[MarkDouma™]

Actually, I discovered that if you are indeed trying to use an invisible folder, you'll get an error if you try using the following method:

tell application "Finder"
set TXT_ to ":Users:oscar:Documents:.my_invisible_folder" as string
set TXTfolder to folder TXT_ as alias
end tell


To prevent the error, you should use file instead of folder:

tell application "Finder"
set TXT_ to ":Users:oscar:Documents:.my_invisible_folder" as string
set TXTfolder to file TXT_ as alias
end tell

Not sure why this is, but....