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Documents Folder
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Nov 18, 2002, 09:31 AM
 
In my home directory there is a folder named Documents. I would like to use this to store all my writings / work / miscellaneous-****-that-is-not-pictures-or-music-or-websites. However, certain applications take it upon themselves to stick their own ugly files in here, and so I've been forced to keep all my stuff in another folder, so as not to get them muddled*.

Up until yesterday, these apps were crowding the place up (comments in parentheses):

- Adobe (just a software license for Acrobat Reader, yet in its very own folder, this kept coming back whenever I deleted it and re-ran the app, but not since upgrading to 5.1)
- iTunes (Music library, now moved to its 'official' (since iTunes 3) location of ~/Music/)
- LimeWire (Where files are downloaded to, now changed to ~/Downloads/LimeWire/)

So, I've sorted those out, either deleting them or moving them elsewhere. However:

- AppleWorks (keeps certain preferences in ~/Documents/AppleWorks/)
- Microsoft Office (keeps certain files (Entourage database for example) in ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/)

I can delete the AppleWorks one, since I don't actually need it (I've checked through its contents) but it comes back whenever I open AppleWorks. And I definitely need the Microsoft User Data one, as that's where all my email is stored.

Does anyone know how I can tell AppleWorks and Microsoft Office to use folders located in ~/Library/ rather than ~/Documents/?

Also, is it possible to tell iTunes (3.0.1) to store the music library in ~/Library/ as well, rather than ~/Music/? I'd rather just keep actual music in ~/Music/, store application preferences in ~/Library/.

Thanks,
Simon



* - I am an anally retentive control freak when it comes to the organisation of my home directory. Do not hold it against me.
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Nov 18, 2002, 04:42 PM
 
You can safely move the Microsoft folder to ~/Library/Preferences/ since Office v.X will also look there for its presence.
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Nov 18, 2002, 04:44 PM
 
Also, you can change the location of the iTunes folder in the Advanced settings in iTunes preferences.
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megasad  (op)
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Nov 18, 2002, 05:50 PM
 
Originally posted by Art Vandelay:
You can safely move the Microsoft folder to ~/Library/Preferences/ since Office v.X will also look there for its presence.
Thank you! It worked perfectly. Now all that is left is the AppleWorks folder...
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megasad  (op)
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Nov 18, 2002, 05:54 PM
 
Originally posted by Art Vandelay:
Also, you can change the location of the iTunes folder in the Advanced settings in iTunes preferences.
I can, but then, when I want my music to be kept tidy, it will move it to ~/Library/iTunes/, which isn't what I want at all.

I tried to use iTunes Library Manager, in the hope that it would let me change the location, but it did not.

Thanks anyway,
Simon
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Nov 18, 2002, 05:59 PM
 
I used the following commands to hide Adobe and Microsoft folders :

/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V "/User/<username>/Documents/Acrobat User Data"
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V "/User/<username>/Documents/Microsoft User Data"

where <username> is the name of your user.
You can show the folders back by just replacing 'V' with 'v'.
You need to have devtools installed to have the SetFile command.
     
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Nov 18, 2002, 06:00 PM
 
You could just make your iTunes Library file invisible with one of the many utilities that can do so. That will get it out of the way if it's bothering you that much...
     
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Nov 18, 2002, 06:12 PM
 
Originally posted by pat++:
I used the following commands to hide Adobe and Microsoft folders :

/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V "/User/<username>/Documents/Acrobat User Data"
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V "/User/<username>/Documents/Microsoft User Data"

where <username> is the name of your user.
You can show the folders back by just replacing 'V' with 'v'.
You need to have devtools installed to have the SetFile command.
Yup.

If you're more partial to a GUI, you can also use the handy utility X-Ray to toggle folders' visibility.

Not a perfect solution, but a decent workaround, until the AppleWorks team moves their AW folder the ^%#&! out of there.
     
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Nov 18, 2002, 06:12 PM
 
Originally posted by megasad:


I can, but then, when I want my music to be kept tidy, it will move it to ~/Library/iTunes/, which isn't what I want at all.

I tried to use iTunes Library Manager, in the hope that it would let me change the location, but it did not.

Thanks anyway,
Simon
You don't have to have your music in the iTunes folder. I keep all my mp3s in the Music folder and my iTunes folder in Library. Just uncheck the two options at the bottom of the Advanced prefs.
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Nov 18, 2002, 06:58 PM
 
Although this has been said before, why on earth are all these app's dumping their crap in the Documents folder in the first place? The more unsolicited stuff in there, the less useful it is. I've abandoned mine completely...
     
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Nov 18, 2002, 07:43 PM
 
Originally posted by booboo:
Although this has been said before, why on earth are all these app's dumping their crap in the Documents folder in the first place? The more unsolicited stuff in there, the less useful it is. I've abandoned mine completely...
For a while, Classic Mac OS recomended it for some reason. So then people got pissed off, so Apple invented the Application Support folder. Not many apps use this folder for some reason.
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Nov 18, 2002, 07:56 PM
 
Originally posted by booboo:
Although this has been said before, why on earth are all these app's dumping their crap in the Documents folder in the first place? The more unsolicited stuff in there, the less useful it is. I've abandoned mine completely...
The only apps that I've seen dump stuff in there are apps that did it OS 9 when it made sense. Office now uses ~/Library/Preferences/. iTunes now uses ~/Music/. Acrobat Reader now uses ~/Library/Preferences/. Hoepfully, the next version of AppleWorks will move its fodler to ~/Library/. It's probably just a matter of time for these older legacy apps to update to the OS X way of things.
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megasad  (op)
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Nov 19, 2002, 07:02 AM
 
Originally posted by pat++:
I used the following commands to hide Adobe and Microsoft folders :

/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V "/User/<username>/Documents/Acrobat User Data"
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V "/User/<username>/Documents/Microsoft User Data"

where <username> is the name of your user.
You can show the folders back by just replacing 'V' with 'v'.
You need to have devtools installed to have the SetFile command.
and

Originally posted by ksuther:
You could just make your iTunes Library file invisible with one of the many utilities that can do so. That will get it out of the way if it's bothering you that much...

Alas, the anal retention extends to invisible files also. I don't mind those that are absolutely necesssary, but hiding stuff just because it's in the wrong place does not sit well with me. Also, Pat, you don't need to hide those folders anymore; both Acrobat and Office now use ~/Library/Preferences/.
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megasad  (op)
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Nov 19, 2002, 07:12 AM
 
Originally posted by Art Vandelay:
You don't have to have your music in the iTunes folder. I keep all my mp3s in the Music folder and my iTunes folder in Library. Just uncheck the two options at the bottom of the Advanced prefs.
I understand what you mean; use ~/Library/Preferences/iTunes/ as the 'iTunes Music Folder Location', but keep all my actual music in ~/Music/. The problem is, I use the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organised' option all the time, and having my music in a different location would mean that when I change ID3 tags, file and folder names would not be affected. At the moment I'm putting up with the extra iTunes folder in my Music folder because I gain more than I lose.

Thanks,
Simon
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Nov 19, 2002, 09:33 AM
 
The real problem with this is that if you want to back up just your docs to a cd or a zip disc you don't expect to get disc full message because you've copied various applications (invisable or not)as well.
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Mar 6, 2004, 04:51 PM
 
Originally posted by megasad:
Thank you! It worked perfectly. Now all that is left is the AppleWorks folder...
Same here!
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Mar 7, 2004, 03:50 AM
 
Originally posted by megasad:
Thank you! It worked perfectly. Now all that is left is the AppleWorks folder...
I also have a 'Palm' folder in my Documents folder that I wish was in the Library folder...

Oh, and also, Quicken puts it "Quicken Backup Folder" in there too...
     
   
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