how to refresh finder list view of folders?

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Level 2

325 points

how to refresh finder list view of folders?

I'm working on files in a directory through Terminal and also have a Finder window open in list mode of that same directory/folder. When I update a file, the Finder does not update the displayed modified date for the file.

Windows has a "Refresh" command that allows me to force such an update. How would I accomplish this in the Finder?

Apparently, if I click on the Finder icon for an updated file, the displayed timestamp will update, but this is not a solution; I have the list view sorted by Date Modified because I want the Finder to be showing me which files have been updated last.

iMac G4, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 28, 2007 3:33 PM

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Answer 1

red_menace

Level 6

17,066 points

Jul 28, 2007 4:53 PM in response to Ken Nellis

You can try telling the Finder to update the item:

<pre style="font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 10px; padding: 5px; width: 720px; color: #000000; background-color: #E0E0E0; overflow: auto">osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to update "your/POSIX/path/here" as POSIX file'</pre>

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Answer 2

Ken Nellis Author

Level 2

325 points

Jul 28, 2007 7:34 PM in response to red_menace

Thanx for that and it works, but it doesn't meet my criteria because I have to tell the system which file has changed. I want the system to show me. I suppose I could write a script which would loop through all files in the directory. Not quite as convenient as selecting a Refresh menu item.

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Answer 3

Jul 28, 2007 7:52 PM in response to Ken Nellis

In any text editor I use, it will show asap when I modify , be it in get info or wherever. I have Finder(and say, Doc folder open) on list view, date modified, size, kind, & use relative dates. And in title bar of Docs or whatever folder it will have name and mod date with arrows for newest to old or visa versa. But then Ken, you probably already know this, and I am probably amiss. Maybe this will work though.

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Answer 4

Ken Nellis Author

Level 2

325 points

Jul 28, 2007 8:13 PM in response to doug pennington

Well, that's interesting. Indeed, both vi and emacs cause the Finder to immediately update the timestamps and re-sort when displayed in Date Modified order. However, doing an ftp-get or a touch does not. And "cat >> file" doesn't even update in the Finder when you click on the file icon.

Who'dathunk they'd behave so differently?

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Answer 5

Jul 28, 2007 8:53 PM in response to Ken Nellis

Now I just did a touch on desktop and edited in pico and it updated rather oddly. Kind of by hitting either date mod or the file name itself. Like a time warp that you have to manually induce. cat doesn't work. Maybe it's the Panther vs. Tiger, or? I mean I just found that even though I don't have the same com.apple.Safari.plist as you I can :
defaults write com.apple.safari WebKitHistoryAgeInDaysLimit 5 that this will work. You just steal above line from Tiger and with no prob, it works on Panther. ??

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Answer 6

red_menace

Level 6

17,066 points

Jul 29, 2007 7:32 AM in response to Ken Nellis

Not sure if the contents get updated or just the item, but there are a few other items (in addition to a specific file or folder) defined in the Finder dictionary:

selection - the selection in the frontmost Finder window
insertion location - the container in which a new folder would appear if “New Folder” was selected
startup disk - the startup disk
desktop - the desktop
trash - the trash
home - the home directory
computer container - the computer location (as in Go > Computer)

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Answer 7

Ken Nellis Author

Level 2

325 points

Jul 29, 2007 12:30 PM in response to Bill Scott

Bill, that looked promising, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. I tried it both as the zsh script it was presented as and as a pure AppleScript script, which is closer to the solution I was looking for. For both tests, I opened a Finder window in list mode and sorted by Date Modified. Then I "touch"ed the oldest file through Terminal and then ran the script. The Finder window continued to display the old timestamp.

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Answer 8

red_menace

Level 6

17,066 points

Jul 29, 2007 1:16 PM in response to Ken Nellis

Hmm, the applescript seems to work for me. After touching a file and then doing a osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to update items of window 1' the front Finder window I had open updated and resorted the list.

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Answer 9

Jul 29, 2007 1:25 PM in response to Ken Nellis

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050518175502341

The top most script works for me. Shows new mod date asap in get info menu for directory and put a made and discarded folder in trash. It will not show in finder window because of circumstances of being made and moved to trash.

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Answer 10

Ken Nellis Author

Level 2

325 points

Jul 29, 2007 2:18 PM in response to red_menace

My bad...cockpit error in saving the Applescript, so I was actually running a different script. Not sure how that happened. 😟

Anyway, the AppleScript indeed works as an AppleScript, but the zsh script isn't working. Not sure what's up with that; a mystery for another time. However, red_menace's one-liner, +osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to update items of window 1'+, seems to work just fine.

Thanx to Bill and red_menace!

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Answer 11

Jul 30, 2007 12:38 PM in response to Bill Scott

I don't know the author of this, but it was Sep 2004 in this forum:

I found an application called FinderSync that keeps Finder windows (and Desktops) in sync with the current state of the filesystem. Changes issued from the terminal are also updated. (Bill, so we no longer need finder_update; FinderSync is much faster, cpu usage is lower, etc. etc. )

Note: it is OK with 10.3, but no mention of 10.4.

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