Create Folder according to file names

Question

Level 1

6 points

Create Folder according to file names

Hello, I've been trying to do something "I thought" would have been very simple to do with Automator but with no success so far.

Work required: I have a single folder (let's call it Root) that contains a lot of files (note there are only files, no subfolders under Root). I want to make a workflow that will create a separate folder within Root based on each file's filename and the respective files will be moved into this folder (note just the filename, no extension.)

Example: Say I have 2 files in Root right now - ABC.zip and XYZ.avi. After I run Root through the workflow, 2 folders will be created within Root, called ABC and XYZ, containing ABC.zip and XYZ in each folder, respectively. There will be no more files within Root but subfolders.

I tried a few times but not sure how I can get the filename of each file and create a folder accordingly. Thanks for the help!!

Macbook Pro 2.8GHz, 4G ram, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Feb 1, 2010 6:57 AM

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Answer 1

giddue

Level 1

4 points

Sep 7, 2017 1:43 AM in response to mrtksgl

Hi mrtksgl, I have the same problem: the script works but it creates a folder for every file!

What I need is that the files

file01_name

file02_name

file03_name

(etc)

AND

otherfile01_name

otherfile02_name

otherfile03_name

(etc)

are automatically stored in the two distinct folders:

/file01_name

/otherfile01_name

I'm trying to search around but no joy till now... can anyone help us please?

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Answer 2

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Feb 1, 2010 7:40 AM in response to BadPuppy

this is easiest with applescript. paste the following into Script Editor.
<pre style="
font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;
font-size: 10px;
margin: 0px;
padding: 5px;
border: 1px solid #000000;
width: 720px;
color: #000000;
background-color: #ADD8E6;
overflow: auto;"
title="this text can be pasted into the Script Editor">
tell application "Finder"
set selected to selection
set current_folder to item 1 of selected
set mlist to every file of current_folder
repeat with this_file in mlist
set cur_ext to name extension of this_file
set new_name to text 1 thru -((length of cur_ext) + 2) of (name of this_file as text)
set new_folder to make new folder with properties {name:new_name} at current_folder
move this_file to new_folder
end repeat
end tell</pre>

select the folder in question in Finder and press "run" in script editor.

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Answer 3

BadPuppy Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 1, 2010 12:11 PM in response to V.K.

Thanks so much. I will try when I get home.

Question, if Root already has other sub folders, will they be affected?

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Answer 4

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Feb 1, 2010 12:48 PM in response to BadPuppy

BadPuppy wrote:
Thanks so much. I will try when I get home.

Question, if Root already has other sub folders, will they be affected?

no, they will not be affected. the script only checks for files not folders and processes those.

Reply

Answer 5

BadPuppy Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 1, 2010 8:39 PM in response to BadPuppy

Thanks man. Worked like a charm.

Now, would you happen to know how to use automator/applescript to create a list of all the folders within Root and populate them to an excel file?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Reply

Answer 6

mrtksgl

Level 1

9 points

Jun 17, 2010 9:07 AM in response to V.K.

hi and thanks for the script,

but I have one question which ,I think, will make things more complex.

I have 15000 photos with 100+ events. Filenames are generated from the events names having sequential numbers if the photos are from the same event.

example;
event 1 0001.jpg
event 1 0002.jpg
event 1 0003.jpg
tuesday night 0001.jpg
tuesday night 0002.jpg
tuesday night 0003.jpg
monday morning 0001.jpg
monday morning 0002.jpg
monday morning 0003.jpg
and so on.

When I use this script it create folders based on every filename which makes it unusable.

Is there a way to create folders for the each sequential filename group and move into it.

Thanks for the time...

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Answer 7

Aug 2, 2010 11:12 AM in response to V.K.

Hi V.K. I stumbled across this when trying to find out how to make folders from filenames and then move th efiles into those folders, which your script does perfectly! Thank you! But, if I save it as an app, select the folder I want to be populated and double click the executable nothing happens, any advice please?

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Answer 8

Aug 10, 2010 11:49 AM in response to BadPuppy

Hi Badpuppy..
I too have been trying to develop this automator action, but with no luck. Have you found a way in Automator itself? I tried the applescript suggested to you, but nothing happens when I click a folder and then hit Run in the script editor.

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Answer 9

Jan 4, 2011 11:34 AM in response to Dhruv1981

Hi,

Did anyone get this to work in Automator - I would really like to be able to do this from a Folder Action (i.e. Hazel copies a file to a designated folder and then the folder action creates a new sub-folder and moves the file to within it)

TIA

Nick

Reply

Answer 10

Mobius8

Level 1

0 points

Jan 11, 2011 8:50 AM in response to V.K.

This worked like a charm. Placed the script in the /Library/Scripts/Folder and ran perfectly. Thanks a million.

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Answer 11

carter3d

Level 1

19 points

May 28, 2011 8:49 PM in response to V.K.

This worked great for me as well, except for files that end in .mkv extensions. For these files, the folder names generated are "whateverfilename.mk". For example, for the file "Alien (1979).mkv", the folder name generated is "Alien (1979).mk". Any ideas?

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Answer 12

DoomedTX

Level 1

0 points

Jul 13, 2011 8:58 PM in response to V.K.

Your script works like a charm! I'd like to point out for those who, like me, don't have much script editor experience: the header and footer of VK's post are not part of the script. The part you need to copy and paste is:

tell application "Finder"

set selected to selection

set current_folder to item 1 of selected

set mlist to every file of current_folder

repeat with this_file in mlist

set cur_ext to name extension of this_file

set new_name to text 1 thru -((length of cur_ext) + 2) of (name of this_file as text)

set new_folder to make new folder with properties {name:new_name} at current_folder

move this_file to new_folder

end repeat

end tell

This worked perfectly for me on a folder of .mkv files. No ".mk" extension for me.

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Answer 13

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Jul 13, 2011 9:40 PM in response to DoomedTX

Great post for clarifying things, thanks! 🙂

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Answer 14

a94andwi

Level 1

0 points

Jul 14, 2011 7:00 AM in response to DoomedTX

Yes, It works like a charm.

Still, I have some questions how to alterate.

I have a library of movies that I unfortunately have in this way:

ABC

Adulthood.avi

Adulthood.jpg

Apocalypto.avi

Apocalypto.jpg

When I start the script it runs perfect until it comes to Adulthood.jpg and can not go on because the folder with that name already excist.

I would like to change the script so that it goes through all files with a certaing extension and moves all files with the same name (no matter what extension it has)

Does anyone know how to do this change in the script?

The best thing would be to be able to write something like this:

(file extension: .avi;mpg;mpeg;mkv etc)

/Anders

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Answer 15

DoomedTX

Level 1

0 points

Jul 14, 2011 9:46 PM in response to a94andwi

I'm not familiar with the syntax of AppleScript, but it seems like all you have to do is figure out the command to make this happen:

move new_name.* to new_folder

The trick is figuring out how to combine the variable new_name with the ".*" to create a new variable for the move command.

Here's my first try at a script for you. It might not work, but it should point you in the right direction:

tell application "Finder"

set selected to selection

set current_folder to item 1 of selected

set mlist to every file of current_folder

repeat with this_file in mlist

set cur_ext to name extension of this_file

set new_name to text 1 thru -((length of cur_ext) + 2) of (name of this_file as text)

set new_folder to make new folder with properties {name:new_name} at current_folder

set wildcard_name to new_name & ".*"

move wildcard_name to new_folder

end repeat

end tell

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