File count in a folder

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File count in a folder

I found this answer very helpful: how to count files and folders separately - Apple Community

But there is one issue and I am unable to get to the bottom of it.

There is a difference of around 7 files in file count from the script editor (9009) and the count if I use the Finder window, that is press command + F on the particular folder in the Finder window (9002). There are only music files in this folder with three extensions - mp3, m4a, and m4p. How do I find out what the are the 7 extra files shown in the count in the script editor? Any ideas?

Thanks!

Posted on Sep 2, 2019 1:03 AM

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Answer 1

Niel

Community+ 2026

Level 10

742,961 points

Sep 2, 2019 6:50 AM in response to K M Pandian

Get the full list of items from the folder in both places, reformat them so that one item is on each line, put both into separate spreadsheet columns, sort by one list, and compare them.

(174037)

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,828 points

Sep 2, 2019 3:44 PM in response to K M Pandian

Open the folder and type cmd-shift-.

That will show hidden files. Count how many hidden files there are.

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Answer 3

K M Pandian Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 4, 2019 2:41 AM in response to Barney-15E

The script in the above link does not take into account hidden files, I think. But I did not know the shortcut to display hidden files. Thanks for that tip!

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Answer 4

K M Pandian Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 4, 2019 2:53 AM in response to Niel

Hi Neil,

Thanks for responding. I haven't made a copy of the folder in question. I used the script on the folder, and the count is 9009. I used the Finder window inspector on the same folder, the count is 9002. So when you say 'Get the full list of items from the folder in both places', I am not sure I follow. And there aren't any hidden files in the folder other than the DS_Store metadata file. I am planning to copy everything over to a new folder and check again, later this week.

But the script in itself is very efficient in getting the count of files quickly. Thank you for that in the first place! I accidentally noticed that using the Cmd + F shortcut on that folder and checking the count provides a slightly different number and wanted to find out why or how.

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File count in a folder

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