Automator: How do I create folders from a text file with a list of names for the folders?

Yes, in order to make it work, you need either to go into the directory containing the folders.txt file and then execute the command or add the complete path where the file resides in the command itself.

Example for the former scenario. Assuming the folders.txt is saved in a folder named foobar on your Desktop, you type in Terminal:

cd

add a space

drag from the finder the foobar folder which contains the folders.txt

The result should be something like this (maybe ThatAdGirl will be different – it's your username on Mac):

cd /Users/ThatAdGirl/Desktop/foobar/

Press Enter.

Now you're inside the foobar folder where you can execute the command and where the folders will be created.

The example for the latter scenario is similar. In Terminal type:

cat

add a space

drag from the finder the folders.txt file

add a space and add | xargs mkdir

The result should be something like this (again, maybe ThatAdGirl will be different for the same reason as above):

cat /Users/ThatAdGirl/Desktop/foobar/folders.txt | xargs mkdir

Press Enter.

Consider that the folders are created in the directory where the command is executed. So, in this case, assuming that you started your Terminal session in your home directory, the folders will be created in /Users/ThatAdGirl/ and not inside your foobar folder.

Follow the useful tip provided by VikingOSX to prevent errors due to different line endings.

BTW, I'm a graphic designer as well. Maybe you can achieve the same result with Automator. I guess that you'd still have to rely somehow on Terminal or Apple Script, though.

I was prepared to help you with an Automator solution. If the text file is always services.txt in the folder where you want to create the service name folders, then it is a simple prompt for the parent folder, and then a very short script to generate the folders.

The following Automator application works as expected to create sub-folders in a specified parent folder based on the line items in the services.txt file, which is already located in the parent directory.

Steps:

1. Launch /Applications/Automator
   1. New Document on your Desktop as Application, then click Choose.
2. Click the Files & Folders library on the left, and on the top of the actions list is Ask for Finder Items.
   1. Drag and Drop Ask for Finder Items into the larger workflow window as you see above. Imitate my settings.
3. Click the Utilities Library, locate the Run Shell Script action, and drag and drop it below the previous action. Imitate my settings for Shell and Pass Input. Remove all content that is automatically added to the Run Shell Script action, and replace it with the following content.
4. Before you save this Automator application to your Desktop, click the Run button in the upper right corner to confirm that it creates new folders in the selected Parent folder containing the services.txt file.
5. Save, and give it a meaningful name. You double-click the Automator application to run it.

Code to copy/paste into the now empty Run Shell Script action following step 3. Ensure you select it all because it is scrolling off the page to the right:

PARENT="${@}"

< "${PARENT}"/services.txt /usr/bin/tr -s "\r\n" "\0" | /usr/bin/xargs -0 -I {} /bin/mkdir -p "${PARENT}/{}"



I have only tested this solution on Mojave 10.14.6 (18G6020) at this time.

With Terminal (not Automator) you can use the following command:

cat folders.txt | xargs mkdir

Where folders.txt is the text file containing the list of names separated by enter (carriage return).

You will need a parent folder name, within where you plan to create your new project folders, and the location of the servicenames.txt file. Automator actions can prompt you for those items, and then a third action would proceed to make the folders from the text file entries.

Do you expect any additional folder hierarchy beneath the folders created from the text file?

It won't be long before your post is down 10 - 20 screens in the Catalina community. I am recommending to the hosts to relocate it to the Mac OS X Technologies community where it will remain visible on the first screen of posts for a much longer period of time.

Thanks for the useful tip to prevent line ending errors.

If you follow the first example I provided, then the folders are created where the .txt file is saved.

Your first example does not navigate a text file with crlf from Windows in it (cough)… 🧐

You're right. I was just referring to it to solve the ThatAdGirl's issue about the creation of folders where the .txt file resides.

The challenge you run into is where the folders.txt file may have originated from a Windows platform, and you have to handle the different line endings, in addition to white-space and other characters that may be in the individual line items.

To wit, folders.txt:

ABC Business Products
Dante's Marshmallow Roasters
Yours & Mine Wine Consumers

The following will handle both types of line endings, and replace each line ending with a single '\0' to set it up for xargs:

< folders.txt tr -s '\r\n' '\0' | xargs -0 -I {} mkdir "{}"

which in the above example, creates new folders in the current directory location based on each line in the folders.txt file.

How about an Automator workflow that prompts you for the parent folder where the .txt file resides that contains the list of folder names, and if that .txt file name changes, then 1) a second prompt for that .txt file, or if it is the only .txt file in that parent folder, then that is sufficient to avoid the second prompt, and commence folder creation?