Help with Automator

I see this as a two-action Automator solution.

1. Ask for Finder Items
2. Run Shell Script

The following Automator application solution was tested on macOS 12.6. It also writes a text file of the removed SketchUp backfiles that it removes to your Desktop. The contents of the Run Shell Script should be:

#!/bin/zsh

: <<"COMMENT"

Provided a folder containing SketchUp backup files (~.skp), report and
remove them.

Reference: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254266583
Tested: macOS 12.6, Zsh 5.8.1
VikingOSX, 2022-10-08, Apple Support Communities, No warranties expressed/implied.
COMMENT

REPORT_FILE="$HOME/Desktop/SketchUp_backups.txt"
STARTDIR="${@:a:s/\~\//}"

function SketchUp_backup_filter () {
    # Each file is represented by the REPLY variable
    # and when a match occurs (true) pass the current file
    # into the for-loop.
    [[ $REPLY =~ "~\.skp" ]]
}

function report () {
    print -Dl "${1}" >> $REPORT_FILE
}

today="$(date -j +"%F %X")"
printf '%s - %s\n\n' "SketchUp Backup Files Removed" $today > $REPORT_FILE

# case-insensitive regular files
setopt nocaseglob
for f in ${STARTDIR}/*.skp(.N+SketchUp_backup_filter);
do
    report "${f}"
    rm -f "${f}"
done
exit 0

And the finished Automator workflow looks like this:

I don't see the need for a shell script here. All this can be done with basic Automator actions.

As I see it:

1. Prompt for the folder to process
2. Get a list of items in that folder
3. Filter the list for ~.skp files
4. Move the found files to the trash

It looks like this:

Ensure that you are creating a new Automator application.

That Ask for Finder Items action should be set as shown in my post. You select the folder (not its contents) that contains your SketchUp files and that will pass that folder path into the Run Shell Script action.

You select the boilerplate content in the Run Shell Script and remove it — before copying/pasting the code above into that action. You set the shell and pass input on that Run Shell Script action as you see in my previous post so that the folder path passed in from the Ask for Finder Items action (as $@) is assigned to the STARTDIR variable.

I just copied the code that I posted above into a new Automator Application, and it works first try to remove the SketchUp backup file in a test folder and write the report which follows:

This is reasonably straightforward. Do you want the Automator workflow to prompt for a specific folder and then process all backup files in that folder? Is there a folder hierarchy within a specified folder to consider?

I don't see the need for a shell script here. All this can be done with basic Automator actions.

Where's the fun in that? 🤓

I was coming out of writing another Zsh script and old habits die hard… and your solution is correct.

Are there any *~.spk files in the selected directory?

As far as I can tell (using a different filename extension since I don't have any ~.skp files), it works here. The only case it fails for me is when there aren't any files that match the filter.

> I tried copying one of the ~.skp files to a local directory then ran the Automator and it worked

Odd. iCloud Drive does some weird tricks with directories, but I don't see anything obvious. I'll poke it here.

> The only hiccup was the prompt to select the folder

I'm not sure what hiccup you're referring to. The action 'Ask for Finder Items' is going to prompt for a folder - that's exactly what it does. If you want to process a predefined folder and not have to select it every time, replace this action with Get Specified Finder Items where you can choose the folder in advance.

> Could it be that Automator can't read the iCloud Directory.

Hmm, I guess that's possible.

Does it work if you select a local folder?