Automator Permissions

Question

Level 1

6 points

Automator Permissions

I've created a simple 3 step application to find files from one folder and move them to another. However, i'm encountering a "you don't have permissions" error, even though both folders have "read and write" access enabled for all users.

I'll just give an outline of my workflow.

Find finder item is "X" folder if "X" rule is true > Move finder items to "X" folder > Sort finder items.

When I run this workflow it completes step one and finds all the files, then when it tries to move them I get the above error.

Any suggestions?

Assorted Macs and PCs, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Jan 29, 2011 7:12 AM

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Answer 1

red_menace

Level 6

17,042 points

Jan 29, 2011 8:10 AM in response to Justin Gut

The destination folder may have *Access Control List* entries (which don't really show in the *Get Info* window), or an item that is being overwritten is not owned by you.

Note that this is the Tiger Automator forum. Snow Leopard's Automator is a bit different, so future questions should be posted in the Snow Leopard forum.

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Answer 2

Justin Gut Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 29, 2011 8:31 AM in response to red_menace

Could I not have access to certain files even if I applied read and write to all sub folders?

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Answer 3

red_menace

Level 6

17,042 points

Jan 29, 2011 10:06 AM in response to Justin Gut

Not necessarily - ACL entries will trump the normal permissions, and you don't usually have permissions to modify items you don't own. What are the permissions (including ACL and extended attributes) of the item(s) with the permissions problem?

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Answer 4

Justin Gut Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 29, 2011 10:23 AM in response to red_menace

How would I check the acl?

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Answer 5

red_menace

Level 6

17,042 points

Jan 29, 2011 10:48 AM in response to Justin Gut

A pretty good GUI utility is TinkerTool System, but you can also use the Terminal application. From the Terminal, copy and paste the following (there is a trailing space that needs to be included), drag an item (or items) from a Finder window to the Terminal window (this pastes the file paths) and press return:

/usr/bin/who am i; /bin/ls -leO@d

These commands will display the ownership and permissions of the item(s), including any ACL entries and extended attributes.

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