Automator remove characters beginning/end

Thanks for the help (can't find your Automator Homepage, btw.)

I used "Get Specified Finder Items" and dragged in my files.

The script took off the 3digit number from the front but left the space

890 filename.mp3 to [space]filename.mp3

I tried different adjustments but since I don't understand the language I can't figure how to get rid of the space. Any suggestions?

I have no idea about Automator, but you might want to have a look at NameChanger:

http://www.mrrsoftware.com/MRRSoftware/NameChanger.html

To remove numbers at the end of the name (preserving any extension), change your script to:

on run {input, parameters}
    
    repeat with thisFile in input
        tell application "Finder"
            set {theName, theExtension} to {name, name extension} of thisFile
            if theExtension is in {missing value, ""} then
                set theExtension to ""
            else
                set theExtension to "." & theExtension
            end if
            set theName to text 1 thru -((count theExtension) + 1) of theName -- the name part
            set theName to (do shell script "echo " & quoted form of theName & " | sed 's/[0-9]*$//'") -- strip trailing numbers
            set name of thisFile to theName & theExtension
        end tell
    end repeat
    
    return input
end run

I also have a Change Name of Finder Items action on my Automator homepage that can remove characters from a file name - it doesn't use regular expressions, but can strip a specified number of characters from the beginning or end.

Hi

I'm new in this & I want to use the script above where it removes numbers at the begining of the filename in the Automator, however the 1st line below gets stuck

on run {input, parameters}

Ideally I want to use the following workflow

"Ask for Finder Items"

Run the AppleScript above but modify it so I can select the files

Then maybe Reveal Finder Items etc.

Can someone please advise the correct format & flow as been seaching all day but with no luck

Also it would be nice to know how to run the above script on its own, I copied it in AppleScript editor pressed Run & it came with an error!!

Thx

The script works for me (and the OP), so without something more specific (like the script used or an error message), there isn't much of a way to tell what the problem is.

The posted scripts were designed to be used in Automator's Run AppleScript action. To use them in the AppleScript editor, remove the {input, parameters} part of the run handler declaration and set the input variable to the items you want to work with.

Thank you for your quick response, as I meantioned I'm very new in this.

I created a workflow in Automator with the Run AppleScript action & pasted the script above, compiled it & when I ran it, it came with the Syntax Error:

No result was returned from some part of this expression.

(the alias was also highlighted in the script)

it didnt offer me to select the files so I guess thats why the error

when you say:

remove the {input, parameters} part of the run handler declaration and set the input variable to the items you want to work with.

What is the exact command / phrase I have to replace it with if I want it to select the files in a specific folder?

Thank you in advance for your help.

When using Automator, the Run AppleScript action will need to be supplied items to work with, so you can use something like the Ask for Finder Items or Get Selected Finder Items actions to get files to pass to the script.

To use the script outside of Automator, you can change the beginning of posted script to:

onrun

setinputto (choose filewithmultiple selections allowed)

repeatwiththisFileininput

--

The choose file command will put up a file selection dialog so that you can navigate and select the items you want to use with the script.

Thank you so much it did work!

but what I initially wanted to learn to do which you have mentioned in your response is to use

Automator, Ask for Finder Items action to supply items to the AppleScript

so what would you use in the command line at the begining of the script instead of what you written above if you want to do that instead?

Each individual action in an Automator workflow (usually) gets its input from the previous action, and sends its output (the result of whatever it does) to the next action for it to use. If using the Ask for Finder Items action right before the Run AppleScript action (the original script should work without modification), it will send a list of items chosen in the file dialog to the script - these input items are passed to the run handler in the parameter named input.