How do I specify path in Applescript?

tell application "Finder"

delete (every item of "Mac HD:Users:bbotticelli:Dropbox:Photos" whose modification date is less than ((get current date) - 7 * days))

end tell

Should be every item of folder "Mac HD: etc..."

But as you're only looking to delete the files change item to files.

You could also use something like:

get every file of folder "Photo" of folder "Dropbox" of folder (path to home folder) whose modification date is less than (get current date) - 7 * days

This way should the path to the Home folder change or a different users runs it the script still works.

Just to clarify Frank's answer:

delete (everyitemof "Mac HD:Users:bbotticelli:Dropbox:Photos" ...

You're asking the Finder to get the items of a string... By definition, the items of a string ARE the individual characters.

By adding the keyword 'folder' before the string, AppleScript will coerce this to a folder reference and now 'items of' will retrieve the files/folders within that folder.

Thanks for that clarification. I knew he needed to use folder there but never really thought about the why.

Your explanation made it clear . It was an Applescript ahh moment for me 😀

We both learned someting 🙂

regards

The obvious question would be how many files are in the folder...

There are two ways around timeout problems. I'd recommend pushing the search off to System Events as follows:

set targetDate to (get current date) - 7 * days

tell application "System Events"

set filesToGo to path of (every disk item of folder "Mac HD:Users:bbotticelli:Dropbox:Photos" whose modification date is less than targetDate and visible is true)

end tell

tell application "Finder" to delete filesToGo

System Events more efficient at tasks like that. Alternately, you could use a 'with timeout' block, which gives the Finder more time to execute:

tell application "Finder"

with timeout of 300 seconds

delete (every item of "Mac HD:Users:bbotticelli:Dropbox:Photos" whose modification date is less than ((get current date) - 7 * days))

end timeout

end tell

but I never like scripting the Finder unless I have to.