Script for batch renaming files based on kMDItemWhereFroms Spotlight metadata

Hi,

You cannot rename a file if the new name contains colon characters,

So, the script replace the colon character in the URL by the minus sign.

Here is the script :

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propertygetSpecific : true -- show the specific download URL?

ifgetSpecificthen -- get the second line (the download URL)

set sedCMD to " | sed -n '2!d;s/:/-/g;s/.*\"\\(.*\\)\".*/\\1/p'"

else -- get the third line (the page/site URL)

set sedCMD to " | sed -n '3!d;s/:/-/g;s/.*\"\\(.*\\)\".*/\\1/p'"

endif

-- sed return "" if the mdls command return "(null)", sed return the text between double quotes

settheseFilestochoose filewithmultiple selections allowed

repeatwiththeFileintheseFiles

setaFiletoquoted formofPOSIX pathoftheFile

set theURL to do shell script "mdls -name kMDItemWhereFroms -raw " & aFile & sedCMD

if theURL is not "" then try -- not "(null)"

tell application "System Events" to set name of theFile to theURL

end try

endrepeat

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ugh. sed has its place in the world, but there's almost never an excuse to use it from applescript. try this instead:

-- get Spotlight kMDItemWhereFroms attribute

property getSpecific : true-- show the specific download URL?

set theFile to (choose file)

set aFile to quoted form of POSIX path of theFile

set theURL to (do shell script "mdls -name kMDItemWhereFroms -raw " & aFile)

if theURL is "(null)" then -- no attribute

set theURL to "(URL info not found)"

set theMessage to ""

else

if getSpecific then -- get the first item (the download URL)

set theURL to paragraph 2 of theURL

set urlBits to tid(theURL, "\\")

set theURL to item 2 of urlBits

set theURL to tid(tid(theURL, ":"), "_") -- swaps colons for underscores

tell application "Finder"

set name of theFile to theURL--I have no idea what im doing

end tell

else -- get the last item (the page/site URL)

set theMessage to "page/site "

set theURL to paragraph -2 of theURL

set here to offset of "\"" in theURL

set theURL to text (here + 1) thru -2 of theURL

end if

end if

on tid(input, delim)

set {oldTID, my text item delimiters} to {my text item delimiters, delim}

if class of input is list then

set output to input as text

else

set output to text items of input

end if

set my text item delimiters to oldTID

return output

end tid

Hi,

twtwtw wrote:

ugh. sed has its place in the world, but there's almost never an excuse to use it from applescript.

I respect your opinion.

My opinion is different, if you already use a shell from AppleScript, you can use other commands in this shell.

If the user wants to learn AppleScript, it can also learn shell commands.

So here is the script that uses three commands in a do shell script :

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propertygetSpecific : true -- show the specific download URL?

ifgetSpecificthen -- get the second line (the download URL)

set sedCMD to " | sed -n '2!d;s/\\//:/g;s/.*\"\\(.*\\)\".*/\\1/p'"

else -- get the third line (the page/site URL)

set sedCMD to " | sed -n '3!d;s/\\//:/g;s/.*\"\\(.*\\)\".*/\\1/p'"

endif

settheseFilestochoose filewithmultiple selections allowed

repeatwiththeFileintheseFiles

setaFiletoquoted formofPOSIX pathoftheFile

do shell script "f=" & aFile & ";url=$(mdls -name kMDItemWhereFroms -raw \"$f\"" & sedCMD & "); if [ ! -z \"$url\" ]; then mv \"$f\" \"${f%/*}/$url\";fi"

endrepeat

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The mv commnad rename the file.

sed replace slash character by a colon character, because slash character is a reserved character in Unix path, but the file will be renamed correctly because the shell replace the colon characters in each path by slash characters.

Jacques Rioux wrote:

do shell script "f=" & aFile & ";url=$(mdls -name kMDItemWhereFroms -raw \"$f\"" & sedCMD & "); if [ ! -z \"$url\" ]; then mv \"$f\" \"${f%/*}/$url\";fi"

Seriously? This reads like mud, and requires a strong understanding of unix to even begin to interpret. And yes, I know this because I have a strong understanding of unix, and trying to read through that mess gives me a headache. What's it look like to a newb? The applescript is far easier.

But whatever, I'm not going to quibble over this with you. As you say, you have your opinion and I have mine.