Change a file name with Applescript?

Question

MacMan240 Author

Level 1

81 points

Change a file name with Applescript?

I currently have the script:

tell application "Finder"

set the name of file "/Users/rileylloyd/Desktop/Scan.jpeg" to "/Users/rileylloyd/Desktop/Scan.jpeg.bak"

end tell

and I get the error:

error "Finder got an error: Can’t set file \"/Users/rileylloyd/Desktop/Scan.jpeg\" to \"/Users/rileylloyd/Desktop/Scan.jpeg.bak\"." number -10006 from file "/Users/rileylloyd/Desktop/Scan.jpeg"

what am I doing wrong? is there an easier way to do this with "do shell script" maybe?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1), 2.3 GHz i5, 4GB RAM, OCZ 120GB SSD

Posted on Dec 21, 2012 12:44 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Niel

Level 10

726,737 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:02 PM in response to MacMan240

Here:

tell application "Finder"

set name of file "Scan.jpeg" of desktop to "Scan.jpeg.bak"

end tell

(72944)

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Answer 2

MacMan240 Author

Level 1

81 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:26 PM in response to Niel

ok, Now how about file names? Like for file path "/Applications/Editor/Editor.app/Contents/Resources"?

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Answer 3

Niel

Level 10

726,737 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:29 PM in response to MacMan240

Use code such as:

tell application "Finder"

move selection to folder "Applications:Editor:Editor.app:Contents:Resources" of startup disk

end tell

(72950)

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Answer 4

MacMan240 Author

Level 1

81 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:30 PM in response to Niel

not moving it to the folder but renaming the folder itself? I should have been more clear on that.

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Answer 5

Niel

Level 10

726,737 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:32 PM in response to MacMan240

By running the first script above, but with item or folder instead of file.

(72951)

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Answer 6

MacMan240 Author

Level 1

81 points

Dec 21, 2012 1:41 PM in response to Niel

error:

error "Can’t make \"file.framework\" into type integer." number -1700 from "file.framework" to integer

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Answer 7

twtwtw

Level 5

4,936 points

Dec 21, 2012 2:56 PM in response to MacMan240

The Finder doesn't like POSIX paths, so convert it to an alias first, and you only need the new file name at the end, not the full path:

set fileAlias to (POSIX file "/Users/rileylloyd/Desktop/Scan.jpeg") as alias

tell application "Finder"

set the name of fileAlias to "Scan.jpeg.bak"

end tell

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Answer 8

Nov 6, 2013 6:45 PM in response to twtwtw

Kinda late to the game, but I thought I'd give a "Thanks a lot" to twtwtw. Your tip fixed all the issues I was having with a backup script I was working on. Kudos.

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