hi all.
i am looking for a quick way to select randomly a variable number of files from a folder in the finder on mac osx. the goal is having the files selected, in order to be able then to transfer them to an external drive.
i believe this is somewhat easy for who knows how to do a script. i thank in advance everyone who will take care of this.
Use a script such as:
tell application "Finder"
set these_items to {1, 1}
repeat with this_item from 1 to (count these_items)
set item this_item of these_items to (some item of window 1)
end repeat
set selection to these_items
end tell
(90599)
You don't need (or, even, want) to select files in order to copy them to another drive.
Niel's script shows you one way to select a random set of items/files, but you can just replace the 'set selection...' line with a command to duplicate those files to the destination.
dear niel and camelot, thanks.
still i cant get how to do this: using the script that niel provided, there are no selections in the folder, instead comes a written result of the selections in the apple script editor. morover, the selections are only 2; how to raise them to 10, or 100 or whatever?
camelot, what do i have to replace the line with?
Neil's script has a flaw: you may get duplicates, because the some command chooses randomly with replacement. better to take the list of files, shuffle it, then select the first x items:
-- change this number to get different number of selected files
property numberOfFiles : 10
-- choose folder to randomly select from
set fPath to choose folder
tell application "Finder"
set f to files of folder fPath
my shuffle(f)
select items 1 thru numberOfFiles of f
end tell
on shuffle(l)
-- this handler shuffles a list of items. Have not tested it for thoroughness.
set c to count of l
repeat 2 times
repeat with i from 1 to c
copy item i of l to oldVal
set r to random numberfrom 1 toc
copy item r of l to item i of l
copy oldVal to item r of l
end repeat
end repeat
end shuffle
If you prefer to move files programmatically, then replace the select command with a move command:
tell application "Finder"
set f to files of folder fPath
my shuffle(f)
move (items 1 thru numberOfFiles of f) to folder (choose folder)
end tell
thanks twtw, your script is almost perfect: it goes good if i want to move the items randomly; then i tried to change the "move"command in a "copy"one, in order to leave the original files in the original folder; but when i try to execute i get this error:
of course i can also use the first selecting script and then copy, but, just to know!
Hah! I could only wish I were Camelot. And he could only wish he were me. 😝
To copy files in the Finder, use the duplicate command:
tell application "Finder"
set f to files of folder fPath
my shuffle(f)
duplicate (items 1 thru numberOfFiles of f) tofolder (choose folder)
end tell
thanks twtwtw, youve been very kind. sorry for misnaming !! i wanted to change your fisrt answer from 5 to 10 points but it seems i cant. have a good sunday !
My two cents.
Each time it is run, the following script will randomly select a random number of files in the front window.
set theSelection to {}
set theSelectionRef to a reference to theSelection
tell application "Finder"
activate
set theFolder to target of window 1 whose visible is true
set theItems to (items of theFolder) as alias list
repeat with thisItem in theItems
get random numberfrom 0 to 1
if result is 1 then copy thisItem to the end of theSelectionRef
end repeat
set selection to theSelection
end tell
Hey twtwtw!
I found your script, it is working perfect, but i need to modify the folder path for fixed folder, not for (choose folder). I would like to have /volumnes/machintosh HD/user/xx/desktop/folder1
Can you help me how to do this modification?
Sorry for this, but this is my first script on mac.
Thank you.
Best regards,
script for random selection of files in a folder
