executing shell scripts from finder

Question

Level 1

12 points

executing shell scripts from finder

I have stupidly reassociated .sh files with TextEdit and now they won't automatically execute when selected from the Finder. For instance, JBoss only starts via shell scripts and I used to be able to start it just via double-clicking the run.sh file from the finder.

How do I fix this?

Thanks

Chris

(Yes I can still run them by opening Terminal and executing them there, but that is not what I want.)

17" PowerBook G4, 20" iMac (Intel), Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Aug 3, 2006 2:46 PM

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Answer 1

bdmarsha

Level 4

2,580 points

Aug 3, 2006 3:34 PM in response to krustyfur

If I understand your question, then you should be able to select one of these files and change the Open With item in the Get Info window. Be sure to select Change All.

For a more permanent and more elegant fix, look into Automator's Do Shell Script command. They could be wrapped into an Automator app using this command.

bd

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 3, 2006 3:45 PM in response to krustyfur

Are the permissions changed? The shell script must be executable. In the Terminal you can re-set the permissions with: sudo chmod 755 filename.sh

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Answer 3

krustyfur Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 4, 2006 12:31 AM in response to bdmarsha

If I understand your question, then you should be
able to select one of these files and change the Open
With item in the Get Info window. Be sure to select
Change All.

For a more permanent and more elegant fix, look into
Automator's Do Shell Script command. They could be
wrapped into an Automator app using this command.

bd

Yes but change to open with which application?

Basically I want to revert back to the behaviour before I buggered it up. I used to be able to run JBoss by double clicking the shell script, now it opens in TextEdit because I stupidly changed it to always open with that, and did it for all files.

So the question is, what should I be opening the shell scripts with?

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Answer 4

krustyfur Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 4, 2006 12:32 AM in response to Kappy

Nope the permissions are fine, still 755, it's just that the .sh files have been set to open in TextEdit, not to what they were before.

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Answer 5

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Aug 4, 2006 12:43 AM in response to krustyfur

Maybe resetting the LaunchServices database would be in order. See http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/resetlaunchservices.html for details.

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Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 4, 2006 1:20 AM in response to krustyfur

Well, shell scripts are just text files. So, I'm not sure what you think the problem is. No association is required because a shell script would launch an application from commands in the script, not an association with an application.

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Answer 7

krustyfur Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 4, 2006 8:57 AM in response to Kappy

Well, shell scripts are just text files. So, I'm not
sure what you think the problem is. No association
is required because a shell script would launch an
application from commands in the script, not an
association with an application.

I really they are just text files. The problem is this.

I have the Applications folder dragged to the dock so I can right click on it and run anything underneath.

JBoss is installed under the Applications directory. It is a complete unix program, not OS X, thus it runs from the shell scripts provided. When I first installed I could select the run.sh script from the dock by right clicking on Applications, navigating through the menu that popped up and selecting it. It would run that shell script and start JBoss. Now it opens TextEdit instead.

I want to reverse it back to running the shell script automatically like it was before.

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Answer 8

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 4, 2006 10:31 AM in response to krustyfur

Well, then I suppose you could try selecting the shell script and pressing COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. In the Open With section select the desired default application from the drop down menu and then close the Get Info window. However, I don't know what default application you should use. I suspect it would be the actual unix shell (I think that's bash) but I don't know if that's even accessible from the Get Info window.

If it were me I'd just completely reinstall JBoss. I think that would fix the problem.

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Answer 9

bdmarsha

Level 4

2,580 points

Aug 4, 2006 11:20 AM in response to krustyfur

Instead of the extension .sh, use .command. This will make the script double-clickable in the Finder and it should run with the default terminal settings.

Presumably the application that is running the script is /bin/bash but I don't know how to set that in Get Info.

bd

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