Retrieve the original path from a broken alias

Question

pauclaude Author

Level 1

13 points

Retrieve the original path from a broken alias

Having a list of aliases, I need to detect which one has a broken target path and I need also to get this path.

I've tested Applescript:

tell application "Finder"

try

set reference_doc to original item of (aliaspath_string as POSIX file as alias)

set originalpath_string to POSIX path of (reference_doc as alias)

on error

return empty

end try

end tell

but applescript is slow, it try always to mount remote servers and don't return the broken path. Any suggestion? Maybe a "do shell script" command line expression?

Thanks

Paul

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Jun 10, 2014 5:40 AM

Reply

Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,308 points

Jun 10, 2014 7:53 AM in response to pauclaude

The following Bash script will output the original path to your aliases. The alias.lst filename is arbitrarily named, and must contain full paths, one to a line, of the current alias location. Tilde won't work in the alias.lst file, but will on the command line.

while read -r line

do

/usr/bin/readlink $line

done < ~/alias.lst

exit 0

Reply

Answer 2

Tony T1

Level 6

10,247 points

Jun 10, 2014 7:54 AM in response to pauclaude

This might be of help:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1175094/os-x-terminal-command-to-resolve-path -of-an-alias

Reply

Answer 3

pauclaude Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 10, 2014 8:07 AM in response to pauclaude

Thanks VikingOSX, I only need a command for a single alias to resolve, as in my script there is already a loop for the list: but I don't know how to implement a bash script into an Applescript script....

Thanks Tony T1, but the problem is the same: I don't know how to add these commands to Applescript, except that using "do shell script", that is for a single line....

Reply

Answer 4

Tony T1

Level 6

10,247 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:13 AM in response to pauclaude

pauclaude wrote:

but I don't know how to implement a bash script into an Applescript script....

I don't know how to add these commands to Applescript, except that using "do shell script", that is for a single line....

You can use multiple lines for a do shell script:

do shell script "

while read -r line

do

/usr/bin/readlink $line

done < ~/alias.lst

exit 0

"

Reply

Answer 5

pauclaude Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:24 AM in response to Tony T1

Tony T1, my script need only to resolve an alias at time, I don't need the whole loop. And how can I pass the path variable aliaspath to the script and retrieve the resutl?

set aliaspath to "/Users/paul/Desktop/untitled folder/Smart Scroll"

do shell script....

return the result

Reply

Answer 6

Tony T1

Level 6

10,247 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:32 AM in response to pauclaude

Replace echo with the command to run:

set aliaspath to "/Users/paul/Desktop/untitled folder/Smart Scroll"

set theResult to do shell script "echo " & quoted form of aliaspath

Reply

Answer 7

pauclaude Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:33 AM in response to pauclaude

set aliaspath to "/Users/paul/Desktop/untitled folder/Smart Scroll"

set theResult to do shell script "echo /usr/bin/readlink " & aliaspath

returns the original path....

Reply

Answer 8

Tony T1

Level 6

10,247 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:42 AM in response to pauclaude

returns the original path....

Replace echo with the command to run

So, if you're dealing with symbolic links (not Mac alias'):

set aliaspath to "/Users/paul/Desktop/untitled folder/Smart Scroll"

set theResult to do shell script "readlink " & quoted form of aliaspath

Reply

Answer 9

Tony T1

Level 6

10,247 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:38 AM in response to VikingOSX

readlink does not work on a Mac alias, only on a symbolic lnk

Reply

Answer 10

pauclaude Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:42 AM in response to pauclaude

Yes, but what's the exact command for a sigle broken file alias to resolve? This doesn't works:

set aliaspath to "/Users/paolo/Desktop/untitled folder/Smart Scroll"

set theResult to do shell script " while read -r line

do

/usr/bin/readlink $line

done < " & quoted form of aliaspath & "

exit 0

"

Reply

Answer 11

Tony T1

Level 6

10,247 points

Jun 10, 2014 9:47 AM in response to pauclaude

For a Mac alias, if you want to use Terminal, try using the tool posted at stackoverflow:

print the POSIX path to the original of a Finder alias file from the OS X command line

[Note: I have not used this tool, so study the source code before using]

Reply

Answer 12

pauclaude Author

Level 1

13 points

Jun 10, 2014 10:47 AM in response to pauclaude

This is a nice tool, Tony T1, with a simple syntax: you must pass only the alias path.

set theResult to do shell script "/'Users/paolo/Documents/Revolution Files/AliasFixer/aliasPath' '/Users/paolo/Desktop/untitled folder/Smart Scroll'"

Unfortunately, this tool does not accept file paths with strange characters (parentheses, quotes, etc.) and does not allow the shell formating of these characters with escape codes, so it returns many errors

Reply