Sorting of files into folders based on parts of a file name

Use the following:

tell application "Finder"

repeat until (count files of window 1) is 0

set the_offset to offset of " - " in (get name of file 1 of window 1)

set the_name to items 1 thru (the_offset - 1) of (get name of file 1 of window 1) as string

move (every file of window 1 whose name starts with the_name) to (make new folder at window 1 with properties {name:the_name})

end repeat

end tell

(143816)

Place the repeat loop inside:

tell application "Finder"

with timeout of 600 seconds

end timeout

end tell

(143821)

Replace the first and last lines of the script with that text. In total:

tell application "Finder"

with timeout of 600 seconds

repeat until (count files of window 1) is 0

set the_offset to offset of " - " in (get name of file 1 of window 1)

set the_name to items 1 thru (the_offset - 1) of (get name of file 1 of window 1) as string

move (every file of window 1 whose name starts with the_name) to (make new folder at window 1 with properties {name:the_name})

end repeat

end timeout

end tell

(143822)

Try using:

tell application "Finder"

with timeout of 600 seconds

set the_files to files of window 1

repeat until (count files of window 1) is 0

set the_offset to offset of " - " in (get name of file 1 of window 1)

set the_name to items 1 thru (the_offset - 1) of (get name of file 1 of window 1) as string

move (every file of the_files whose name starts with the_name) to (make new folder at window 1 with properties {name:the_name})

end repeat

end timeout

end tell

(143827)

Hello

You may try something like the following AppleScript script which is a mere wrapper of shell script. It will let you choose the source image folder and then move each *.jpg file thereof to folder named after prefix before the first " -" in file name.

set d to (choose folder with prompt "Choose image folder")'s POSIX path do shell script "/bin/bash -s <<'EOF' - " & d's quoted form & " SRC=$1 cd \"$SRC\" || exit shopt -s nullglob for f in *.jpg do [[ $f =~ ^([^-]+)\\ - ]] || continue d=${BASH_REMATCH[1]} [[ -d $d ]] || mkdir -p \"$d\" mv \"$f\" \"$d\" done EOF"

Briefly tested under OS X 10.6.8 but no warranties. Please make sure you have complete backup of original folders before running this sort of script.

Good luck,

H

Here's a minor revision to be a little safer in case of directory and file name conflict. Any error in shell script will be reported in result pane/window of Script Editor.

set d to (choose folder with prompt "Choose image folder")'s POSIX path do shell script "/bin/bash -s <<'EOF' - " & d's quoted form & " exec 2>&1 SRC=$1 cd \"$SRC\" || exit shopt -s nullglob for f in *.jpg do [[ $f =~ ^([^-]+)\\ - ]] || continue d=${BASH_REMATCH[1]} [[ -d $d ]] || mkdir -p \"$d\" || continue mv \"$f\" \"$d\" done EOF"

Regards,

H

My pleasure! Glad to know it serves you well.

And yes, the script will create destination folder only if it is not present. If destination already exists, script will use it.

H