Question

This is my first applescript. I thought I’d do something simple like navigating to a folder using a path and listing the subfolders…Unfortunately, I can’t figure it out 🙂

Here is what I’ve tried so far:

The first try:

tell application "Finder"
    set the_folder to POSIX path of "Users:MyName:Doc"
    log the_folder
    set folder_list to every item of folder the_folder
    log folder_list 
end tell

This produces an error:
“Finder got an error: Can’t get folder “/Users/MyName/Doc”.

Could someone please:
1. Explain to me what I’m doing wrong.
2. Provide an example that works.

Thanks in advance.

btw the folder does exist on my machine…

Answer 1

UPDATE: Oops! It appears that I have given you the wrong information so I will give you the correct information.

The command POSIX path of requires a complete alias reference. By that I mean supplying the full file reference (i.e. <your_disk_name>:Users:<your_user_name>:somefolder:). Make sure that if you’re referring to a folder that you end the reference with a colon (i.e. Macintosh HD:Users:). An improved version would look like this:

tell application "Finder"
  set the_folder to (POSIX path of ("<your_disk_name>:Users:<your_user_name>:Doc:") as alias) as alias
  set folder_list to every item of the_folder
end tell

OPTIONAL

To coerce a POSIX path (i.e. /Users/<your_user_name>/somefolder) back into an alias, two conversions are needed.

Conversion 1: The first step is to convert the reference into a file reference. To do this, place the words as POSIX file after the reference, like so:

"/Users/<your_user_name>/somefolder" as POSIX file

This code procudes a file reference in this form: file "<your_disk_name>:Users:<your_user_name>:somefolder:"

Conversion 2: Add a second coercion, as alias, to the end of the reference…

"/Users/<your_user_name>/somefolder" as POSIX file as alias

This code produces an actual alias reference: alias "<your_disk_name>:Users:<your_user_name>:somefolder:

If you have any questions, just ask. 🙂