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Using Smart Folders for a specific location.
- Thread starter reubs
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I hate to bump this, but does anyone even know a really good tutorial for how this could be done? Even a decent lead would be appreciated. I just can't figure out how to specify which folder I want to have the Smart Folders made up of.
Umm... Smart Folders aren't true folders, in the sense that they contain documents. Smart Folders only contain Spotlight search results. Therefore, you can't direct data to a smart folder. You CAN, however, set up a Smart Folder that shows only certain file types in that downloads folder - for example, you download a lot of stuff, and want to filter your downloads by file type. Smart Folders are ideal for this purpose.
You can also attach an action to a regular folder so that a script is executed whenever something is dropped in it. It's easy to do using Automator. You can create an Automator script to sort files a certain way, color code them, and move them to particular folders.
Yeah, I know they aren't true folders, and that might be why my post was a bit confusing. However, this is exactly what I want to do. I want to set up the search to locate all files in the "Downloads" folder and then sift through them. Ideally that would make it so that I don't always have to find a place to download items. The Smart Folders will hold specific contents of my downloads folders.
I'll play around with Automator to see if there's anything that will do what I want, and that might be my only option.
I guess I just assumed that Smart Folders would easily let me highlight all of the contents of a specific folder structure. TO this point, though, I haven't found an easy way to do that. I could just not be grasping the ease of the concept, though.
I think I found my answer.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2008013115481342&query=smart+folders
Basically, I have to navigate to the folder I want to "Smarten" and hid cmd+f. That will let me highlight the folders I want for specific searches. It's kind of convoluted, and I wish there was an easier solution. I think it's going to do the trick, though.
BTW, Hazel would probably be easier and quicker, but I'm still a cheapskate in terms of buying software. I prefer the open-source, freeware market. Thanks, though, for the suggestion! I'll certainly keep that in mind for the future!
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2008013115481342&query=smart+folders
Basically, I have to navigate to the folder I want to "Smarten" and hid cmd+f. That will let me highlight the folders I want for specific searches. It's kind of convoluted, and I wish there was an easier solution. I think it's going to do the trick, though.
BTW, Hazel would probably be easier and quicker, but I'm still a cheapskate in terms of buying software. I prefer the open-source, freeware market. Thanks, though, for the suggestion! I'll certainly keep that in mind for the future!