Automator sending stuff to wrong folders

[sowillo14]

Hello, I am trying to create an application/workflow that will scrape my desktop of jpgs, ai's, pdf's, and psd's, and place them in designated folders. I have so far put together two of the workflows, for ai's and pdf's. When I push play, it runs through just fine, however it is putting the ai's, and the pdf's in the same folder. I am confused. Here is a shot of what I have done so far that is not working right. Any ideas?

 

[numlock]

are the folders "pdf´s" and "new projects" on the desktop?

 

[sowillo14]

No, one is in pictures, and the other in documents.

 

[numlock]

Because thats a fault in automator it seems to automatically search subfolders as well. Strange that there such a huge discrepency between finder search and automator search which makes automator much less useful than it could be.

Do both sets of files always end up in the same folder either "pdf´s" or "new projects"?

 

[sowillo14]

Because thats a fault in automator it seems to automatically search subfolders as well. Strange that there such a huge discrepency between finder search and automator search which makes automator much less useful than it could be.

Do both sets of files always end up in the same folder either "pdf´s" or "new projects"?

They always go to new projects, even if they are pdf files. However, if I just do the pdf workflow by itself, the pdfs go to the right folder.

 

[numlock]

They always go to new projects, even if they are pdf files. However, if I just do the pdf workflow by itself, the pdfs go to the right folder.

my guess is that the first part of the workflow hasnt finished when the 2nd part begins and the result is that all of the documents end up in the same folder.

You could try adding a few seconds of pause in between

 

[swiftaw]

So, I actually set up a test case to see what happens.

It completes the first part just fine, but then when it gets the 2nd batch of files and moves them to the 2nd folder it moves the first batch of files from the 1st folder to the 2nd folder. I even added a pause, but it makes no difference.

EDIT: Found a solution. After your second "Find Finder Items" command, put in a "Filter Finder Items" command, and set Name Extension is equal to ai.

 

[sowillo14]

So, I actually set up a test case to see what happens.

It completes the first part just fine, but then when it gets the 2nd batch of files and moves them to the 2nd folder it moves the first batch of files from the 1st folder to the 2nd folder. I even added a pause, but it makes no difference.

EDIT: Found a solution. After your second "Find Finder Items" command, put in a "Filter Finder Items" command, and set Name Extension is equal to ai.

Brilliant!!! Thank You!!!

 

[sowillo14]

Still doesn't work right. Now it won't even touch the pdf files. It just moves the ai's and that is it. Seems like you can't move to more than one location. Piece of crap.

 

[swiftaw]

Still doesn't work right. Now it won't even touch the pdf files. It just moves the ai's and that is it. Seems like you can't move to more than one location. Piece of crap.

Hmm, strange, in my test run I got it to move a pdf to one folder and a txt to another folder.

 

[sowillo14]

Alright, back to the old drawing board.

 

[swiftaw]

Alright, back to the old drawing board.

Did you look at my workflow in the previous post.


As a diagnostic tool, put a 10 second pause between each step, then open up a bunch of finder windows, one for each folder where something should happen, then monitor those folders throughout the workflow, this will help you diagnose which step is causing the problem.

 

[sowillo14]

how do you add the pauses?

 

[sowillo14]

Hey! Never mind it works! Thanks, I feel better now.