solved Cannot copy several files with the "copy with finder" automation task

[Fabio]

Hi, folks!!!

 

   I'm trying to use the 'copy with finder' automation task to copy several files from one folder to another. It works fine with just one file, even though I think it is possible to specify more than one in the interface... How can I do that??

Thanks a lot!! 😉 

 

[Stephen_C]

You're going to need to split the variable (the array) when passing it on. If you don't object to a little self-promotion 😀 take a look at my workflow on the Alfred Gallery: Move to new folder. That should give you a better idea of how to do it. If it's still not clear please don't hesitate to ask again.

 

Stephen

[vitor]

Also worth noting that by default Alfred passes multiple files as multiple arguments. So if you don’t need to save them to a variable for later processing (@Stephen_C’s workflow does) you may be able to just connect the objects.

 

Let me be more specific: if you connect a Universal Action directly to that Automation Task, it’ll just work with multiple files. It’s only when you need to do stuff in between (meaning you need to save the file list to a variable) that splitting later comes into play. For that case, see @Stephen_C’s linked workflow.

 

Also, just to round off the information, when applicable the output of Automation Tasks is also multiple arguments. In the case of that Automation Task, the output is the final paths of the files, each in an argument. In other words, you could have Universal Action → Automation Task to Copy Files → Automation Task to Move Files → Automation Task to Trash Files and it would all work, doing each action in sequence.

 

[Fabio]

Hi! Thanks for the prompt replies!

I thought it was possible to select which files I'd like to copy from A to B by using the interface of the automation (Copy with Finder). 
 

What I really need: imagine a folder containing a variety of file types, and the task is to establish a workflow to selectively retrieve only three or four specific PDF documents from there.

 

Thanks a lot.

[vitor]

Add an Arg and Vars Utility with one file path per line in the argument. Connect it to a Split Arg Utility splitting on newlines to arguments (not variables). Connect that to the Automation Task.

[Fabio]

Perfect!! Thank you so much!