A pretty handy tip I picked up from the Mac OS X Hints useful if you tend to open multiple Finder windows for organising/moving folder/files on the Mac OS X. This script helps to reduce the time after you open a new instance of Finder (ctrl + N) and navigate through endless sub-directories to reach the folder you want.
In more details, this Applescript gets the location of the front-most Finder window and opens a second instance of Finder with the same path and view. If there is no Finder windows at the present when this script is executed, it launches a new Finder window at the system root directory (or any other pre-defined target path).
tell application "Finder"
get the exists of the front Finder window
if the (exists of the front Finder window) is true then
try
set newWindow to target of front window
set oldView to current view of front window
make new Finder window to newWindow
set current view of front window to oldView
end try
else
try
make new Finder window to alias ":"
set the current view of the front Finder window to column view
end try
end if
end tell
Copy above script and paste it to the new project window opened via the “Script Editor.app” (Applications/AppleScript/), then choose “application” as the “File Format” and then save/compile the project with a meaningful name such as “CloneFinder”. Once that is done, drag ‘n drop the newly compiled CloneFinder.app on to the Finder tool-bar for quick access.
September 4th, 2008 at 15:39
Brilliant !!! priceless trick and excellent presentation as I’ve never dealt with applet scripts so really appreciate your handholding to engage your source – take care
September 4th, 2008 at 15:55
@Scott Stensland: you are welcome ;D
June 23rd, 2009 at 23:43
Works like a charm. Thanks for helping me with the task of moving files around!
August 14th, 2009 at 17:06
Thanks for the great script!
However, while it works in Leopard, I can’t get it working in Tiger. Any suggestions?
October 10th, 2009 at 8:47
Genius. Big ups to yrself. Thanks a lot, very useful.