Author Topic: Folder Organizer/Sorter (Read 14544 times)

wetsmellydog · « **on:** January 12, 2019, 12:55 PM »

As always for me anyway, please let me know if this has been done before or available elsewhere.

So my name is Larry and I am a file hoarder!

I deal with a lot of different file types for my assorted hobbies. I also have a lot of files contained in compressed files that need to be sorted according to content.

I have files downloaded from Thingiverse for my 3D printer, CO2 laser and CNC which contain different file types. I have to open the compressed files and see what they contain. It would be easier to just open a program and search a directory to sort out the files.

What I am looking for;

Be able to input a folder destination (create one if not done), scan for files with a specific extension in/out of a compressed folder, and/or scan for specific directories in a compressed folder and then move/copy files in target directory.

Of course being able to input multiples would be nice but not necessary.

Thanks!

Shades · « **Reply #1 on:** January 13, 2019, 09:21 AM »

Belvedere might help out with this task at hand.

And here are some free (but donatable) alternatives, like DropZone (from our resident member: skwire), DropIt or a commercially licensed one: FileJuggler.

These will help out with sorting your files. Keeping them sorted will already you a lot in identifying what is what before you even have to open an archive to see what it contains. This works best with new downloads, but all pieces of software allow you to create rules for filtering and some can even automatically rename them according to your rules.

wraith808 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2019, 12:16 PM »

There's also Pneumatic Tubes. You can get a good idea of how it works from the guide: http://www.pneumatic...ams.net/p/guide.html

skwire · « **Reply #3 on:** January 13, 2019, 01:01 PM »

@Shades & @wraith808: I think you're missing the key ask of the OP...and that's to scan within ZIP/RAR/7z files and make decisions based on the compressed files. I don't think any of the aforementioned file sorters do that.

rgdot · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2019, 01:03 PM »

Sorting files inside archives or 'before' they are extracted would be very very useful to me, may be I have never requested such a thing but I would be very interested too

wraith808 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2019, 02:06 PM »

@Shades & @wraith808: I think you're missing the key ask of the OP...and that's to scan within ZIP/RAR/7z files and make decisions based on the compressed files. I don't think any of the aforementioned file sorters do that.
-skwire (January 13, 2019, 01:01 PM)

I think that's the reason that he added this part:

These will help out with sorting your files. Keeping them sorted will already you a lot in identifying what is what before you even have to open an archive to see what it contains. This works best with new downloads, but all pieces of software allow you to create rules for filtering and some can even automatically rename them according to your rules.
-Shades (January 13, 2019, 09:21 AM)

That was one of the reasons that I'd replied. But point taken.

skwire · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2019, 02:50 PM »

I might be mistaken here, but aren't most zip files a collection of files that are meant to stay together? A typical install zip would probably contain the EXE file, maybe a readme.txt, maybe a readme.md, possibly an INI file, etc. Separating those into individual folders doesn't make a whole lot of sense, IMO. Am I missing something here?

4wd · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2019, 04:06 PM »

What I am looking for;

Be able to input a folder destination (create one if not done), scan for files with a specific extension in/out of a compressed folder, and/or scan for specific directories in a compressed folder and then move/copy files in target directory.
-wetsmellydog (January 12, 2019, 12:55 PM)

This point needs clarification about what 'file' is being referred to for copying/moving, the one in the archive or the archive itself.
I think the latter due the earlier mention of 'sorted according to content'.

ie. The archive is kept intact and copied/moved to it's final destination according to its contents.

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2019, 12:30 PM »

Thank you all for your comments

@skwire, you are correct. None of the file sorter programs have the ability to look inside compressed files. The best they do is to decompress them according to filtered criteria.

This point needs clarification about what 'file' is being referred to for copying/moving, the one in the archive or the archive itself.
I think the latter due the earlier mention of 'sorted according to content'.

ie. The archive is kept intact and copied/moved to it's final destination according to its contents.
-4wd (January 13, 2019, 04:06 PM)

You are correct 4wd, I would like to move the entire compressed file according to it's content. In this case, it would be a DXF, OBJ, STL, or IMAGE ie SVG.

tsaint · « **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2019, 04:34 PM »

Idea from a non-programmer, based on 7zip's ability to list contents of (at least) zip files using CLI...
1. AHK calls 7zip and gets archive contents written to a temp text file (maybe AHK can read 7zip output on the fly, I don't know)
2. AHK parses text file and takes required action

Here's a batch file I came across which caught my eye
-----------------
@Echo off
SET LOGFILE=MyLogFile.log
call :Logit >> %LOGFILE%
exit /b 0

:Logit
7z l archive_to_check.zip
-----------------

Tony

wraith808 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2019, 05:27 PM »

So, I think I could take this on, but just want to make sure of a couple of things.

First, a restatement of the problem:

Given a directory of files, you want to scan the zip files in that directory looking for files with a certain extension. Given that a file with this extension is in the archive, you want to move the entire archive to a directory which you will specify.

Is that correct?

4wd · « **Reply #11 on:** January 14, 2019, 05:40 PM »

Given a directory of files, you want to scan the zip files in that directory looking for files with a certain extension. Given that a file with this extension is in the archive, you want to move the entire archive to a directory which you will specify.
-wraith808 (January 14, 2019, 05:27 PM)

Not just zip files.

Scan any and all files/archives within a directory for any files/folders matching a given extension (for files) or name (for folders) and then copy/move either that file (if standalone) or the archive (containing files with specified extension and/or folder with the specified name) to a final destination.

The ability to input multiple file extensions/folder names to search for 'would be nice'.

wraith808 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 14, 2019, 06:17 PM »

When I say 'zip files' I mean supported archives, which would have to be an extension

He didn't seem to mean the files being in the directory, which was why I was asking. I might add the ability to add the files in the directory to be scanned, but wanted to make sure that I covered his specific use case.

4wd · « **Reply #13 on:** January 14, 2019, 06:24 PM »

He didn't seem to mean the files being in the directory, which was why I was asking.
-wraith808 (January 14, 2019, 06:17 PM)

... scan for files with a specific extension in/out of a compressed folder ...
-wetsmellydog (January 12, 2019, 12:55 PM)

I took it to mean files within the directory and archives.

wraith808 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2019, 10:37 PM »

He didn't seem to mean the files being in the directory, which was why I was asking.
-wraith808 (January 14, 2019, 06:17 PM)

... scan for files with a specific extension in/out of a compressed folder ...
-wetsmellydog (January 12, 2019, 12:55 PM)

I took it to mean files within the directory and archives.
-4wd (January 14, 2019, 06:24 PM)

It could mean that. But no harm checking.

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2019, 12:32 PM »

@wraith808 Being the lazy type, everything goes into a download directory. I would like to sort the download directory and put the files where they should be according to what they are used for.
Hope this helps explain what I'm looking for.

rjbull · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2019, 03:37 PM »

everything goes into a download directory. I would like to sort the download directory and put the files where they should be according to what they are used for.
-wetsmellydog (January 15, 2019, 12:32 PM)

If all your downloaded files have the same extension, .ZIP or whatever, this won't help; but have you considered using a download manager like Internet Download Manager (IDM)? You can define separate categories for files by extension(s), and have each category saved to a category-specific directory. I believe the same thing is true of Free Download Manager (FDM).

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #17 on:** January 15, 2019, 08:24 PM »

@rjbull Unfortunately it is not just the extension, it is the contents of the compressed folder.

wraith808 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 15, 2019, 09:01 PM »

@wraith808 Being the lazy type, everything goes into a download directory. I would like to sort the download directory and put the files where they should be according to what they are used for.
Hope this helps explain what I'm looking for.
-wetsmellydog (January 15, 2019, 12:32 PM)

I'm just going to do it so that you have the option, but to put it a better way; let's say that you specify your download directory, and say to move all to your 3d models directory, and specify the extension to look for as .DXF. If there is a lone .DXF file in the directory (not in a zip) would you want it moved to that directory also? Or only if it's in a zip file? (And I should hopefully start on this tomorrow)

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2019, 10:26 AM »

If there is a lone .DXF file in the directory (not in a zip) would you want it moved to that directory also? Or only if it's in a zip file?
-wraith808 (January 15, 2019, 09:01 PM)

The lone files too!

Thanks for taking this on!

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #20 on:** February 11, 2019, 06:54 PM »

Any updates?

wraith808 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 11, 2019, 09:19 PM »

Any updates?
-wetsmellydog (February 11, 2019, 06:54 PM)

Sorry, things have been really busy at work, so I haven't been able to work on it like I wanted to. I have the baseline working but haven't had a chance to get it tuned in the way that I'd want it. Things should hopefully calm down a bit within the next week or so, and I should be able to get back to it.

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #22 on:** February 20, 2019, 06:27 PM »

Sorry, things have been really busy at work
-wraith808 (February 11, 2019, 09:19 PM)

No worries, no hurry. Thanks for the update!

wjamoe · « **Reply #23 on:** March 31, 2019, 01:27 PM »

You could try totalcommander (www.ghisler.com)

First change to the folder with the files, compressed folders and compressed files, then to open the search dialog press:
[Alt-F7]
Specify wildcard for the files you want to copy e.g.
*.stl
(Optionally Enter a string you are looking for in those files, to limit the result)
Check the box before
[v] Search archives (except for UC2)
Press button
[Start search]
..wait.. then when the list of files is shown press
[Feed to listbox]
All filenames are now shown in the normal tc window.
Select the destination folder in the other window
..
To copy the files to the destionation folder. Go back to the window with the search results, and select some or all of the files, press
[F5]

ready

wetsmellydog · « **Reply #24 on:** April 11, 2019, 11:36 AM »

You could try totalcommander (www.ghisler.com)
-wjamoe (March 31, 2019, 01:27 PM)

Thanks for the tip! Will give it a try.