Creating a folder structure at a defined location on your desktop from AE via script?

Question

I've written a script that creates a folder structure in my AE project view but I would like to then be able to run another script (eventually tied to a button on a GUI panel) that allows me to define where I can create a similar folder structure on my desktop or defined folder.

Is there a way to do this?

Thanks!

David Torno · Accepted Answer

That would be extremely helpful. I really appreciate it, good luck with unpacking!

Ok, I believe I now have something that works. I've tested it a little bit in CC 2014, but have not really put it through the wringer. So use with CAUTION!!!

It may not look pretty, but it works. The only things to be aware of are that it currently does not have a special character verifier to prevent OS folder name issues. The other is that if a duplicate folder name appears within the same parentFolder (see crude example below), it will just not be created in the OS setup. This prevents overwriting folders without warning.

Example:

What is in AE.....

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 4 <-----Folder with a duplicate name

Folder 5

Folder 4 <-----Folder with a duplicate name, but is unique to it's parentFolder

What is created in OS.....

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 4

Below is the function code, just supply one argument type of a Folder Object. This will be the new root folder to build your AE folder structure in.

var b = Folder.selectDialog("Choose a source folder.");

if(b != null){
    aeFoldersToOSFolders(b);
}

function aeFoldersToOSFolders(newRoot){
    var proj, allItems, folderCollection, folderCollectionLen, curItem, val, win, userOS, slash, newCorePath, folderNames, folderAEPath, temp;
    win = $.os.indexOf("Windows");
    win != (-1) ? userOS = "PC" : userOS = "MAC";
    userOS == ("PC") ? slash = "\\" : slash = "/";
    function getItemParentPath(endItem, ary, slash){
          if(endItem == "undefined"){
              return ary;
          }else if(endItem.name == "Root"){
              if(ary.length > 0){
                    return ary.reverse().join(slash).toString();
              }else{
                    return null;
              }
          }else{
              ary.push(endItem.name);
              var newParent = endItem.parentFolder;
              return getItemParentPath(newParent, ary, slash);
          }
    }


    proj = app.project;
    allItems = proj.numItems;
    folderCollection = new Array();
    temp = new Array();
    newCorePath = decodeURI(newRoot).toString();
    for(var i=1; i<=allItems; i++){
          curItem = proj.item(i);
          if(curItem instanceof FolderItem){
              temp.length = 0;
              folderAEPath = getItemParentPath(curItem, temp, slash);
              if(folderAEPath != null){
                    folderCollection.push(newCorePath + slash + folderAEPath);
              }
          }
    }


    folderCollectionLen = folderCollection.length;
    if(folderCollectionLen > 0){
          for(var f=0; f<folderCollectionLen; f++){
              if(Folder(folderCollection).exists == false){
                    Folder(folderCollection).create();
              }
          }
          return true;
    }else{
          return null;
    }
}

David Torno · Answer

Ok, so this is a function I had made to make root folder creation automated.

var a = new Array("099_001", "099_005", "099_010", "099_015", "099_020", "099_025");     //Array of folder names
var b = Folder.selectDialog("Choose a source folder.");     //Ask to choose a root folder


if(b != null){     //Makes sure root folder choice was not canceled
  folderCreator(a, b);     //Call folder creation function
}
/* TESTING ABOVE */

function folderCreator(arrayOfFolderNames, newFolderPath){
     var a = arrayOfFolderNames.length;
     var checkThisPath = decodeURI(newFolderPath.toString());
     var forTheseFolders, fObj;
     var userOS = null;
     var slash;
     var win = $.os.indexOf("Windows");
     win != (-1) ? userOS = "PC" : userOS = "MAC";     //Determine user OS for folder path syntax
     userOS == ("PC") ? slash = "\\" : slash = "/";     //Choose appropriate slash syntax
     for(var i=0; i<a; i++){
          forTheseFolders = checkThisPath + slash + arrayOfFolderNames;     //String concat of folder path

          fObj = Folder(forTheseFolders);     //Convert to folder object
          if(!fObj.exists){     //Makes sure folder does not already exist
               fObj.create();     //Makes new folder
          }
     }
}

Now this will create a series of folders in a selected root folder. Now if you want to have nested folders, that's a different setup and I'll have to dig up some old scripts to see if I can find it, but this should get you started hopefully.

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