Folder

Represents a file-system folder or directory in a platform-independent manner.

Methods:

Folder, encode, decode, isEncodingAvailable, selectDialog, resolve, rename, remove, changePath, getRelativeURI, execute, toString, toSource, selectDlg, getFiles, create

Objects:

Boolean, Date, String

Property Listing

Property

Type

Access

Description

absoluteURI

String

readonly

The full path name for the referenced folder in URI notation.

alias

Boolean

readonly

When true, the object refers to a file system alias or shortcut.

created

Date

readonly

The creation date of the referenced folder, or null if the object does not refer to a folder on disk.

displayName

String

readonly

The localized name portion of the absolute URI for the referenced folder, without the path specification.

error

String

read/write

A message describing the most recent file system error.

Typically set by the file system, but a script can set it. Setting this value clears any error message and resets the error bit for opened files. Contains the empty string if there is no error.

exists

Boolean

readonly

When true, this object refers to a folder that currently exists in the file system.

fsName

String

readonly

The platform-specific name of the referenced folder as a full path name.

fullName

String

readonly

The full path name for the referenced folder in URI notation. .

modified

Date

readonly

The date of the referenced folder's last modification, or null if the object does not refer to a folder on disk.

name

String

readonly

The folder name portion of the absolute URI for the referenced file, without the path specification.

parent

 

readonly

TThe Folder object for the folder that contains this folder, or null if this object refers to the root folder of a volume.

path

String

readonly

The path portion of the object absolute URI for the referenced file, without the folder name.

relativeURI

String

readonly

The path name for the referenced folder in URI notation, relative to the current folder.

Property Listing

Name

Type

Access

Description

appData

Folder

readonly

The folder containing the application data for all users.

In Windows, the value of %APPDATA% (by default, C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application Data) In Mac OS, /Library/Application Support

appPackage

Folder

readonly

In Mac OS, a Folder object for the folder containing the bundle of the running application.

commonFiles

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the folder containing common files for all programs installed by the user.

In Windows, the value of %CommonProgramFiles% (by default, C:\\Program Files\\Common Files) In Mac OS, /Library/Application Support

current

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the current folder.

Assign a Folder object or a string containing the new path name to set the current folder. This is a class property accessed through the Folder constructor.

desktop

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the folder that contains the user’s desktop.

In Windows, C:\\Documents and Settings\\username\\Desktop In Mac OS, ~/Desktop

fs

String

readonly

The name of the current file system.

One of "Windows", "Macintosh", or "Unix".

myDocuments

Folder

readonly

A folder pointing to the user's My Documents folder.

In Windows, C:\\Documents and Settings\\username\\My Documents In Mac OS, ~/Documents

startup

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the folder containing the executable image of the running application.

system

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the folder containing the operating system files.

In Windows, the value of %windir% (by default, C:\\Windows) In Mac OS, /System

temp

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the default folder for temporary files.

trash

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the folder containing deleted items. On Windows, the trash folder is a virtual folder containing a database; therefore, the property value is null on Windows.

userData

Folder

readonly

A Folder object for the folder containing the user's application data.

In Windows, the value of %USERDATA% (by default, C:\\Documents and Settings\\username\\Application Data) In Mac OS, ~/Library/Application Support.

Method Listing

Constructor

Folder Folder ([path:String])

Creates and returns a new Folder object referring to a given file-system location.

If the path name refers to an already existing disk file, a File object is returned instead. Returns the new Folder object.

Parameter

Type

Description

path

String

The absolute or relative path to the folder associated with this object, specified in URI format.

The value stored in the object is the absolute path.The path need not refer to an existing folder. If the path refers to an existing file, rather than a folder: The Folder() function returns a File object instead of a Folder object. The new operator returns a Folder object for a nonexisting folder with the same name.

Boolean changePath (path:String)

Changes the path specification of the referenced folder.

Parameter

Type

Description

path

String

A string containing the new path, absolute or relative to the current folder.

Boolean create ()

Creates a folder at the location given by this object's path property.

Returns true if the folder was created.

String decode (uri:String)

Decodes a UTF-8 encoded string as required by RFC 2396, and returns the decoded string.

See also String.decodeURI().

Parameter

Type

Description

uri

String

The UTF-8 string to decode.

String encode (name:String)

Encodes a string as required by RFC 2396, and returns the encoded string.

All special characters are encoded in UTF-8 and stored as escaped characters starting with the percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits. For example, the string "my file" is encoded as "my%20file". Special characters are those with a numeric value greater than 127, except the following: / - _ . ! ~ * ' ( ) See also encodeURI().

Parameter

Type

Description

name

String

The string to encode.

Boolean execute ()

Opens this folder in the platform-specific file browser (as if it had been double-clicked in the file browser).

Returns true immediately if the folder was opened successfully.

Array getFiles (mask:Varies)

Retrieves the contents of this folder, filtered by the supplied mask.

Returns an array of File and Folder objects, or null if this object's referenced folder does not exist.

Parameter

Type

Description

mask

Varies

A search mask for file names, specified as a string or a function.

A mask string can contain question mark (?) and asterisk (*) wild cards. Default is "*", which matches all file names. Can also be the name of a function that takes a File or Folder object as its argument. It is called for each file or folder found in the search; if it returns true, the object is added to the return array. NOTE: In Windows, all aliases end with the extension .lnk. ExtendScript strips this from the file name when found, in order to preserve compatibility with other operating systems. You can search for all aliases by supplying the search mask "*.lnk", but note that such code is not portable.

String getRelativeURI ([basePath:String=String])

Retrieves and returns the path for this file, relative to the specified base path, in URI notation.

If no base path is supplied, the URI is relative to the path of the current folder. Returns a string containing the relative URI.

Parameter

Type

Description

basePath

String

A base path in URI notation.

(default: .)

Boolean isEncodingAvailable (name:String)

Reports whether a given encoding is available.

Parameter

Type

Description

name

String

The encoding name.

Typical values are "ASCII", "binary", or "UTF-8". For a complete list of supported encodings, see the JavaScript Tools Guide.

Boolean remove ()

Deletes the folder associated with this object from disk immediately, without moving it to the system trash.

Folders must be empty before they can be deleted. Does not resolve aliases; instead, deletes the referenced alias or shortcut file itself. Returns true if the file was successfully removed. IMPORTANT: Cannot be undone. It is recommended that you prompt the user for permission before deleting.

Boolean rename (newName:String)

Renames the associated folder.

Does not resolve aliases, but renames the referenced alias or shortcut file itself. Returns true if the folder was successfully renamed.

Parameter

Type

Description

newName

String

The new folder name, with no path information.

Folder resolve ()

Attempts to resolve the file-system alias or shortcut that this object refers to.

If successful, creates and returns a new Folder object that points to the resolved file system element. Returns null if this object does not refer to an alias, or if the alias could not be resolved.

Folder selectDialog (prompt:String)

Opens the built-in platform-specific file-browsing dialog, and creates a new File or Folder object for the selected file or folder.

Differs from the object method selectDlg() in that it does not preselect a folder. If the user clicks OK, returns a File or Folder object for the selected file or folder. If the user cancels, returns null.

Parameter

Type

Description

prompt

String

The prompt text, if the dialog allows a prompt.

Folder selectDlg (prompt:String)

Opens the built-in platform-specific file-browsing dialog, and creates a new File or Folder object for the selected file or folder.

Differs from the class method selectDialog() in that it preselects this folder. If the user clicks OK, returns a File or Folder object for the selected file or folder. If the user cancels, returns null.

Parameter

Type

Description

prompt

String

The prompt text, if the dialog allows a prompt.

String toSource ()

Creates and returns a serialized string representation of this object.

Pass the resulting string to eval() to recreate the object.

String toString ()

Converts this object to a string.