AppleScripts

Files which are generated on Windows or Unix computers sometimes have names too long for the Mac's 31-character filename limit. This can be the case, for instance, with sequencing or genotyping trace files that come back from the Sequencing Facility. The following scripts help you change a folderful of file names on a Mac, using AppleScript. The first three were created by the folks at Apple Computer and may not work on anything but OS X; the fourth is my own modification of a script created by someone at Applied Biosystems, I believe.

• AddToFileNames.scpt.txt
  Adds a prefix or suffix to filenames.
• ReplaceText.scpt.txt
  Replaces selected text in filenames.
• TrimFileNames.scpt.txt
  Trims a given number of characters from the beginning or end of filenames.
• SetCreator-TypeToABI.scpt.txt
  Changes creator and type of all files in a folder to something that lets the file be opened with a double-click. Uses the file's three-character extension to determine the type (e.g., .fsa, .ab1, etc.); if no extension is found, assumes the file is a sequence trace (.ab1).