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What is the recommended way to create a duplicate of a file and specify the new name?

At the moment I use:

test = Application("Finder").duplicate(Path("/var/tmp/old.txt"), {replacing:true}) // creates "/var/tmp/old copy.txt"
test.name = "new.txt" // renames it to "/var/tmp/new.txt"

I would prefer to specify the output name in that duplicate method, instead of specifying it afterwards. The Finder dictionary says I can use:

duplicate specifier : the object(s) to duplicate 
[to: location specifier] : the new location for the object(s)
[replacing: boolean] : Specifies whether or not to replace items in the destination that have the same name as items being duplicated

But when I try the following:

test = Application("Finder").duplicate(Path("/var/tmp/old.txt"), {to:Path("/var/tmp/new.txt"), replacing:true})
  • If new.txt did not yet exist, I get the message "Error -1728: Can't get object"
  • If new.txt already exists, the message is "Error -1700: Can't convert types"

It is not clear what type "location specifier" is. I tried Path with folder/file/folder+file, regular string (folder/file/folder+file).

Suggestions?

ShooTerKo
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wivku
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1 Answers1

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Strange behavior, indeed... I would like to know the right syntax to use Finder's duplicate handler, too, but if you just need to copy your file you could use the doShellScript-handler as well:

app = Application.currentApplication()
app.includeStandardAdditions = true

sourcePath = "/var/tmp/old.txt"
targetPath = "/var/tmp/new.txt"

app.doShellScript("cp -f '" + sourcePath + "' '" + targetPath + "'")

I know it's only a workaround...

ShooTerKo
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