Can't save an Automator script

February 15, 2011 6:31 PM

Why can't I save an Automator script?

Using OS X 10.6.6. I created a workflow, following directions found somewhere on the net, running a Folder Action to automatically run a print command whenever a new file appears in a specified folder under Dropbox. The next step is that the file is then moved to another folder called Completed.

After completing this three-step workflow, I'm supposed to save the script. But it rejects each name I give, and tells me that it cannot create the file. Hitting close does the same thing. There is no option to choose a folder to put the script in, so it presumably wants to put it in the default folder - Scripts | Folder Action Scripts. But I can't save the thing. What can I do?

posted by yclipse to computers & internet (4 answers total)

Are the permissions on that folder strange (i.e., is it unwritable or owned by another user)?
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:15 PM on February 15, 2011

Are you using a character that is forbidden in all of the names? Such as a colon : ?
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:51 PM on February 15, 2011

Permissions: full read and write
Name: letters only
posted by yclipse at 1:43 AM on February 16, 2011

Automator's buggy as crap, is the short answer.

I've run into this (in fact I was able to reproduce exactly the same problem just now, though only intermittently)... only workaround I've found is to create a new folder action, attach it to the folder you want it attached to, save the action immediately, then copy your actions into it and hit save again (not choosing a new file name for the action.)

(The actions wind up in ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions, if you need to clear out the bad one later.)
posted by ook at 7:16 AM on February 16, 2011