Getting Folder Actions to work

Last time, we commented on problems getting Folder Actions to work. MacFixIt readers were quick to point out one of the causes. We discovered another on our own. Here's the deal:

The major cause is a built-in limitation of this initial version of Folder Actions: they only work on folders that are currently open. More specifically, Folder Actions only work when the Finder's display of the folder's contents would be changed by the action. This means, for example, if you have a Folder Action designed to prevent adding new files to a folder, it will not work if you drag a file to a closed folder. No changes are displayed for a closed folder. [Note: A possible work-around is to attach a script which keeps a folder open if you try to close it.]

Opening folders did indeed get my Folder Action scripts to work, although there were still lengthy delays. The main source of this delay was ultimately attributed to an old version of CMTools in my Contextual Menu Items folder. When I deleted this, things speeded up considerably.

Delays appear to be a common complaint when using Folder Actions. This is mainly because it takes time for the Finder to send the appropriate Apple Event to the Folder Actions software and have the software process it. As quoted from the Macintosh Weekly Journal, "Our staff found that even with the Finder in the foreground, we could easily open and close a window before the 'opening a folder' script displayed its dialog box."

John Queenan found that doubling the Size resource of the Folder Actions extension (via ResEdit) "made it much more responsive." And don't forget that John's Folder Actions Commander can turn Folder Actions back on, if it gets killed somehow. (Thanks also to Peter Mellows, Robb Olsen-Albright and many others - for contributions to this report.)