Droplets

    To automate the process of making the same changes on repeated occasions, File Buddy will create droplets - small applications that automatically make the same changes every time something is dropped on them.

Creating a Droplet

    To create a droplet:
    1 Make the desired changes to the item currently in the info window. To mark a current attribute as changed, choose the desired attribute from the menu accessed with the Marked as changed button.
    2 Click the Create droplet button at the top of the Info window or choose the Save Droplet command in the File menu.
    3 Give the droplet a name and click Save.

    File Buddy will create an application with the following icon:

    Note: By default, the resulting droplet will only modify files if the item in the info window at the time the droplet was created was a file. Similarly, it will only modify folders if the item in the window was a folder. This can be configured as described below unless one or more of the changes is only appropriate to files, such as changing the file type or creator.

Determining What a Droplet Changes

    To see a list of the changes a droplet makes, open the droplet by double-clicking its icon or selecting it the Finder and using the Open command in the File menu. When the droplet opens, it will display a window with a list of the changes it makes. The changes cannot be edited, but the droplet can be configured to act on certain items.

Configuring a Droplet

    The following options are available in a droplet's configuration dialog:
    Specify whether the droplet should act on files, folders, or both.
    Only modify files of a specific type.
    Only modify files with a specific creator.
    Recursively modify items within folders
    Note: Invisible files inside folders are not modified. These are typically files used by the system and are not likely to be something you'd want modified with a droplet.
    Optionally open files after the droplet is finished making changes. This option is ignored when recursively modifying items in folders.

    If the Option key is down when items are dropped on a droplet, it will open the droplet's configuration dialog before processing the items dropped on it. Changes apply to that run only. To edit the default configuration for a droplet, open it by double-clicking and use the Configure button, or open the File menu and choose Configure.

Editing Droplets

    Other than the options described above, droplets are not editable. This is a design decision intended to reduce the amount of disk space required by both File Buddy and the droplets themselves. If changes are desired, create a new droplet with the new settings.

File Buddy Required

    The droplets File Buddy creates require that you have File Buddy on your computer, and will check with File Buddy occasionally to see if File Buddy is registered. Droplets do not check registration information themselves. They ask your copy of File Buddy if it is registered. As long your copy of File Buddy is not expired, they run either way, but if File Buddy is not registered, it may display a reminder just as it would if you had launched it directly.

Related Topics

 


Table of Contents