TweetFollow Us on Twitter

Folder Clean-up
Volume Number:9
Issue Number:3
Column Tag:Useful Tricks

Related Info: File Manager File Mgr (PBxxx) Finder Interface

Clean up Your Folders

An app to arrange your finder windows

By Mike Scanlin, MacTech Magazine Regular Contributing Author

Note: Source code files accompanying article are located on MacTech CD-ROM or source code disks.

Isn’t it nice that the Developer CD has all of its directory windows nicely orgainized and arranged so that you can work your way down eight or nine levels deep and see at a glance the complete path to where you currently are? Wouldn’t it be nice if your gigabyte hard drive obeyed the same pretty convention? Well, here’s a little code fragment that will make that possible for you.

CleanUpFolders is a tiny app I wrote when the server volumes at my company were getting out of control. People with 96” monitors would put server directory windows all over the place so that when I opened them on my 16” screen they would either be minimally visible or in a place where the Finder put them because they would otherwise be off the screen entirely. Now we run CleanUpFolders on our server volumes about once a week and all is well. It positions and sizes all directory windows in a staggered fashion, as well as changes the view of each directory to View by Name and closes any open triangles it finds.

Before CleanUpFolders:

After CleanUpFolders:

Much nicer, eh? This program has no user interface whatsoever. You just launch it and when it returns your windows are consistently sized and positioned. You can change the size, position and offset of the windows by editing the source code and recompiling. I know, it’s somewhat crude, but MacTech readers don’t want to read two pages of interface and event handling fluff just to get to the 20 lines of code that actually does something, do they? I thought so.

After you run CleanUpFolders you will have to close all your windows and then reopen them before you see its effects (because the Finder doesn’t resize an open window when you call PBSetCatInfo on it, but it will use the new size if you close and then reopen the window). Have fun.

Listing CleanUpYourFolders.c
/*****************************************************
 * CleanUpFolders
 *
 * A little app to clean up all folders' windows
 * starting with the one that this app is in and
 * continuing recursively downwards.
 *
 * Mike Scanlin  17 Oct 1992
 ****************************************************/

#define kFolderBit (1 << 4)
#define kZoomBit 0x0020
#define kOpenTriangleBit  0x0010
#define kViewMask0xFF00
#define kViewByName0x0200

void main(void);
void CleanUpAFolder(long theDrDirID);
void EnumerateCatalog(long dirID);

CInfoPBRectheCPB;
Str255  theName;
Rect    theRect;
short   hOffset, vOffset;


/*****************************************************
 * main
 * 
 * Clean up the directory that this app is residing
 * in and then all of the directories contained within
 * this directory recursively. Put this app in the 
 * root directory of a volume and launch it to clean 
 * up the entire volume.
 ****************************************************/
void main()
{
 long   dirID;
 short  vRefNum;
 
 /* Set the initial directory's size and position */
 SetRect(&theRect, 2, 40, 2+228, 40+165);
 
 /* Set the offset for each child directory */
 hOffset = 16;
 vOffset = 16;
 
 /* Find out where this app is located */
 HGetVol(&theName, &vRefNum, &dirID);

 theCPB.dirInfo.ioVRefNum = vRefNum;
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioNamePtr = theName;
 
 /* First, clean up the current directory */
 theCPB.hFileInfo.ioFDirIndex = -1;
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrDirID = dirID;
 PBGetCatInfo(&theCPB, FALSE);
 CleanUpAFolder(theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrParID);
 
 /* Now clean up all child directories */
 EnumerateCatalog(dirID);
}


/*****************************************************
 * CleanUpAFolder
 * 
 * Given a directory ID, this will unzoom the
 * window, size and position the window, close the
 * "triangle" and set the view to View by Name.
 ****************************************************/
void CleanUpAFolder(long theDrDirID)
{
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrDirID = theDrDirID;
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrUsrWds.frRect = theRect;
 /* clear the zoomed bit, the "open triangle bit"
  * and the view; leave the other bits alone
  * because we don't know what they're for.
  */
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrUsrWds.frView &=
 ~kViewMask - kZoomBit - kOpenTriangleBit;
 /* set the view to View by Name */
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrUsrWds.frView |= kViewByName;
 PBSetCatInfo(&theCPB, FALSE);
}


/*****************************************************
 * EnumerateCatalog
 *
 * Given a directory ID to start with, this calls
 * CleanUpAFolder once for every directory within
 * the given start directory. On entry it offsets
 * theRect down and to the right; on exit it offsets
 * it up and to the left.
 ****************************************************/
void EnumerateCatalog(long dirID)
{
 long   tempDir;
 short  index;
 OSErr  myErr;
 
 OffsetRect(&theRect, hOffset, vOffset);

 index = 1;
 do {
 theCPB.hFileInfo.ioFDirIndex = index;
 theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrDirID = dirID;
 myErr = PBGetCatInfo(&theCPB, FALSE);
 if (myErr == noErr) {
 if (theCPB.hFileInfo.ioFlAttrib & kFolderBit) {
 tempDir = theCPB.dirInfo.ioDrDirID;
 CleanUpAFolder(dirID);
 EnumerateCatalog(tempDir);
 myErr = noErr;
 }
 }
 index++;
 } while (myErr == noErr);

 OffsetRect(&theRect, -hOffset, -vOffset);
}

 

Community Search:
MacTech Search:

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Latest Forum Discussions

See All


Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Take $150 off every Apple 11-inch M3 iPad Air
Amazon is offering a $150 discount on 11-inch M3 WiFi iPad Airs right now. Shipping is free: – 11″ 128GB M3 WiFi iPad Air: $449, $150 off – 11″ 256GB M3 WiFi iPad Air: $549, $150 off – 11″ 512GB M3... Read more
Apple iPad minis back on sale for $100 off MS...
Amazon is offering $100 discounts (up to 20% off) on Apple’s newest 2024 WiFi iPad minis, each with free shipping. These are the lowest prices available for new minis among the Apple retailers we... Read more
Apple’s 16-inch M4 Max MacBook Pros are on sa...
Amazon has 16-inch M4 Max MacBook Pros (Silver and Black colors) on sale for up to $410 off Apple’s MSRP right now. Shipping is free. Be sure to select Amazon as the seller, rather than a third-party... Read more
Red Pocket Mobile is offering a $150 rebate o...
Red Pocket Mobile has new Apple iPhone 17’s on sale for $150 off MSRP when you switch and open up a new line of service. Red Pocket Mobile is a nationwide MVNO using all the major wireless carrier... Read more
Switch to Verizon, and get any iPhone 16 for...
With yesterday’s introduction of the new iPhone 17 models, Verizon responded by running “on us” promos across much of the iPhone 16 lineup: iPhone 16 and 16 Plus show as $0/mo for 36 months with bill... Read more
Here is a summary of the new features in Appl...
Apple’s September 2025 event introduced major updates across its most popular product lines, focusing on health, performance, and design breakthroughs. The AirPods Pro 3 now feature best-in-class... Read more
Apple’s Smartphone Lineup Could Use A Touch o...
COMMENTARY – Whatever happened to the old adage, “less is more”? Apple’s smartphone lineup. — which is due for its annual refresh either this month or next (possibly at an Apple Event on September 9... Read more
Take $50 off every 11th-generation A16 WiFi i...
Amazon has Apple’s 11th-generation A16 WiFi iPads in stock on sale for $50 off MSRP right now. Shipping is free: – 11″ 11th-generation 128GB WiFi iPads: $299 $50 off MSRP – 11″ 11th-generation 256GB... Read more
Sunday Sale: 14-inch M4 MacBook Pros for up t...
Don’t pay full price! Amazon has Apple’s 14-inch M4 MacBook Pros (Silver and Black colors) on sale for up to $220 off MSRP right now. Shipping is free. Be sure to select Amazon as the seller, rather... Read more
Mac mini with M4 Pro CPU back on sale for $12...
B&H Photo has Apple’s Mac mini with the M4 Pro CPU back on sale for $1259, $140 off MSRP. B&H offers free 1-2 day shipping to most US addresses: – Mac mini M4 Pro CPU (24GB/512GB): $1259, $... Read more

Jobs Board

All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.