Safari downloads open in Finder

[Anonymous]

One of my favorite things about Safari is the ability to quickly zoom to a download in the downloads window by clicking on the magnifying glass. Unfortuantely, this doesn't work witht the Finder disabled. Is there way to get it to "Reveal in PF"?

Same with apps like BBEdit where you can command-click on the title bar and zoom to anywhere in the filepath.

[neilkachu]

hi,
this can be achieved by adjusting the PkgInfo ID for PathFinder so that its is the same as the Finder. To do this you need to open the PathFinder package via the contextual menu 'Show Package Contents', which will show the application folder structure.. navigate to PathFinder/Contents/PkgInfo and edit this text file, change the line in here to FNDRMACS and save. logout and back in and then PathFinder will assume Finder duties for application calls, this works with safari, dock-it etc.

hth

[Steve Gehrman]

Modifying the PkgInfo will work. I wish Apple would make all applications talk with a "default file browser" rather than always sending messages to the Finder.

There are some tricks that can help switch from the Finder to Path Finder that help in this situation. When Safari selects a file in the Finder, hit Cmd-F1, or use the Path Finder menu on the right side of the menu bar to select the item in Path Finder

[Denis]

Is there a way to show downloads in Pathfinder, instead of Finder, from Safari? I set PF to quit the Finder on launch, and I often want to go from Safari to a downloaded file but I haven't find a way to tell Safari to show me the file in PF. Any help on that?

Thanks!

[bill]

Do a "show contents" on Path Finder, either in Path Finder or Finder. You're looking for Path Finder/Contents/PkgInfo. Open it and change "APPLPFdR" to "FNDRMACS". Save the change, close the file, quit & restart Path Finder. That should do it.

For real fun, you can edit com.apple.loginwindow.plist to further confuse the system about Finder and Path Finder

[BrentN]

Please do understand that this will replace the regular Finder with PathFinder. This is an unsupported configuration, and can cause other problems to crop up. Please read http://www.cocoatech.com/faqs.php#replace and make sure you understand what you're doing before you try this hack.

[bill]

Yeah, I know. That's the way I like it.

[BrentN]

Bill,

Undoubtedly you do. I thought that Denis might should be forewarned to the potential consequences of the actions you suggested, especially the "Cocoatech doesn't support this" part. Its generally good form to let people know when you're suggesting a hack. ;)

[Denis]

Well, thanks for both the answer and the warning :)

I'm not sure I'm up to hacking it just yet. I'll think about it...

Denis

[bill]

Bill,

Undoubtedly you do. I thought that Denis might should be forewarned to the potential consequences of the actions you suggested, especially the "Cocoatech doesn't support this" part. Its generally good form to let people know when you're suggesting a hack. ;)

Good point. I forget that we're not all geeks, nor do we all have the same degree of geekishness.

FWIW, this is a fairly popular topic in these parts (tweaking Path Finder/Finder/System, not geekiness).

[knghtbrd]

Meh, if Path Finder ever learns to listen to the Dock's "empty the trash" message, I'll consider the replacement complete. Until then, I will use it as a replacement and accept that it is not complete yet. ;)

[neilio]

Lobby Apple to give 3rd parties access to the Dock, and we'll add support for this. :)

The problem is the API for the dock and its events are completely closed - no one has access to them, and no one (yet) has figured out or reverse engineered it. We'd love to add this, too.

[Anonymous]

I run pathfinder w/ finder off. Ever since I upgraded to 10.3.6, when I download a file and/or open it, the Finder starts. Does anyone else encounter it? It's really annoying. I have tried both the APPLMACS and FNDRMACS and they don't affect anything. So how can I keep the Finder from launching?

[neilio]

The Finder hack must not have been done properly if the Finder is still launching after you change Path Finder's PkgInfo - that change makes the OS believe that Path Finder is the Finder.

Sorry, but there isn't much else I can offer that we currently support. If you really want to stop the Finder from launching, the "atomic bomb" solution is to just move the Finder out of the CoreServices folder, or change its name... but I have no idea what will happen if you do that. :)

[bill]

I did something very much like that several months ago - I renamed Finder & copied Path Finder to Core Services under the name Finder. The post I made about it, how it worked and such should still be around - I'll see if I can find them.

in this (http://www.cocoatech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=286&highlight=) post I go over some of the things that happened to me when I did it.

[Anonymous]

Same with apps like BBEdit where you can command-click on the title bar and zoom to anywhere in the filepath.

I just found this hint (FNDRMACS) and it only works okay. When I try to zoom to somewhere in the filepath from BBEdit, PF *is* brought to the front, but the file is not located. Is this a problem with PF or BBEdit?

I'd really like to see this work...

[neilio]

Mike Solomon has put together a small "hack" which remaps the command-click list from the title bar to Path Finder. It's available here:

http://culater.net/software/PathFinderHack/PathFinderHack.php

This is quite a bit more elegant than hacking the PkgInfo, which can have some very unpredictable results.

Neil

[Anonymous]

This seems to work for everything but BBEdit...

I guess I'll write to BareBones and complain...

[neilio]

Oh, right - Mike's tweak only works with Cocoa applications (which BBEdit is not).

[abacsalmasi]

I have PF setup as my default "Finder" using the FINDERMAC system and changing the login options as well. I've noticed that when I download a file with Safari, it automatically opens the Finder. I've tried restarting, changing my default dl location in Safari. Is there any possible solution to this problem?

[mmn]

I have PF setup as my default "Finder" using the FINDERMAC system and changing the login options as well. I've noticed that when I download a file with Safari, it automatically opens the Finder. I've tried restarting, changing my default dl location in Safari. Is there any possible solution to this problem?

Happens for me, too.

I have Saft for Safari installed, you too? After disabling it, it stops. I tried to disable adding the download URL to the SPotlight comments, but that didn't help.

Solutions, anyone?

[grotsasha]

Look here (http://www.cocoatech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1120&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=safari+download/url)

Or you have to replace Finder completely (install Path Finder inside Core Services and rename it to Finder) but I would not do it personally.

[abacsalmasi]

I do have Path Finder set as Finder in Core Services as well as Saft running, yet I still get this problem, but now it opens a second copy of Path Finder instead of Finder.

[Denis]

Hello,

is there a Safari hack I can do to make it so the downloads window will have a 'show in Pathfinder' button instead of 'show in Finder'?

Thanks.
Denis

[flip]

I haven't tried it, but here's a suggestion: select your download folder in PF, and make a PathFinder alias of it (not a regular alias). Then in Safari, change your download folder to that alias. It might work.

[bill]

There's no Safari hack I know of, but this (http://www.cocoatech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=222) thread covers how to replace the Finder with Path Finder. I've done this in the past, and then Safari will show downloaded items in Path Finder. However, there are potential problems (http://www.cocoatech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=225).

FWIW, I go with something similar to flip's suggestion, but in a simpler form: I created the folder ~/Desktop/target/browser/, then put it in the Shelf. I also set all the browsers on my system to download into this folder. When I want to find something I've downloaded, I switch to Path Finder and click on "browser" in the Shelf, and I'm there.

Some browsers have the option to create a separate folder every day, inside the designated download folder, which narrows your selection down even further.

[Denis]

Hey there,

yes I have a specified download folder and it's on my Pathfinder shelf but it's usually full of stuff so what I was looking for is a way to select the file in the download folder, as the 'show in finder' button does in Safari, only in Pathfinder (try it, you'll see what I mean).

I don't want to replace the Finder as there are too many downsides for me.

Thanks though!

D.

[bill]

Here's a further option that cuts down on the clutter for me:

I use the folder ~/Desktop/target/browser/installed/ to put all the iso's, disk images and whatnot I download that I've actually installed. Once I've used it, I'm unlikely to need it very soon, but it's still there in the event. I also have folders for documents, pics, movies and music/sound files I download, where I put things until I'm ready to file them away permanently in ~/Documents, ~/Movies, ~/Music, ~/Pictures or wherever else I might keep them.

Additionally, like I mentioned above, some browsers (Camino & Firefox, IIRC) have the option to create subfolders inside the main download folder by day, which would further narrow things down. Of course, then you have to remember when you downloaded that disk image you're looking for...

Wide & shallow file system, that's me.

[ranathari]

I'm currently using Safari with Saft and when a download finishes, the Finder is reopened. Is there any way to stop Safari from opening the Finder? Or at the very least, open Path Finder instead?

[kga1978]

Now, I can't find the damn preference, but somewhere Saft will save the original URL of you download in the spotlight comment field. This is the reason why it opens up the Finder, since the Finder is required for this.... In order for the Finder NOT to be opened every time you finish a download, just uncheck this setting.... Now if I can only remember where I found it.. sorry, but hope it helps.