- Locating Actions to Do What You Want
- Inserting Actions into a Workflow
- Viewing an Action's Description
- Action Settings
- Action Options
- Deleting Actions
- Disabling Actions
- Moving Actions
- Copying Actions
- Renaming Actions
- Collapsing Actions
- Working with Input and Output Values
- Viewing Action Results as a Workflow Runs
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Inserting Actions into a Workflow
You already know that you can add an action to your workflow by selecting it in the Library list and dragging it to the desired spot in your workflow. You can also insert an action at the end of your workflow by double-clicking it in the Library list (Figures 4.6 and 4.7).
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Figure 4.6 Dragging an action into a workflow.
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Figure 4.7 An action's interface, once added to a workflow.
Tip
- If you've accidentally added an action to the wrong place in a workflow, simply select it and drag it to the correct location.
Understanding action insertion warnings
Sometimes when you drag an action into a workflow, Automator displays an alert panel. This generally occurs when the action you're adding will modify files, folders, or other data in some irreversible way. The type of warning displayed determines how you handle it.
- Some warnings simply alert you to something important. In these cases, you can usually choose to continue adding the action to the workflow, or you can decide not to add the action and simply cancel the alert (Figure 4.8).
Figure 4.8 An insertion warning for the Delete iCal Events action. Clicking Continue adds the action to the workflow. Clicking Cancel leaves the workflow as it is.
Other warnings provide a message and suggest adding another action first, usually to avoid potential data loss. In these cases, you can choose to cancel, add the suggested action in addition to the action you've dragged into the workflow, or insert only the action you've dragged into the workflow (Figure 4.9).
Figure 4.9 An insertion warning displayed by the Scale Images action asks if you'd like to add a Copy Finder Items action to prevent data loss.
If you click Add, Automator inserts the suggested action immediately before the action you dragged into the workflow (Figure 4.10).
Figure 4.10 An auto-inserted Copy Finder Items action precedes the Scale Images action to prevent data loss.
If you click Don't Add, Automator adds only the action you dragged into the workflow.
If you click Cancel, the workflow remains unchanged.
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Tips
- When it comes to potential data loss, it's better to be safe than sorry. Don't be afraid to add a suggested action to your workflow. You can always remove it if you decide later that you don't need it.
- Tired of seeing action alerts? To insert an action into a workflow without displaying its action insertion warning, hold
while dragging the action into the workflow area. This will not permanently disable the alert for that particular action. - You can also disable all action alerts by selecting the "Do not show this message again" checkbox in any alert window (Figure 4.11).
Figure 4.11 Action alerts give you the option of disabling future alerts.
- You can enable all disabled action alerts by choosing Automator > Reset Warnings from the menu bar (Figure 4.12).
Figure 4.12 Enabling all action alerts.
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Insertion Warnings and the Actions That Cause Them
Two common types of actions that cause insertion warnings include:
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Deletion Actions. Most actions that permanently delete something display a warning of some type when inserted into a workflow. For example, the Remove Empty Playlists action lets you know that once you run it, there's no way to get those playlists back (Figure 4.13).
Figure 4.13 An alert displayed by a deletion action.
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File Manipulation Actions. Most actions that modify files display a warning letting you know that those modifications can't be undone. If you want to retain your originals, consider adding an action, such as a Copy Finder Items or Create Archive action, to back up your files prior to modifying them (Figure 4.14).
Figure 4.14 An alert displayed by a file manipulation action.
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