Finder Not Updating

Targets macOS
1

I have been chasing my tail for hours over this… probably NOT an Xojo problem. but hoping there is an Xojo solution.

I have an app that creates a multi-level folder structure, and then creates/copies files into the various locations.
Sometimes the program runs and reports no errors, but Finder says there are “No Items” in the newly created top level folder.
So I have been busting my backside trying to figure out why sometimes it works,and sometimes it didn’t.

Turns out, my app WAS working, and WAS creating files… but I would have to manually navigate via Finder to get the Finder display to update

Is there someway I get get Xojo to issue (shell?) command to force the update, so when my apps completes I see the true file count in the Finder window???

2

imagine item 1 of front window is the folder you want a refresh:

tell application "Finder" set fw to front window tell item 1 of fw to update return name of item 1 of fw end tell

3

Maybe it’s just Spotlight acting weird? What happens when you do a killall Spotlight in the Terminal?

4

I will try both those… would prefer to avoid AppleScript.

6

If I do a “Relaunch” of finder via the “Force Quit” window, it updates, but that is not a transparent solution :frowning:

7

Yet that is, to my knowledge, the best way to automate it from within a Xojo app.

It is essentially what happens with a little app I downloaded before which you then drag and add to the Finder toolbar, yielding a refresh icon. I got that app here but it leads to a broken download link now. However, drilling into the app contents it is a script that is quite similar to what Emile posted:

tell application "Finder"
	repeat with i from 1 to count of Finder windows
		tell window i
			try
				update every item with necessity
			end try
		end tell
	end repeat
end tell

If you use something like Alfred or Spark you can also assign a shortcut key that is only active within Finder allowing you to use something like Cmd+R which Finder otherwise does not use.

8

Actually, not sure that Alfred will let you do an app specific shortcut key. But Better Touch Tool can quite easily. And just copy the above Apple script into a new shortcut. I should have done that long ago; I was just using the toolbar icon to perform the function.