This program addresses an annoying characteristic in the Finder. Many times I'm in the situation where I have two folders full of stuff and want to combine the contents of both folders. What I normally would do is open one folder, do a Select All, and drag the contents to the destination folder.
This is fine and dandy if there are no duplicate file or folder names, but if there are, I get the dreaded message "Some items in this location have the same names as items you're moving. Do you want to replace them with the ones you're moving?"
Well what if I don't want to replace them, but move only the files without duplicate names? How about if there are subfolders with duplicate names and rather than replacing the old folder I just want the contents of the new files automatically moved into the existing subfolder? The Finder does not provide for these two options and so PictMerge was born.
What is PictMerge
PictMerge is a drag/drop utility for merging contents of two folders. When two folders are selected and dropped onto PictMerge, the contents of the second folder will be moved to the first folder. The merging process is recursive and if duplicate files are encountered they are simply left in their original locations. Empty subfolder will be automatically deleted from the source folder.
How to Use
From the Finder, select the "destination" folder. Then select the second folder, the "from" folder. Drag them both to PictMerge.
Caveats
Both folders must reside in the same folder. PictMerge simply changes the locations of files and will not do any copying or deleting of files. The sequence of folders in the finder determines which is the destination and which is the source. The first folder in the list is the destination and the second folder is the source. PictMerge is only capable of moving 400 items, files or folder, from the source folder per launch. If you have more than 400 items in the source folder, simply select the same folders and launch PictMerge again to finish off the merge.
Since PictMerge uses Drag and Drop, it requires System 7 or later with the Drag and Drop extension installed. System 7.5 and later have Drag and Drop built-in and do not require any additional extensions.
Helpful Tips for Certain Applications
PictMerge can be very helpful in sorting out the hundreds of files that can be downloaded daily from the Internet. It can quickly combine the contents of a "new stuff" folder into a "stuff to keep" folder. Other programs that I wrote that might also facilitate the organization of your collectables are PictSort and PictBrowser (to be released). All my programs are always available at http://www.primenet.com/~ericy.
Registration & Distribution
This is a freeware. I do ask that you send me a postcard or at least an email. If you find this program useful, please share it with your friends.
I like to hear from my users. Your comments and suggestions are what motivates me to working on this and other programs.
This program may not be included on CD-ROM for distribution without permission from the author.
email: ericy@primenet.com
for latest updates via World Wide Web my URL address is
http://www.primenet.com/~ericy
Disclaimer
This program is provided as-is and the author claims no responsibility for any loss of data.