‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ is an AppleScript droplet which adjusts the view of folders dropped onto it and does a Clean Up Window. It also moves all subfolders of folders dropped onto it to a position relative to the dropped folder, adjusts their view and cleans them up, moves and cleans subfolders of subfolders, etcetera. The position of folders dropped onto the droplet are not changed; these are used to determine the position given to windows of subfolders. To test it out, drop a floppy disk with a lot of files and folders of which you have a backup onto it, and watch the action. The backup isn't strictly needed, but you should not use a floppy whose windows and icons you have carefully arranged, since ‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ probably arranges them in another way, and its actions are not undo-able.
Requirements
‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ needs AppleScript, a scriptable Finder, and, especially when given large hard disks to reorganize, lots of time.
Possible uses
‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ can come in quite handy to manage window positions on a file server to which multiple users have write access. It also may be handy for makers of CD ROMs since it makes it easier to make their windows well-behaved. Simply move the main window of the disk to a convenient position just under the Apple Menu and drop the disk on ‘Clean Up Finder Windows’.
Caveat Emptor/Disclaimer
‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ is released as is, without any warranty. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. Alternatively, you can use the included source to build your own version.
The actions ‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ performs are not undo-able. If you like the current positions of your Finder windows and the icons in those windows you should not run ‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ on it.
Known limitations
The program does not check whether all windows do fit on the screen, so if you have a very deep folder hierarchy the result may be less than desired. I haven’t tried to fix that since the Finder somehow adjusts positions if windows are moved outside of the screen. Also, the script is aborted with a ‘stack overflow’ message at a depth of about 18, and at that depth the windows do still more or less fit on a 640x480 screen. The ‘stack overflow’ can probably be fixed by playing with the ‘scsz’ resource in the droplet, but I do not have any documentation for that, and a depth of 18 folders seems rather much to me.
Distribution policy
‘Clean Up Finder Windows’ may be freely distributed, as long as it is distributed in unmodified form together with this documentation and the source code. Usage is free for personal use. If you do use it to clean up the windows for a CD-ROM product it would be appreciated if you sent me a complimentary copy (E-mail me for my snail-mail address)
