Implementing "Show in Finder" button in Objective-C

Question

In my application I would like to create a 'Show in Finder' button.

I have been able to figure out how to pop up a Finder window of that directory but haven't figured out how to highlight the file like the OS does.

Is this possible?

Possible duplicate of [Launch OSX Finder window with specific files selected](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7652928/launch-osx-finder-window-with-specific-files-selected) — eonil, May 25 '16 at 12:56

score 42 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

42

NSArray *fileURLs = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:fileURL1, /* ... */ nil];
[[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] activateFileViewerSelectingURLs:fileURLs];

stolen from Launch OSX Finder window with specific files selected

edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

Community

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1

answered May 23 '12 at 15:18

owen gerig

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Error -600 raising for me (osx 10.6.5) – user23790 May 18 '13 at 10:43

score 15 · Answer 2 · answered May 23 '12 at 15:22

15

You can use NSWorkspace method -selectFile:inFileViewerRootedAtPath: like this:

[[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] selectFile:fullPathString inFileViewerRootedAtPath:pathString];

answered May 23 '12 at 15:22

Justin Boo

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Error -600 raising for me (osx 10.6.5) – user23790 May 18 '13 at 10:43

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 05 '12 at 08:49

3

Its worth mentioning that owen's method only works from osx 10.6 or later (Ref: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/ApplicationKit/Classes/NSWorkspace_Class/Reference/Reference.html ).

So if your writing something to run on the older generations its probably better to do it in the way suggested by justin as its not been deprecated (yet).

answered Jul 05 '12 at 08:49

andrewktmeikle

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Only added this as an answer because I cannot "comment" on stuff yet lol – andrewktmeikle Jul 26 '12 at 11:41

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 24 '16 at 01:31

// Place the following code within your Document subclass

// enable or disable the menu item called "Show in Finder"
override func validateUserInterfaceItem(anItem: NSValidatedUserInterfaceItem) -> Bool {
    if anItem.action() == #selector(showInFinder) {
        return self.fileURL?.path != nil;
    } else {
        return super.validateUserInterfaceItem(anItem)
    }
}

// action for the "Show in Finder" menu item, etc.
@IBAction func showInFinder(sender: AnyObject) {

    func showError() {
        let alert = NSAlert()
        alert.messageText = "Error"
        alert.informativeText = "Sorry, the document couldn't be shown in the Finder."
        alert.runModal()
    }

    // if the path isn't known, then show an error
    let path = self.fileURL?.path
    guard path != nil else {
        showError()
        return
    }

    // try to select the file in the Finder
    let workspace = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace()
    let selected = workspace.selectFile(path!, inFileViewerRootedAtPath: "")
    if !selected {
        showError()
    }

}

Implementing "Show in Finder" button in Objective-C

4 Answers4