How to pass path names to Python script by “dropping” files/folders over script icon

Question

I am working in Mac OS X and have been writing simple file/folder copy scripts in Python. Is there a way to drag and drop a folder on top of a Python script icon and pass the fi

Answer 1

Just use the "Build Applet" utility:

/Developer/Applications/Utilities/MacPython\ 2.5/Build\ Applet.app

and the dropped file paths will be available thru sys.argv.

Note that you may have to use Python2.5 (or a patched version) -- See this note: https://bitbucket.org/ronaldoussoren/py2app/issue/16/argv-emulation-code-needs-rewrite

Quick example -- edit this file and put it on your desktop:

#!/usr/bin/python2.5
import sys
print sys.argv

Control-click on it, and select open with "Build Applet (2.5.4)"

App icon will appear on desktop.

Open Console Utility & clear display.

Drop some files onto App icon -- you'll see the print in the console window.