12-23-2009, 06:38 PM

I have about 50 files on my 1tb external HDD. Is there a way I can print a list of the file names without having to re type them in Pages. They are names of video files I have and I need to make a list of them. Any help would be very appreciated.

12-23-2009, 06:59 PM

Open Terminal

Type the command below. Modify the paths and/or filename to suit you.

ls path/to/directory/to/print >> ~/Documents/filename.txt

Open file with Text Edit and copy contents into Pages.

12-23-2009, 07:32 PM

I have not messed with Terminal before.

12-23-2009, 07:56 PM

Here's an example. I want to print a list of files in my home directory which is called

/Users/mark

So I enter into terminal

$ ls /Users/Mark >> ~/Documents/home.txt

(The $ is the prompt Terminal gives you to tell you it is ready for a command. The symbol ~ is shorthand for your home directory = /Users/mark)

And the file home.txt is then created in my Documents folder and looks like:

Desktop
Documents
Downloads
Library
Movies
Music
Pictures
Public
Screen shot 2009-10-30 at 7.05.54 AM.png
Sites
SketchUpDrawings
untitled folder

12-23-2009, 08:15 PM

I don't mean to sound totally stupid but I still don't understand.

12-23-2009, 08:35 PM

No problem.

Do you know how to start up Terminal? You can find it under Applications, Utilities. Open up Finder (should be on your dock) and on the left side you'll see Applications. Click that and scroll down until you see Utilities. Click that and scroll down to Terminal. Click that and a window will open up.

Two lines will be displayed something like this:

Last login: Wed Dec 23 17:47:44 on ttys000
mbohn-macbook-pro:~ mbohn$

There will be a cursor just past the $ sign.

Type in ls (that is a lower case "ell") and Terminal will list the files in your home directory.

To get that information into a file instead of into the Terminal window:

$ ls >> filelist.txt

So the file filelist.txt will now have your list of files.

The trick here is going to be for you to find the directory you want to list. If you can navigate in Terminal to that directory you are all set. The command above will do what you want and the file filelist.txt will end up in that directory. If you don't know how to navigate in Terminal you can put the directory name in like we did before:

$ ls /Users/Mark >> ~/Documents/home.txt

12-23-2009, 08:42 PM

ls won't output the filenames under directories, however du will...

so

du -sch /path/to/folder

would work better IMO, course you can also just print directly from the command line

du -sch /path/to/folder | lp

should send it to your printer

12-23-2009, 08:51 PM

Do I use the external HDD name. It is "Iomega"

12-23-2009, 08:55 PM

in that case it'd likely be

du -ach /Volumes/Iomega/* | lp

to print directly to a printer

that will print ALL files in that path...

12-23-2009, 10:09 PM

Avoid the Terminal all together if there are no directories, just a list of files.

Open Iomega and do a Select All, then Copy
Open Text Edit
Format menu > Make Plain Text
Paste

There is your file list.

12-24-2009, 03:08 AM

PrintFinder

12-24-2009, 09:46 AM

If you don't want to mess with Terminal, or install other software, there is a slightly less labor intensive way to do this than re-typing everything: copy and paste. Open the folder you want to list, and your Text Editor. Highlight a file/folder name, Cmd-C, switch to the Text Editor, Cmd-V. Do this until all of them are listed in your new file, then print it.

12-24-2009, 12:42 PM

Thanks MacsWork. That was very simple.

12-24-2009, 08:23 PM

Yeah, I missed that. Great tip!

That works within any folder, right?

So, even if you have multiple "directories" you just have to do that in each one.

(See, I did read it carefully, the second time!)