⌘ Using Rsync and Keyboard Maestro to Merge and Purge thousands of redundant files

A perfect example of combining the power of the Shell and Keyboard Maestro. Quite some time ago I removed my individual external drives from their cases and combined them into several multi-unit drive enclosures. This was very convenient, but led to the issue of many, many duplicates across multiple drives. Consolidating all these files has turned out to be more of a chore than I expected. Merging folders is either a foreign concept or a dirty word. Apps have no idea how to handle it. If I have Drive 1 and Drive 2, if files already exist on Drive 1, simply skip them. If there is a new file, copy it over, but don’t waste time copying something that already exists in the destination. At the end, delete all the files off Drive 2 so I can reclaim the space. Don’t leave it 98% full like it was before. For this task, only a handful of files should be copied. […]

⌘ 101 Things to do with Keyboard Maestro

To be fair, I don’t have 101 macros written, yet. But, I’m well on my way. Although, reading the forums, there are others who have done that and more. A few sophisticated users have a couple hundred macros covering dozens of different areas. I have jealousy and hope to be that proficient one day. What I’ve learned is that Keyboard Maestro is far more than a “macro” tool. It’s every bit a development environment. A development environment that with a small time investment and a bit of research, can create custom solutions for all sorts of situations. It’s even possible to replicate the functionality of off the shelf software, or in some cases replace it. It may not be 100% parity, but it will accomplish the core functionality. For example, here’s a few of the applets I’ve created so far. Filter the clipboard to remove extraneous text from Amazon links Rename files as they are added to a folder Move […]