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macoscompressionzipfinder

Mac OS X 'compress' option vs command line zip (why do they produce different results?)


I noticed that the command line 'zip' tool and Mac OS X's 'Compress XXX' option (available via right click in finder) are giving different output files. Not only is the size of the file a few hundred bytes bigger but the content is significantly different as well.

How can I find out what command the Finder is using for compression?


Solution

  • Take a look at An AppleScript to compress a Finder selection article.

    try
        tell application "Finder"
            set theSelection to the selection
            set selectionCount to count of theSelection
            if selectionCount is greater than 1 then
                error "Please select only one Finder item before running this script."
            else if selectionCount is less than 1 then
                error "Please select one Finder item before running this script."
            else
                set theItem to (item 1 of theSelection) as alias
                set destFolder to (container of theItem) as alias
                set itemName to name of theItem
            end if
        end tell
    
        do shell script ("ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent " & quoted form of POSIX path of theItem & space & quoted form of (POSIX path of destFolder & itemName & ".zip"))
    on error theError
        tell me
            activate
            display dialog "Error: " & theError buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon stop
        end tell
    end try