[OS X TeX] Opening many files in order

[Luis Sequeira]

>
> On May 20, 2009, at 9:57 AM, David Watson wrote:
>
>> The way MacOSX sorts is by dictionary order, so you will see files
>> 1, 2, ..., 10 as:
>>
>> 1
>> 10
>> 2
>> 3
>> ...
>>
>> If you wanted them to open in numerical order, then you can achieve
>> that by naming them with sufficient leading zeroes to force the
>> dictionary order to match:
>>
>> 01
>> 02
>> ...
>> 09
>> 10
>
> As I just responded, the cost for me would be unbearable. By the way,
> though, when I experimented with that earlier on, I seem to remember
> deciding that it wasn't just the alphabetical order and that the
> order of last save also came in. But I don't really recall.
>
> Rueful but grateful regards
> --schremmer
>

I think I found a very simple solution to your predicament - at least,  
it worked very well in my testing and I believe it is elegant.

I can't test it on Tiger, but you might. My solution uses Automator,  
which, if I remember correctly, also works on Tiger (it has been a  
while since I moved to Leopard). There is no programming or Terminal  
involved, which should be a plus :-)

My solution is the following:

Open Automator and create a very small Automator workflow composed of  
three actions, all from the "Files and Folders" group; just drag the  
actions below to the area on the right, in the order presented:

1) Get selected Finder Items
2) Sort Finder Items
3) Open Finder Items

The box for number 2) above has 2 popup menus that allow you to choose  
how to order (by name, etc) and whether you want ascending or  
descending order. Choose the one that fits your needs.

If you create this workflow (like I said, no programming at all, just  
put the actions in the order above), you can choose "File->Save as  
Plug-in", and make it a plug-in for the Finder; call it, say, "Open in  
order". Then, to open your files in order, just select them, right- 
click and choose "Automator->Open in order" from the contextual menu.

Luis Sequeira