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--- action:Write_to_a_File [2015/03/20 02:59]
peternlewis created
+++ action:Write_to_a_File [2018/02/19 01:35]
peternlewis Write to a File v8.1
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The Write to a File action allows you to write a variety of things to a file on disk.
+The Write to a File and [[action:Append Text to a File|Append Text to a File]] actions allow you to write a variety of things to a file on disk.
-You can write or append the current system clipboard, a named clipboard, a variable, some text or some styled text (you cannot append styled text though).
+**Warning: Ensure you specify a file path, not a path to a directory - this action uses an Apple API that can overwrite directories, destroying them completely (pre-v8.1).**  As of v8.1+, this action will trash (if possible) (in to the trash folder) any existing file or directory you are about to overwrite.
-You select the file to write to by specifying it's path.  You can click the File Chooser button on the right to select an existing file on disk.  You can option-click on the File Chooser button to show the currently selected file in the Finder (assuming it exists already).
+Write or append the current system clipboard, a named clipboard, a variable, some text or some styled text (you can write but cannot append styled text).
-You can write the file in a variety of formats, including plain text, RTF or RTFD, SimpleText, as an HTML folder or web archive, os a Word Doc, Word XML, Open Office XML, or Open Document, or for clipboards which contain images, as an image in a number of formats. Plain text formats can also specify their character encoding.
+Select the file to write to by specifying its path. Click the File Chooser button on the right to select an existing file on disk. Option-click on the File Chooser button to show the currently selected file in the Finder (assuming it exists already).
-You can only append to plain text formats.
+You can write the file in a variety of formats, including plain text, RTF or RTFD, SimpleText, as an HTML folder or web archive, or a Word Doc, Word XML, Open Office XML, or Open Document. You can only append to plain text formats though.
-If you change the format or extension of the file, the other changes to match.  If you hold the option key down and change the format, the extension will be left unchanged (7.0+).
+[[:Clipboards|Clipboards]] which contain images can be written in various formats: PNG, TIFF, JPEG, BMP, GIF. Plain text formats can have a specified character encoding: MacRoman, ISO-8859 Latin 1, UTF-8, UTF-16.
+If you change the format or extension of the file in the ‘//to file//’ field, the ‘//with format//’ selector changes to match. If you hold the Option key down and change the format selector, the extension in the ‘//to file//’ field will be left unchanged (7.0+).
+Note the difference between the Write and Append actions:  Write changes the entire contents of the file on disk while Append adds the new content at the end of the file.
+For text, the action allows you to control what text processing happens in the gear menu (7.2+) :
+* Process Text Normally (process text tokens and backslash characters)
+* Process Text Tokens Only (process text tokens but not backslash characters)
+* Process Nothing (process neither text tokens nor backslash characters)
+Most other [Text Fields](https://wiki.keyboardmaestro.com/Text_Fields) in Keyboard Maestro process both text tokens and (except for regular expression fields) backslash characters.
+===== See Also =====
+----
+=== Actions ===
+* [[action:Delete a File|Delete a File]]
+* [[action:Read a File|Read a File]]
+* [[action:Set Variable to Text|Set Variable to Text]]
+* [[:Actions|See all Actions]]
+==== Topics ====
+* [[:Clipboards|Clipboards]]
+* [[:Frequently Asked Questions|FAQ]]
+----
+==== Forum ====
+- [[https://forum.keyboardmaestro.com/t/can-i-trigger-a-macro-if-an-image-made-by-screenshot-utility-was-added-to-clipboard/3612/2|Can I trigger a macro if an image made by screenshot utility was added to clipboard?]]
+- [[https://forum.keyboardmaestro.com/search?q=Write%20File|Keyboard Maestro Forum topics about Write to a File action]]

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