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Get list of AAX plugins

By Robin Buyer @Robin_Buyer
    2022-02-09 18:08:15.768Z

    I'm trying to get a list of AAX plugins that are currently in my ProTools plugz folder:

    var sourcePath = '/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins'
var filesInFolder sf.file.directoryGetFiles({ path: sourcePath }).paths.map(x => x.split('/').slice(-1))

    But this seems to ignore all the .aaxplugin files and stores all the files that are NOT aax (.xml, .eng, etc).

    If I filter by .aaxplugin:

    var sourcePath = '/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins'
var filesInFolder = sf.file.directoryGetFiles({ path: sourcePath }).paths.filter(x => x.match('.aaxplugin')).map(x => x.split('/').slice(-1))

    Then nothing is stored in the filesInFolder var.

    Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong/how to get the AAX plugins into a var? My end goal is to have a script that will take a list of plugins that I give it, ensure those are in the Plugins folder, and move everything else to unused.

    Thanks!

    Solved in post #2, click to view
    Reply
    • 10 replies
    1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 18:21:24.013Z

      You need to use GetEntries :

      var sourcePath = '/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/'
var filesInFolder  = sf.file.directoryGetEntries({ path: sourcePath }).paths.map(x => x.split('/').slice(-1))
log (filesInFolder)
      ReplySolution
      1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 18:24:29.731Z

        The above code will give you an array of single entry arrays.
        If you want a comma and line return separated list use this:

        var sourcePath = '/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/'
var filesInFolder = sf.file.directoryGetEntries({ path: sourcePath }).paths
    .filter(x => x.match('.aaxplugin')).map(x => x.split('/').slice(-1)).join(",\n")
log(filesInFolder)
        Reply
        1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 18:27:34.469Z

          Oops! Forgot to filter for aaxplugin.
          Above code corrected.

          Reply
          1. RRobin Buyer @Robin_Buyer
              2022-02-09 18:41:59.146Z

              Works great, thanks Chris! What's the difference between GetFiles and GetEntries?

              Reply
              1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 20:07:09.924Z2022-02-09 20:22:10.677Z

                I realized that the above script doesn't account for plugins that are in subdirectories in the Plug-ins folder (like UAD, Eventide, etc).

                This script is more thorough:

                const mainPluginFolder = ["/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/"];
const subDirectoriesInFolder = sf.file.directoryGetDirectories({ path: mainPluginFolder[0] }).paths.filter(x => !x.match('.aaxplugin'));
const allPluginFolders = mainPluginFolder.concat(subDirectoriesInFolder)

var allPlugins = [];
var tempArray = []

allPluginFolders.forEach(
    s => {
        tempArray.push(sf.file.directoryGetDirectories({ path: s }).paths
            .filter(x => x.match('.aaxplugin')).map(x => x.split('/').slice(-1)[0]));

    })
tempArray.forEach(i => i.map(x => allPlugins.push(x)))

log(`You have ${allPlugins.length} plug-ins installed`)
log(allPlugins)
                Reply
                1. In reply toRobin_Buyer⬆:
                  Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 20:21:06.607Z

                  MacOS sits on top of a layer of UNIX. While we see applications and plugins as files, they are actually packages which are a special form of a directory. So when you use getFiles it will only return actual files, not directories or packages, That's why you need to use getEntries instead. It will return everything in a directory.

                  Reply1 Like
                  1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 20:33:43.993Z

                    Oops Again,
                    Didn't use a recursive search - this should be it

                    sf.ui.proTools.invalidate();
const mainPluginFolder = ["/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/"];
const subDirectoriesInFolder = sf.file.directoryGetDirectories({ path: mainPluginFolder[0],isRecursive:true }).paths.filter(x => !x.match('.aaxplugin'));
const allPluginFolders = mainPluginFolder.concat(subDirectoriesInFolder)

var allPlugins = [];
var tempArray = []

allPluginFolders.forEach(
    s => {
        tempArray.push(sf.file.directoryGetDirectories({ path: s }).paths
            .filter(x => x.match('.aaxplugin')).map(x => x.split('/').slice(-1)[0]));

    });

tempArray.forEach(i => i.map(x => allPlugins.push(x)))

log(`You have ${allPlugins.length} plug-ins installed`)
log(allPlugins)
                    Reply
                    1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 21:04:32.336Z

                      D'oh!
                      This is really it this time.
                      Much simpler:

                      const mainPluginFolder = "/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/";

const allPlugins = sf.file
    .directoryGetEntries({ path: mainPluginFolder, isRecursive: true })
    .paths.filter((x) => x.endsWith(".aaxplugin")).map((x) => x.split("/").slice(-1)[0]);

log(`You have ${allPlugins.length} plug-ins installed`);
log(allPlugins)
                      Reply
                      1. Chris Shaw @Chris_Shaw2022-02-09 21:15:27.332Z

                        same thing but removes.aaxplugin from the name

                        const mainPluginFolder = "/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/";

const allPlugins = sf.file
    .directoryGetEntries({ path: mainPluginFolder, isRecursive: true })
    .paths.filter((x) => x.endsWith(".aaxplugin")).map((x) => x.split("/").slice(-1)[0].split(".aaxplugin")[0]);

log(`You have ${allPlugins.length} plug-ins installed`);
log(allPlugins)
                        Reply
                        1. RRobin Buyer @Robin_Buyer
                            2022-02-09 22:36:24.635Z

                            This is super helpful, thanks a bunch!

                            Reply
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