Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files Apps
Unfortunately, Quicken 2003 (and maybe 2004) won't recognize QFX "Web Connect" files that you download with Safari 1.0. (Internet Explorer handles the files correctly).

Until now, you had two solutions: manually alter the QFX file type and creator codes, or use IE. In answer to this shortcoming, I've created a "folder action" script that automatically recognizes any file with a "qfx" extension, and changes the file type and creator codes for you.

Here's what you do:
  1. Copy and past the following AppleScript into your Script Editor and run it:
    
    on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items
      tell application "Finder"
        repeat with aFile in added_items
          if the name of aFile contains ".qfx" then
            set file type of aFile to "WBCN"
            set creator type of aFile to "INTU"
            display dialog ¬
            "Successfully changed .qfx file. Ready for import into Quicken."
          end if
        end repeat
      end tell
    end adding folder items to
    
  2. Save this as a "compiled script" with a name like QFX Fixer, and put it into your ~/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts folder.
  3. If your "script menu" isn't running already (evident by the AppleScript icon in your menubar), go to your ~/Applications -> AppleScript folder and double-click the "Script Menu.menu" folder. The AppleScript icon should appear in your menubar.
  4. Under the Script Menu icon, find Folder Actions, and select "Attach Script to Folder"
  5. A dialogue box will appear. Select the QFX Fixer script you saved above.
  6. Another dialogue box will appear, asking to which FOLDER this script should be attached. Choose the folder to which Safari downloads.
  7. Go back to the Script Menu, find Folder Actions, and select "Enable Folder Actions."
Now, when using Safari to download a file with a .qfx extension, Folder Actions will take over, and convert the file automatically. A dialogue box will appear indicating a successful file conversion took place.
    •    
  • Currently 2.60 / 5
  You rated: 1 / 5 (5 votes cast)
 
[14,646 views]  

A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files | 10 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: swanksalot on Aug 26, '03 11:21:29AM

For some reason, although I have a folder in my Library/Scripts directory called 'Folder Actions', it is not accessible by clicking on the script menu (all other scripts are available, Basics, Colorsync, etc.). I would very much like to use this Quicken script, but am not sure how to restore my "Folder Actions" folder.

Thanks for advice



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: wscody on Aug 27, '03 01:46:51AM

That is very weird. Assuming all the folders, with their contents, are in /Library/Scripts, they should show up. The only thing I can suggest is to run Disk Utility, click the First Aid tab, select your OS X boot drive, and click the repair disk permissions button. Go get a cup of coffee, reboot, and give it a try.



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: leebennett on Aug 26, '03 11:30:55AM

god bless you!



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: dangreenberg on Aug 26, '03 08:50:47PM

Awesome! Thanks a lot, that was the only reason i was keeping IE!



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: .jason on Aug 26, '03 09:47:44PM

FYI
I've had no problems with 2004 and Web Connect files after downloading them in safari



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: mcritz on Aug 28, '03 01:04:24PM

Good thinking! Wow. You've done what the development teams for Apple's Safari and Quicken could not. Congrats!



[ Reply to This | # ]
Safari downloads with different filename
Authored by: westin on Oct 30, '03 09:39:45PM

When I download from one of my banks, the file comes out with .qfx on the end, so this works great. When I download from another bank, however, Safari names the downloaded file "web.forte" -- after the name of the program on the server that the request was made to. Thus, it doesn't have .qfx in it's name, and this doesn't work. At any rate, I just changed the script to also execute if the file has "web.forte" in it's name, but in case anyone at Apple is thinking about fixing this problem, that's something else to take into consideration.

Greg

---
http://www.gregwestin.com/
Contact Info: http://www.gregwestin.com/contact.php



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: cdbenson on Dec 06, '03 12:03:49PM

This is wonderful! I now can completly switch over to using Safari. Thank you for posting this fix!

One tweak that I made to your script was to open the file once the file type and creator where changed. Basically replacing the displaying of a dialog saying the conversion was finished with "open aFile". Now Quicken will automatically start up without me having to locate the converted .qfx file and opening it myself.

Thanks again...
Corey



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: crud on Jan 20, '04 10:22:40PM

This is a great help. Thank you. I made some modifications to your code to fix quicken 98 (.qif) files as well.

change the file type to "TEXT"
change the creator to "????"
change the search string from ".qfx" to ".qif"



[ Reply to This | # ]
A script to prepare Safari-downloaded Quicken files
Authored by: rorycooney on Aug 28, '04 12:09:41PM

My bank sends the files as ".ofx" files. If i just change the file name to ".qfx", i can use the files as webconnect files and double-click to launch them in Quicken (2005).

Could i ask one of you guys who gets Applescript to write a simple script that would change the downloaded file from "ofx" to "qfx", then open the file so that Quicken launches it without my doing it manually? I know that's asking a lot, but you seem to understand this process way better than i do. Thanks in advance if you can help.

PS I already tried changing the "qfx" line in this script to "ofx" and it didn't work.



[ Reply to This | # ]