There are some actions I need to perform on files on a regular basis that are not supported in Finder. For example, recursively deleting files in a tree of directories, but leaving the directory structure intact. I have a code generation tool that scaffolds out a boatload of PHP classes based on MySQL database. During heavy development, I need to blow away the files on a regular basis without deleting the output directories. Finder simply cannot do this. Luckily Apple has provided a way to add Automator actions to the context menu in Finder. I put together a simple workflow to recursively delete files in a tree of folders, here is is for your convenience:

DeleteFolderContents.zip - MD5: 5d0ad832e9e998dbefd70d49f2a07b52

Unzip, and copy the workflow file to Library/Workflow/Applications/Finder/ in your home directory. If all has gone well, you should have a new option in the context menu when you right-click a folder in Finder:

Automator Workflow As Finder Plugin

Another Finder deficiency that was bugging Jon recently is the inability to copy the filesystem path of a folder in Finder to your clipboard. I put together a little workflow that does just that:

CopyPathToClipboard.zip - MD5: b64558cf3afb7aecdec63faccb5986ba

Follow the same steps outlined above to copy the workflow to the proper location.

Note that these workflows are compatible with OS X version 10.5, and will not run in Automator on 10.4 or previous systems.