Pause Resource-Intensive Rule(s) on Low Laptop Battery
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:56 pmIMPORTANT NOTE: First and foremost, Hazel is not a resource-intensive application. It is written very efficiently and does not appreciably decrease battery life under normal use.
That said, certain Hazel rules may cause resource intensive applications or instructions to run which may decrease remaining battery time (e.g. image or video processing workflows, remote server backup, etc.).
This rule will allow you to pause other rules when you have less than a certain number of minutes remaining on your MacBook's battery.
Use Case: A rule is set up to re-encode downloaded video files. You're at a coffee shop without an outlet, and you only have 45 minutes of battery time left. Re-encoding starts, and your battery life decreases to 15-20 minutes because the CPU is running at 90-100%.
Solution: Wait until you're back home on outlet power to start the encoding process and enjoy a half hour more of internet browsing.
Step 1: Create a New Rule that is ABOVE your process intensive rule
The embedded script is this:
And we're done! That's it. Rules that come after this rule will not execute until you find an outlet and charge the MacBook up.
Step 2: Adjust MINUTES_REMAINING_SHOULD_PAUSE to whatever you want...
With the default script, rules will pause when there is less than 45 minutes remaining on the battery. If the number was changed to 60, subsequent rules will not execute unless more than one hour remains on the battery.
That said, certain Hazel rules may cause resource intensive applications or instructions to run which may decrease remaining battery time (e.g. image or video processing workflows, remote server backup, etc.).
This rule will allow you to pause other rules when you have less than a certain number of minutes remaining on your MacBook's battery.
Use Case: A rule is set up to re-encode downloaded video files. You're at a coffee shop without an outlet, and you only have 45 minutes of battery time left. Re-encoding starts, and your battery life decreases to 15-20 minutes because the CPU is running at 90-100%.
Solution: Wait until you're back home on outlet power to start the encoding process and enjoy a half hour more of internet browsing.
Step 1: Create a New Rule that is ABOVE your process intensive rule
- Code: Select all
if (all) of the following are true for (the files or folders being matched)
Passes shell script (embedded script)
Do the following for the matched file or folder:
Ignore file
The embedded script is this:
- Code: Select all
ISCHARGING=$(ioreg -rc "AppleSmartBattery" | grep -c "\"IsCharging\" = Yes")
#We should immediately return a non-match if the laptop is charging
if [ "$ISCHARGING" == "1" ];
then
exit 1;
fi
#Minutes total if the battery is discharging
MINUTESTOTAL=$(ioreg -rc "AppleSmartBattery" | grep "InstantTimeToEmpty" | awk -F " = " '{print $2}')
MINTES_REMAINING_SHOULD_PAUSE=45
if [ "$MINUTESTOTAL" -lt "$MINTES_REMAINING_SHOULD_PAUSE" ]
then
exit 0;
fi
#We are on battery, but the battery is relatively full
exit 1;
And we're done! That's it. Rules that come after this rule will not execute until you find an outlet and charge the MacBook up.
Step 2: Adjust MINUTES_REMAINING_SHOULD_PAUSE to whatever you want...
With the default script, rules will pause when there is less than 45 minutes remaining on the battery. If the number was changed to 60, subsequent rules will not execute unless more than one hour remains on the battery.