Newbie - unexpected result - what did I do wrong?

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Moderator: Mr_Noodle

Hello all,

Please have a look at my rules as below - I was playing around yesterday, trying to work out how to get Hazel into subfolders, when something unexpected happened.

If someone can explain quickly why Hazel did what it did, it will no doubt help speed up the learning curve!

I created a set of folders on a partitioned drive, purely for the purposes of testing Hazel, as below:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/48750317/Hazel.mmap.pdf

I decided to start simple - by trying to move a (jpeg) file out of the [Level 1] subfolder, and into a completely different (top-level) folder [Other].
The [Level 1] folder, in addition to subfolder [Level 2] (and its subfolders), had a variety of different random file types, together with ONE (jpeg) file - the one I wanted Hazel to pick up and move.

If I managed this - I planned on boring down into the deeper subfolders, gradually expanding my understanding of how Hazel will fetch files from these subfolders.

Given that my eventual aim is for Hazel to pull many (pdf) files out of several subfolders (and subfolders in these subfolders) - and that these subfolders do not necessarily only contain (pdfs), I wanted to sharpen up my skills in getting Hazel to be selective about the file it moves.
Consequently - I filled the numerous subfolders with a variety of random files (pdf; doc; jpeg; mov), all with different sequential names (e.g. - Hazel Movie Watched test 001; Hazel Movie Watched test 002 etc.).

What I did: I selected the one (jpeg) file in folder [Level 1] and labelled it (grey)
I then ran the following rules:

Code: Select all

Rule 1:
            Name: "Go into Subfolders"
                 If [All] for [the file or folder being matched]
                 [Kind] [is] [folder]
            Then do [Run rules on folder contents]

Rule 2:
            Name: "Subfolder select"
                 If [All] for [the file or folder being matched]
                 [Kind] [is] [image]
                 [Color label] [is] [grey]
             Then do [move] to folder [OTHER]
             


What I thought would happen:

Hazel would dig down from the [Hazel] folder, into the first subfolder [Level 1];
Find the (jpeg) image file labelled (grey);
Move it to [Other].

What happened:

Hazel picked up every (jpeg) file, from all the subfolders in/under [Level 1];
And here's the part I don't understand - converted them all by labelling them (grey) - and then moved them to [Other]...

The way I had set out my Rule 2, I thought Hazel would only pull the (jpeg) in [Level 1].
I kind of figured it might bore deeper, and try to pull other (jpegs) from the lower subfolders - in which case I thought I would need to play around with the "conditions set", or use [subfolder level] or something.
I hade labelled one other (jpeg) (grey) - much deeper down, in a subfolder.

What I did not expect, was that my Rule would make Hazel convert all the (jpeg) files to (grey)?

Am I missing something fundamental?
If so - please help point out the obvious mistake!

If it was simply a buggy run - then I've spent an awful amount of time writing and worrying about nothing... :cry:
Cassady
 
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:34 pm

If your rules appear exactly as you typed them, then they should work as you expect. There is no reason that Hazel would color these files grey unless you included an action in Rule 2.

I'm presuming that you don't have any other rules for this folder? If you do, ALL the rules will be run on subfolders, i.e. even those beyond the first level. Set subfolder depth if you want to prevent Hazel from running through an entire directory tree.

Perhaps post to dropbox a screenshot of the second rule.
a_freyer
 
Posts: 631
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:21 am
Location: Colorado

a_freyer wrote:If your rules appear exactly as you typed them, then they should work as you expect. There is no reason that Hazel would color these files grey unless you included an action in Rule 2.

I'm presuming that you don't have any other rules for this folder? If you do, ALL the rules will be run on subfolders, i.e. even those beyond the first level. Set subfolder depth if you want to prevent Hazel from running through an entire directory tree.

Perhaps post to dropbox a screenshot of the second rule.


Thanks for the reply and offer!

I will run it again tomorrow, and first see if I can replicate it [will also check to see if any other rules are active].
If it does the same, will pop up a screengrab!
Cassady
 
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:34 pm

Ran Hazel again this evening, and now everything is working as I expected it to.

Not sure what happened the first time, since I haven't changed anything before running it again this evening. But so be it - it's working now, and I'm getting my head around things, so I have no reason to be complaining anymore! :D

Will start playing around with more options now - and see how that goes.

Thanks again!
Cassady
 
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:34 pm


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