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Rule runs multiple times despite "Date last matched"

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:11 pm
by proactivematter
Hello,

I am trying to get rules to rename files only once, and then allow me to rename it however I like it thereafter.

I have set "Date added" / "Is After" / "Date last matched", but it keeps running the rule if I try to rename files manually.

Please assist! What am I doing wrong?

Thank you.

Re: Rule runs multiple times despite "Date last matched"

PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:54 am
by Mr_Noodle
Renaming may make it appears as if it is a new file. You should consider using something else, like a color label or tag, to indicate the file has already been processed.

Re: Rule runs multiple times despite "Date last matched"

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 3:22 pm
by proactivematter
Hello. Thank you for responding.

You say it "may" make it appear as a new file. What makes this a possibility? Is this normal behavior for Hazel? I mean, it was working fine when I set it up a few months ago!

I thought perhaps this might be because of Mojave, so I went ahead and gave Hazel Full Disk Access, but it did not fix the problem.

Re: Rule runs multiple times despite "Date last matched"

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 5:22 pm
by luomat
Another option, which I use, is an "Action" folder. Quite literally a folder named "Action" in my Dropbox folder (~/Dropbox/Action/) where I will dump incoming files for Hazel to process them and then move them somewhere else.

This allows me to have a centralized location for my Hazel actions, as well as not having to worry about Hazel re-processing files if I rename them, etc. once they are moved to their final destination.

For example: if an app will allow me to set its backup folder (for example, BusyCal), I will use ~/Dropbox/Action/ and then have Hazel archive the BusyCal backups and move them into ~/Dropbox/Backups/BusyCal/ which is where they will remain.

The other advantage to this system is that I can have all of my Macs add files to ~/Dropbox/Action/ and then have one Mac (a Mac mini which runs 24/7) take care of running the Hazel rules or whatever else I want to do with files that end up there. That way I don't have to duplicate my Hazel setup on all of my Macs.

This also has the advantage that if something goes awry, I can 'undelete' the files from ~/Dropbox/Action/ for 30 days using the Dropbox.com interface, so if Hazel does something I did not want or expect, I can get the originals back.

Re: Rule runs multiple times despite "Date last matched"

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 11:39 am
by Mr_Noodle
There are several ways to identify a file. One of them is the name. If the name changes, depending on circumstances, it may appear as a different file. Hazel tries to track files using a different mechanism but certain combinations of actions can cause Hazel to lose track of the file.