Hidden folder renaming, want to change invisible folder name

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Moderator: Mr_Noodle

Hello from Germany.
to make a long story short: I am on my way leaving Dropbox and have experienced very good performance with Resilio Sync. Resilio features some automatic backup (and versioning) functions which can be adjusted to the given tasks. These backups are kept in a hidden folder (named .sync) inside the folder, Resilio is syncing.

I run CCC backup tasks every night on my 24/7 server and some .sync folders are part of it. My idea was to buy Hazel (what I did) to take care about these nightly backups. Hazel should rename the folders containing the backups and move them to another place. This would make it easy for everyone later on to find important stuff without poking around in hundreds of deeply nested (and invisible) folders.

My problem is that Hazel is refusing to "recognize" the .sync folder at all – even after performing the hidden defaults change in Terminal (defaults write com.noodlesoft.Hazel ScanInvisibles -bool YES). It does SCAN the contents of the hidden .sync folders – but it does not allow to SELECT this folder, in order to do something with it. It therefore cannot be renamed, it cannot be moved, it cannot be tagged. Nothing.

My questions are:
Have I done anything wrong by trying to select this .sync folder?
Is there another way to select these folders and perform some tasks on them with Hazel?

Many thanks for your help. (Along a screenshot which might proof, that I am a noob and did something fundamentally wrong by setting up the rule. Feedback appreciated.)

https://i.ibb.co/F3MKLyM/Bildschirmfoto-2019-07-30-um-13-33-14.png
just_me
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:05 am

What folder is Hazel monitoring? The .sync folder or the folder containing it?

Also, note that anything after a dot is considered the extension, so you should be using "Full Name" or "Extension".
Mr_Noodle
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Posts: 11195
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:30 am
Location: New York City

Hazel is monitoring a folder where some .sync folders are enclosed in at various sublevels. The "look for subfolders" routine finds other folders pretty well – which are located next to the .sync folder at the same level(s). But the routine seems failing to "see" the .sync ones in their direct neighborhood after setting up the rule like as you can see in the screenshot.
just_me
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:05 am

"Also, note that anything after a dot is considered the extension, so you should be using "Full Name" or "Extension".

I've tried both without success. It also does not seem to be possible to select the (hidden) .sync folder in the dialog showing for a selection of a specific folder when you want to perform a "Preview". This dialogue shows visible folders only – regardless the setting of the Finder (which I have switched into "show invisible files" mode, of course).
just_me
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:05 am

Try command-shift-. in the open panel. That will toggle showing invisible files. Alternatively, you can drag the file into the rule interface to preview it.
Mr_Noodle
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Posts: 11195
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:30 am
Location: New York City

Many thanks for that hint. This means that I have to change visibility of files twice:
1.) in the Finder – in order to see them there.
2.) in Hazel – in oder to see them there in the selection dialogue, too.

Thats not a problem. I still wonder about the "condition", Hazel is recognizing the invisible .sync folder. This is my setup:

Code: Select all
FolderTheRuleShallApplyTo
     Subfolder1
          Folder1InSubfolder1
          Folder2InSubfolder1
          .sync <--- this is the folder I like to do something with – just with the folder, NOT with its content
          FolderA
          Folder3InSubfolder1
               SubSubfolder1ofSubfolder1
                    Subfolder1ofSubSubfolder1
                    Subfolder2ofSubSubfolder1
                    .sync <--- this is the folder I like to do something with – just with the folder, NOT with its content
                    FolderA
                    Subfolder3ofSubSubfolder1
     Subfolder2
          Folder1InSubfolder2
          Folder2InSubfolder2
          .sync <--- this is the folder I like to do something with – just with the folder, NOT with its content
          FolderA         
          Folder3InSubfolder2


I am going to setup the rule for "FolderTheRuleShallApplyTo" (shows up in the left pane of Hazel) and after I have defined the rule I want to check with the Preview function if I did well or not. The Preview fuction needs to be applied to any of the subfolders (I cannot run the Preview on FolderTheRuleShallApplyTo directly) – so I am going to choose "Subfolder1" to check this rule:

If any of the following conditions are met
Full Name is .sync
Do the following …
Set color label

Result: Rule does not match *
* I also tried other conditions: Name and Extension – none of these conditions changed the result.

Then I change the Preview conditions and choose to run the Preview on the folder ".sync" (what I can do now because you have told me the trick how to select an invisible folder).

Result: Rule matches **
** I also tried other conditions: Name and Extension – when I apply Extension the Preview throws a "Rule does not match" – only Name and Full Name deliver.

How does it come that Hazel seems not to be able to find this invisible folder inside another folder – regardles the finding-criteria?

BTW: I am still struggling with a "simple" rule which I can apply to the "FolderTheRuleShallApplyTo" in order to select all occurrences of "FolderA" in one batch which is located in various subfolder levels inside the folder "FolderTheRuleShallApplyTo". Important: I do not look for to select the content of "FolderA" – I aim for selection of all occurrences of "FolderA". It would help me a lot, if you could let me know how to do that. :D
just_me
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:05 am

The preview operates on the exact file/folder you select. Since rules can match folders, preview does as well.

Looking at your original rule, it looks like you are combining two types of logic. You should separate the logic to go into subfolders from the logic to match the .sync folders. The way you have it now, it will only go into .sync folders which is not what you want. Also, make sure to have the subfolder rule last, as it will match all folders, thus making any rules which match specific folders never get reached.

Try using the rule status interface (the "eye" button) to test out rule precedence.
Mr_Noodle
Site Admin
 
Posts: 11195
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:30 am
Location: New York City

Many thanks for your help. Everything works now. I have set up the whole thing with the wrong approach from the very beginning. :oops:

Time has come to move on from Dropbox to Resilio Sync. My backups are accessible now very easily. No more sifting around in Time Machine (just to find out that the file you are looking for either cannot be found or is deleted, outdated or otherwise missing). And I am able now to recover and restore on "folder level", something I cannot do with Dropbox. Dropbox lets me look for single files only – no chance there to retrieve folders filled up with hundreds of files. I can now recover these folders along with requested versions of the native files. This is now just one single click into the Resilio Sync Archive folders away.

Hazel is a very good solution for a common problem, most people are not aware about. Its not a problem to store away backups. The problem starts when you want to recover files, or when you want to know when something started to get wrong in a critical workflow.

I strongly recommend Hazel as a useful partner when you want to setup a Resilio Sync workflow. Well done and al dente, Mr. Noodle. Thank you for Hazel. :D
just_me
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:05 am


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