Numeric Counter Renaming Issue

Good evening,

First of all I want to say, that I really like Hazel. I've just downloaded it and I am trying to get to know it a bit better, before buying it. Unfortunately I've run into some behavior which I do not understand.
I've already checked the forum, help and manual, but was not able to find an answer for my issue.
Let me quickly explain the rule and the task.

I've created a rule, that moves a file into a specific folder and renames the file using the numeric counter token.
The destination folder already contains files which are numbered by that scheme:

1_A_xyz
2_B_xyz
...
22_V_xyz

The renaming action is set up like this:

Code: Select all: #,_,name,extension

The numeric counter is configured to always increment.
But instead of creating the file with 23_W_xyz the renaming process started with 2_.
After I deleted the file and forgot to disable the rule, the process started again but then increased the numeric count inside the destination folder to 3_.
This process continues. Every time the file is deleted and removed, the counter increments.

My question is, why the counter does not continue the sequence with 23_W as expected?
What did I do wrong?

If you need any further information regarding the rule or other constraints regarding the issue, please feel free to write.
Thank you very much for your assistance!

Best Regards
Schewardnadse

I'm not sure what you are expecting. If you set the counter to always increment, it will always use the next number in the sequence.

Mr_Noodle wrote:I'm not sure what you are expecting. If you set the counter to always increment, it will always use the next number in the sequence.

Hello,

but that's the point.
The counter did not continue the sequence of the files that were present already.
In the destination folder, there are 22 files already. The name of the last file is "22_Avis.pdf".

I expected the moved file to continue the sequence with "23_Avis.pdf".
But it seems to increment the counter based on a own variable, but not the sequence, which was present in the folder.

Did I misunderstood the feature?
Wasn't it suppose to increase the count based on available numbers, based on the chosen preset "Always Increment" or "Use lowest available"?

Thank you for answering!

Best Regards,
Schewardnadse

When using "always increment", it has an internal counter which has nothing to do with files that were there already.

Mr_Noodle wrote:When using "always increment", it has an internal counter which has nothing to do with files that were there already.

Hello,

thank you very much for the response.
This clarifies the behavior.

I don't think there is a native option to achieve the continuation of the sequence? I guess that I need to use a script?
Thank you very much for the support.

Have a nice day and

Best Regards,
Schewardnadse

For the moment, yes, you will probably need a script.

Good evening,

thank you very much for clarifying.
I will try to figure something out by using some scripts.

Have a nice weekend!

Best Regards,
Schewardnadse