Really struggling with match pattern
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 10:31 amHi all.
I am really struggling to grasp match pattern, basically because I am struggling to understand it. I have reached out to support who replied with instructions, however I still don't understand. I could do with a "dummy" book I think. I understand the easier ways to use Hazel, but more complex rules I am just absolutely naff with
.
I will paste here what the final thing is that I am after and hopefully someone can explain to me in more layman terms and in more detail how to achieve the result I am looking for. Thanks so much in anticipation of any help.
So basically I want to create a folder on my desktop to deposit files into. These are primarily PDF document files that will have been tagged. For the sake of the example I will use the classification of invoices
Desktop Folder
Filename Tags
Invoice1 Tags: “Invoices” “January” “2025” “Abingdon"
invoice2 Tags: “Invoices” “February” “2024” “Birch"
invoice3 Tags: “Invoices” “April” “2023” “Hadfields"
invoice4 Tags: “Invoices” “December” “2021” “Paragon"
invoice5 Tags: “Invoices” “May” “2020” “Likewise"
So, the files would be tagged with “Invoices”, “Month”, “Year” and “Supplier Name”
The result I would want from some kind of rule or rules would be…..
EG. Abingdon
Move file based on tags to a folder called "A" (based on first letter of abingdon) and then place in folder "Abingdon" (or create it if it does not exist) then within "Abingdon" folder put it in "Invoices" folder based on Invoices tag and then "Month" and "Year" folder based on "Month" and "Year" tags.
So basically the file would be moved to the following file path based on it’s tags Invoices/A/Abingdon/January/2024.
It may be that it is not possible and that further steps would be needed to achieve the desired result which is why I am reaching out for your advice.
The reply I received from Noodle was the following, the problem being I don't know how to do what he is telling me to do as I would need much more granular instructions. Thanks.
First off, have you looked at the match pattern system? If not, look it up in the manual.
You can try matching tags using a custom list attribute. One for months and another for the name of the supplier. The year can just be a straight up match on a 4 digit number. You can then use those custom attributes in a Sort into subfolder pattern.
For the first letter of the name, if you create a custom attribute to match the name, you can then use that in the left hand side of a condition. Say you name your custom attribute “• supplier name”. You can then do “•supplier name matches” and then provide a pattern which looks like:
(• first letter)(anything)
where (• first letter) is a custom attribute set to match just a single character (or letter).
I am really struggling to grasp match pattern, basically because I am struggling to understand it. I have reached out to support who replied with instructions, however I still don't understand. I could do with a "dummy" book I think. I understand the easier ways to use Hazel, but more complex rules I am just absolutely naff with
.I will paste here what the final thing is that I am after and hopefully someone can explain to me in more layman terms and in more detail how to achieve the result I am looking for. Thanks so much in anticipation of any help.
So basically I want to create a folder on my desktop to deposit files into. These are primarily PDF document files that will have been tagged. For the sake of the example I will use the classification of invoices
Desktop Folder
Filename Tags
Invoice1 Tags: “Invoices” “January” “2025” “Abingdon"
invoice2 Tags: “Invoices” “February” “2024” “Birch"
invoice3 Tags: “Invoices” “April” “2023” “Hadfields"
invoice4 Tags: “Invoices” “December” “2021” “Paragon"
invoice5 Tags: “Invoices” “May” “2020” “Likewise"
So, the files would be tagged with “Invoices”, “Month”, “Year” and “Supplier Name”
The result I would want from some kind of rule or rules would be…..
EG. Abingdon
Move file based on tags to a folder called "A" (based on first letter of abingdon) and then place in folder "Abingdon" (or create it if it does not exist) then within "Abingdon" folder put it in "Invoices" folder based on Invoices tag and then "Month" and "Year" folder based on "Month" and "Year" tags.
So basically the file would be moved to the following file path based on it’s tags Invoices/A/Abingdon/January/2024.
It may be that it is not possible and that further steps would be needed to achieve the desired result which is why I am reaching out for your advice.
The reply I received from Noodle was the following, the problem being I don't know how to do what he is telling me to do as I would need much more granular instructions. Thanks.
First off, have you looked at the match pattern system? If not, look it up in the manual.
You can try matching tags using a custom list attribute. One for months and another for the name of the supplier. The year can just be a straight up match on a 4 digit number. You can then use those custom attributes in a Sort into subfolder pattern.
For the first letter of the name, if you create a custom attribute to match the name, you can then use that in the left hand side of a condition. Say you name your custom attribute “• supplier name”. You can then do “•supplier name matches” and then provide a pattern which looks like:
(• first letter)(anything)
where (• first letter) is a custom attribute set to match just a single character (or letter).