Noodlesoft Forums

We have a file structure that is repeated over & over. See pic for example:


We have several different Programs & for each Program we will have several model years & inside each one a "Sent to Server" folder. (Hundreds of "Sent to Server" folders)

I would like to make a rule that will watch all of the "Sent to Server" folders & Trash any files that have been in there for longer than a certain time. Lets say 3 minutes for now but I will set it up for months when I figure out the correct way to do this.

My first thought was can Hazel Group folders? What I mean is lets say I make a set of rules & want to attach it to 300 folders, is there a way to have 1 folder in the "Folders" column but it represents many folders. If not this could be a very user friendly addition.

Example instead of just putting one folder in the "Folders" column (Which is good) you could maybe add a thing called a "Folders Group" it would look a little different but then any folders that you drag onto this "Folders Group" would be added to it & thus the rules would run on them all?!? This would only be good with a low amount of folders (I would not want to drag 300 folders in this case) but may still be an easy way to approach connecting 30 folders?

So what I have come up with seems to work but I need to know if this is the best, safest, goodest way to set this up. I do not want to have anything deleted or altered that should not be.

I have the 2 rules below on the folder "PROGRAM TEST All"






I did try to add some way to have it only work on folders with the name "Sent to Server" but could not get that to work.

Is this the best way to get what I need with out having to put all 200 "Sent to Server" folders into the "Folders" column?

If you only want to operate on files in the Sent To Server folder, you can add a nested condition (hold down option when adding a condition) to match the enclosing folder. Something like:

Code: Select all

   If all are met for (the enclosing folder)
      Name is Sent to Server


That will match files in any folder named "Sent to Server".

Thanks again for your answer, but yet again I'm trying to understand what to do & what you are telling me? I've tried several versions of your suggestion & get a very wrong result. Its like a riddle understanding your answers. I'm thinking it through but can not see what the answer is & I'm pretty good at riddles.

I've tried to add your suggestion to what I have 7 different ways (Getting rid of the Subfolder Depth is greater than 2) but it either will delete all or do nothing. Should I forget what I have all together? I have tried this as well with no success. Where am I going wrong?

Thank God, I have good news. I solved your riddle!

You wrote:

If all are met for (the enclosing folder)
Name is Sent to Server

What I needed:

If all are met for (the enclosing folder)
If all are met for (any of its subfiles or subfolders)
Name is Sent to Server
Do the following... (Run rules on folder contents)

Below are the rules that seem to be working. Please let me know if this is right it seems to be working correct but would like your confirmation as to if this is what you were telling me. I would like to make sure this is correct before I put this on our company server. Thanks!

It's not quite what I was getting at. Instead, I was suggesting you add the condition to the rule which matches the actual files you throw away. So, you'd have "If the file was not added in the last minute and its enclosing folder is "Sent to server", then throw it away". If your way works then that's fine. There are subtle differences but chances are they won't matter to you.

I did try to add it to the 2nd rule but did not find away to get it to work.