some questions

I wonder if this is a bug or just normal behaviour but may it be possible that mp3s are not classified as music, because when I define a rule containing "if Kind is Music" nothing will be applied to mp3 files. I also ask myself if the id3-tags could be read from Hazel in order to create folders and move the files into that location.

Another question: Is it possible to move whole folders and the files inside them?

Thank you, Tristan

My initial guess is that you don't have Spotlight enabled (or the file is in a folder that is not being indexed). If you are comfortable using the commandline, the 'mdls' command is the best way to diagnose this. Another way is to do a Spotlight search and see if the files appear in the results.

Hazel doesn't read the id3 tags but they are indexed by Spotlight and therefore can be used by rules that way. When selecting an attribute to filter on, just select "Other..." and choose from there. Note that "Artist" is actually translated to "Authors" by Spotlight.

All Hazel rules work on folders just the same as files so you can filter on and move a folder (and chances are you are doing that without realizing it).

Mr_Noodle wrote:All Hazel rules work on folders just the same as files so you can filter on and move a folder (and chances are you are doing that without realizing it).

I just want to move the folder with the content inside untouched to a new destination, e.g. "Folder A" with all the content and other subfolders from "Folder B" to "Folder C".

If you move a folder, then its contents go with it. It behaves like it does in Finder, essentially.

Thanks for the quick response. It may sound stupid, but I don't see a rule for that action. "Move file" just moves the files inside the folder. What I want is that Hazel searches for folders with mp3's inside and than move this folders to another folder and sort it after the date.

Read this article on how to have Hazel scour subfolders: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=470

Now, if you want to have a rule re-target to its parent folder (instead of acting on the file that actually matches), you can use this AppleScript: viewtopic.php?p=1545#p1545

Note that that script is functionality I intend to integrate in Hazel 3 but it should do for now.

Thanks again. This is exactly what I was looking for. Your support is great. One more thing: I only want to get Hazel to go into subfolders for Music-Files in my Downloads-Folder, but when I set that rule just above the rule which is recognizing music files it won't work and when I set the subfolders rule above all other rules it perform at all others rules too. Defining the downloads folder again to set only this two rules to them also won't work. So what should I do?

Regards Tristan

I think I'd need to see your ruleset. If you are a licensed user, I suggest exporting your rules and emailing them to me (you can click on the "Contact Support" link in the "Info" pane). If you are not licensed, then screenshots. From there, I can better assess what is going on.

Long time ago. Just saw that Version 3 has built-in support for that kind of action.

But now I don't know how to get hazel to rename a folder which contains MP3s to the corresponding Album Titel. Also I would like to add only MP3s to the iTunes Library in a specific folder and it subfolders but Hazel try to import all files (also JPGs and other stuff).

Here are my rules:

Move and Rename:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1186286/Test_Hazel.hazelrules

Import into iTunes:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1186286/MP3s.hazelrules

The problem with the first rule is that while it seems you are using the subfiles target correctly, in the rename pattern, the "album" token is that of the folder containing the files, not the files themselves.

One trick you can try is to add a condition as follows:

if album matches (•my album)

where •my album is a custom token that matches anything. This will "capture" the album name in that token and you can then use that value in the rename pattern. I haven't tried it myself but it's worth playing with.

Thanks, it worked! Your support is marvelous. If someone want to use it, here's the screenshot:

Whats about the the importing issue? Is there someway Hazel only imports the mp3 files. I noticed that Hazel imports the files over and over again, also they are already added to the iTunes database.

Your import rule imports the folder, not the files individually. I'm guessing that may have something to do with it. Check the sticky article on subfolders on how to match the individual files.