Noodlesoft Forums

Hey there.

Firstly, I'm liking what Hazel does. I'm currently experimenting with the trial version, trying to make it do what I need so I can decide whether to purchase the application when the trial expires.

What I need is:

To duplicate the contents of a number of folders at another destination on my harddrive (Dropbox/iDisk) ready for syncing to the web by those apps.
I'm at the point where I have Hazel applying actions to all subfolders of the monitored folder, which is to copy the files that have been modified since last match, or those added in the last day, replacing those already at the destination, but not copying if a duplicate, then sorting the files into subfolders based on the source structure.

Everything works, except for the problem noted in http://www.noodlesoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=731&hilit=Sorting+to+Subfolder+duplicates this forum thread. Namely: The Sorting action happens after Hazel has completed the Copy action, meaning it renames the files at destination (default option?) rather than replacing the existing ones.

Mr Noodle, in that forum you mentioned possible support for Sorting actions including a 'replace' and 'no duplicates' option.. Can this feature realistically be implemented, and soon? (Right now I'd settle for dirty hacks I can edit into a Hazel options file inside the .app as I never use the 'rename' function.. so I'd love Replace to be the default behaviour.)

Basically this single function is make or break for me regarding using Hazel and I really want to love this little app.

Unfortunately, this has been pushed to 3.0. The only other solution is to use a script to do the copying. Until then, I advise keeping an eye on the beta forums as that's where first details about 3.0 will show up.

I see.

Thanks for the response Mr Noodle. Is 3.0 looking like a 2010 or a 2011 release?

2011. I may be able to get a beta out by the end of the year but we'll have to see how the next few months go.

Also, the feature may be implemented differently. One alternative method I was thinking of was to have the move and copy actions have an option to preserve the folder structure. This would get rid of the need for the sorting into subfolder step in the case of mirroring files. You can just tell Hazel when it copies the file over whether to recreate the folder structure at the destination. I feel this would make it easier than having to deal with the multiple steps plus knowing how to use the source folder attribute.

Mr_Noodle wrote:...the move and copy actions have an option to preserve the folder structure.

I like that idea. Sounds like it streamlines the whole process (as long as people are aware the functionality is tucked away into the move and copy action. Of course, bear in mind that a user only needs this type of sorting function within the copy and move action IF they have applied the 'if type is folder apply actions to every subfolder' action previously in the action chain.
So I guess if you wish to streamline the process, you are talking about combining what would now be three separate actions into one. This is an advanced function, and may simply confuse users who wish for a simple copy/move function applied to a single folder, with so many options to choose from. *shrug*

Either way, I like the thought process and look forward to seeing the implementation. Again, I wish I knew enough about scripting to attempt to do what I need with a combination of Hazel and applescript. I'll keep an eye out for that beta ^_^