Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
Nested conditionals , unexampled actions , and other tweaks make a keen utility even well .
The Mac OS may have evolved dramatically over the eld , but one thing has n’t changed much : the process of cope files . Nearly 30 long time into the Mac era , most of us still use the honest-to-god single file - inside - folder model for orchestrate our hard drives . We still drag and expend file cabinet from one folder to another , and we still assiduously follow our own file - naming conventions .
Which is why many of us valueHazelso highly . It ’s a utility that monitors leaflet on your Mac for events that you define — a data file being added or modified , for example . When particular events take place , Hazel automatically initiates actions that you ’ve defined , such as moving the Indian file to another booklet , renaming it , or change its recording label . I praised Hazel 2 ( ) as one of the handiest apps on my grueling driveway , and Hazel 3 pretend it even handier .
Hazel’s interface is still straightforward: Folders on the left, rules on the right.
Hazel ’s interface is still aboveboard : Folders on the left , predominate on the right .
As in previous edition , Hazel 3 is a System Preferences pane . Open it up and you see straightforward user interface : On the left wing there ’s a list of brochure that the public utility company is monitoring , on the right is a listing of the rules that you ’ve delimitate for the selected folder . To set about supervise a booklet , you click the plus - mark ( + ) push button and take the leaflet .
Creating principle is likewise straightforward , and if you ’ve ever created a normal in Mail , the unconscious process will find intimate . Each rule has two components , status and actions . For weather , you choose from a pop - up listing of attribute : Name , Kind , Date Added , and many more . If you select Other from that menu , you could choose from almost any file- or folder - dimension that OS decade rails . Next to that is a pop - up list of operators ( is , contains , is less than , and the like ) ; the list changes depending on the property . Finally you have a test field , where you define the value(s ) for matching the attribute and wheeler dealer ( Date Added is Today , for example ) .
If this list of file attributes isn’t enough, you can select Other and choose from almost any attribute that OS X tracks.
Once you ’ve delineate your conditions , you specify the action Hazel will perform when those condition are met . Actions can vary from the introductory ( Move , Rename , Set Color Label ) to the not - so - basic ( Run AppleScript , Run Automator Workflow , Run Shell Script ) . And not only can you use Hazel to keep an eye on pamphlet you already use , you could also apply it to create special folders that do utile thing when you drag file into them .
Hazel 3 does n’t really change any of these rudiments , but it does pluck them and make them more powerful . One of the most - welcome improvements is the capability to nestle condition . If you ’ve created a impudent leaflet in the Finder or a smart playlist in iTunes latterly , you know how handy nested conditions can be — by merge multiple , hierarchicalAnd , Or , andNotstatements , you may make Hazel match files with unbelievable preciseness and flexibility . ( For example , Name contains “ Hazel ” or “ review , ” contribute to the folder today or last week but not last Friday or Tuesday , and point ’s contents contain the word “ incredible . ” ) you could also narrow tradition conditions via AppleScript or shell scripts — the script just has to give back the note value True — which enable you to prove against even more filing cabinet and folder attribute and apply even fancy conditional logic .
If this list of file attributes is n’t enough , you could select Other and prefer from almost any attribute that OS X tracks .
When you preview a folder, to see which files and folders in it are covered by Hazel rules, this popover shows you which file attributes match your filters.
Hazel 3 also allow for better dick for matching patterns , so it can , say , catch for files whose names lie in of three letters comply by three numbers . And the new version adds a Current Time condition , so you could ( at last ) have Hazel melt a rule at a particular time — for model , If Current Time is 5:00 p.m. , then do this .
The raw Hazel also lets you do some smashing fresh things to equate files and folders . There ’s now an Import Into Aperture action , as well as a Sync action that synchronizes a file or folder — in one direction — with another location . The sorting Into Subfolders action now includes option for deleting , rename , or replacing extra ; and the Open and Reveal actions now give you the option to make the associated program or the Finder the frontmost window .
One of my favorite novel feature in the Actions subdivision is that if you ’re rename a selected file ( or add together a input to it ) , you could build the replacement text usingtokens , similar to the one Finder and Mail searches use to stage particular attribute — for example , filename and sequential numbers . Those tokens are easy to dredge around and rearrange , making it easier to create the schoolbook you need . They ’re also sound — if you add the Name relic , for example , you’re able to prefer to commute the type of the text while you ’re at it . you could also expend AppleScript to make custom tokens of your own .
As before , Hazel also includes some creature for managing your Trash : you may force the Trash to erase point that have been in the Trash for a particularise period of time , or whenever the Trash reach a certain size of it . And Hazel still has its AppSweep instrument which , when you delete an app , finds support files that you might need to get disembarrass of , too .
Noodlesoft has made some nice tweaks to the program ’s port in translation 3 . you could now reorder condition and activity up and down in the lean by sweep them . ( carrying out order is often really of import . ) you could still preview folders , to see which filing cabinet and folders within them will be acted on by which rules , but now that preview tool catch its own button , making it much easier to get at . If you hover the cursor over a given file or folder in that prevue window , a popover appears showing you which of that file ’s or brochure ’s property tally your rules . That said , there are still some minor interface bugs here and there , such as buttons that vanish when windows elaborate .
When you preview a folder , to see which file and folders in it are deal by Hazel rules , this popover shows you which file attributes equalize your filters .
Hazel 3 also includes a miscellany of fixes . For example , the app should now act well when it ’s deal with external cause : If a principle doesn’t work due to the address drive is unavailable , Hazel wo n’t keep retrying over and over ; it will rather wait until the drive comes online , then execute the action mechanism . ( For example , my Time Machine effort occasionally decides to stop working ; I ’ve long had a Hazel rule that keeps an eye on the drive and , if it has n’t changed in the past 24 60 minutes , gives me a Growl alert . In Hazel 3 , when I take my laptop computer home , that ruler is suspend until I ’m back in the position . )
Noodlesoft ’s change log lists more than fifty other tweaks and fixes since I reviewed Hazel 2.3 . But those updates do n’t change the of the essence nature of the app — they just make it better . As with version 2 , Hazel 3 sometimes need some trial and fault before it ’ll do what you require . ( Tip : you do n’t have to do everything in one rule ; a mass of the time , it ’s well-fixed to mark up a series of rule . ) And learn to act with files in multiple stage of subfolders is tricky . But if you invest the up - front time Hazel sometimes demands , you ’ll get a neater , better get up drive with picayune to no further effort .
