AutoFiler FAQ

Usually AutoFiler is activated by file changes. OS-X has a mechanism to efficiently do this. But some conditions are not caused by a file change. For example, a condition that occurs when a file is X days old will not eventually become true because of a change in the file, but because of time elapsing. It is these kinds of conditions that the Run Periodically setting is for.

There may be a number of reasons why you think it should run, but it doesn't. One issue is that AutoFiler generally won't re-run a rule that has already been run. (You can change this behavior by checking Always re-run rule in the rule but this will tend to unnecessarily re-run the rules and isn't recommended unless you have a reason. However, sometimes its useful to turn this flag on during debugging).

This can especially get you into trouble if you change the actions of a rule. For example, you may set up a rule with just a Growl action, confirm that it works, and then add a move action expecting that to work too. However the rule is already run, albeit before you changed the actions, so it won't re-run. This applies even if you select Run Rule Set from the menu. To force the rule to run, you could disable it and then reenable it.

Here is another example of running into this gotcha. Let's say we make a rule that any file ending in .mp3 is colored green. Then we make a second rule that any file is colored grey. We had planned to use the Finish Processing flag to make the rules mutually exclusive so that all mp3s would be green, and all other files would be grey. But we forgot to check the Finish Processing checkbox on the rule, and all our files are grey. The mp3s would be colored green and immediately after grey, so effectively they are grey. If we go back and fix that rule, it will not run again because it ran successfully last time, so our files stay grey. However, if we disable the green mp3 rule, it won't be considered as having run last time, then we re-enable it, and it will then color our files green.

If you are finding a rule doesn't run, find out if the problem is only for existing files, or whether it is for newly created files too.

Another reason a rule may not work as expected is permissions. See if you have read and or write permission as appropriate on the file. See if you can manually do what you are expecting AutoFiler to do.

You can try using either Growl notifications or coloring of files as a debugging tool, however AutoFiler prints a message to the Mac Console when it executes a rule, which is also a good way of seeing what rules matched. Click on View Activity Log from the Settings tab in AutoFiler to open the Console.

Another reason your rules may not run is a confusion between Until failure and Until success in the rule setup. Until success will cease to carry out further actions if the first action succeeds. Most people should stick with Until failure, unless they are more expert.

Try adding the sample rules from the action menu [] if you are having general problems with AutoFiler. See if rules like coloring of files work for you.

See if the spinner on the Filer window spins when you change a file in your folder. This indicates that AutoFiler has noticed a change. If you have a lot of folders, AutoFiler may have to do a lot of checking when it starts up. Wait till the spinner initially finishes before doing a test on your folder. Consider disabling your other rule sets while you carry out careful tests to isolate any problems.

Initially AutoFiler is set up to recognize changes within about 5 seconds. From there how long it takes to find the change depends on how many files you have in your watched folders, since the operating system notifies about folders, rather than files. AutoFiler also keeps a moving average of how long it takes to process changes, and it will deliberately slow down if scanning takes a long time. AutoFiler logs information about this in the Console log. If it typically takes 20 seconds to scan after a change, AutoFiler may slow down so that it takes about a minute before it recognizes the change. This is to avoid putting too much load on your system during times of frequent changes. If you want scanning to speed up, try and scan folders than have less files in them.

AutoFiler keeps track of what rules have already being run, so that it doesn't run them again. We can't recall any instance where resetting this database helped any problem, but you can if wish remove it and restart the program with a clean slate. For AutoFiler users it is located at:

~/Library/Application Support/AutoFiler/FilerShadow.autoShadow

and for Automaton users at:

~/Library/Application Support/Automaton/FilerShadow.autoShadow

Uncheck "enabled" for the Rule Set. It won't run automatically, but will still run from the menu.

The spinner indicates that AutoFiler is checking rules. Depending on what was happening when it shut down last time it may have to do this on startup to initialize itself and to check what has changed while it wasn't running. This can especially take some minutes if you have App Clean-up turned on and you have an unusually large number of apps, as it checks what Applications you have installed.

In the worst cast, the spinner might never stop if you have created some rules that mutually depend on each other. For example a rule that copies a file from A to B, and another rule that copies it back again. Check the Console to see what rules are being executed. It is normal for it to check files a couple of times during a scan (in case the conditions changed after the actions), but if it keeps scanning the same files over and over, you may have a logic problem in your rules.

One way you can do it is to select the open file action, then select iTunes as the application. iTunes will import the file, and start playing it. I would recommend having iTunes ▸ Preferences ▸ Advanced ▸ Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library checked, so that iTunes copies it to its media folder.

Another way to do it is to move the file to the [Home] ▸ Music ▸ iTunes ▸ iTunes Music ▸ Automatically Add to iTunes folder. iTunes will detect it and import the file without playing it. One thing to watch out for is that if you are moving to this folder from a different device or hard drive, AutoFiler will have to copy the file first. There is then a danger that iTunes will try and import it before the copy is complete, in which case iTunes will reject the file. To avoid this, move the file to a temporary folder first that is on the same hard drive, and then move it to the Automatically Add to iTunes folder: