DO12 - Automatically add labels to files based on rules

Hi, i was wondering if it would be possible to Automatically add labels to files based on rules.

For example files with extension YYY in folder XXXXXXXXXXXXX that have been modified or accessed in the last 30 days will carry the label ZZZZZZZZ

It would be so excruciatingly amazing if this could work as it is perfect for my workflow :thumbsup:

Add a label filter in preferences (Favorites and Recent > Label Assignments) then the "Create new label filter" button and add what you see below.


It looks for extensions .doc and .txt. If you want files in subfolders to also get labeled add * to the end of the path.

Thank you for the help.

The label wasn't applied at all to the file extensions at first, but then I added the wildcard to the end of the folder path, and that fixed it!

How would I add a label to files that HAVE NOT been accessed in the last 30 days?

EDIT: it would seem that "accessed" isn't the same as a file being opened/read. I just tried opening a video and then looking at the accessed attribute and it was unchanged.

I'm looking for a way to add a label to files that I haven't opened for 30 days!

thanks again :slight_smile:

I just found out that the accessed timestamp is disabled by default in win7. Which it was on my system.... so the statement in my previous post was erroneous.

(not being able to edit posts is really annoying!)

Even if the access timestamp was updated, it would be completely useless in most cases, because files get accessed all the time for passive reasons. For example, just reading a directory will often open video files to get their durations (if shown in the status bar or file display columns). Loading icons from exe files, or thumbnails from videos or images, will do the same.

Back when Windows still maintained the accessed timestamp by default, it was a bit of a joke because simply opening the Properties dialog to view the timestamp would cause it to bump to the current date and time.

Probably why Windows stopped maintaining it by default. The overhead on the filesystem writing back the timestamps all the time was not worth it for what was almost always a useless piece of data.

[quote="leo"]Even if the access timestamp was updated, it would be completely useless in most cases, because files get accessed all the time for passive reasons. For example, just reading a directory will often open video files to get their durations (if shown in the status bar or file display columns). Loading icons from exe files, or thumbnails from videos or images, will do the same.

Back when Windows still maintained the accessed timestamp by default, it was a bit of a joke because simply opening the Properties dialog to view the timestamp would cause it to bump to the current date and time.

Probably why Windows stopped maintaining it by default. The overhead on the filesystem writing back the timestamps all the time was not worth it for what was almost always a useless piece of data.[/quote]

Ah, I see. Yeah i noticed that even applying a label within Dopus updated the access stamp.

So there is no way to check when a file has been executed?

That's quite an open-ended question. :slight_smile: Double-clicked inside of Opus? You could set up something to log that. Displayed in a column? A script could do that based on the logs. When launched via anything, not just Opus? There are ways, but it starts to get complex...

I'm a very open-ended person LOL :laughing:

But yeah those clues help me out a lot, I can always use 3rd party apps if need be or try to make it in AHK.

It all really boils it down to me being able to track if I've actually used the file at all (i.e a double click or a rename or something) because I tend to download things and never look at them. I have files back to 2009 that I don't even remember downloading. :unamused:

As well as locating files that may not even be needed or used by me (such as a playlist that i created and then haven't used double-clicked on in 100 days for example)

So the dopus scripts can fetch info from dopus logs? That will be very helpful :slight_smile: