Sorting Both Files and Folders by Date in Filename

[JSG-1]

Hi @SebastianMC,

First off, thank you again for your help with my previous issue—it’s been working great for folders!

I’m now trying to apply the same date-based sorting to both files and folders where the date is embedded in the filename. My goal is to have files sorted in the same way as folders when they contain a date in YYYY-MM-DD format (sometimes followed by a three-letter day abbreviation, e.g., 2025-01-29 Wed).

I’ve tried modifying my existing configuration by using /+ instead of /folders, but I haven’t been able to get files to sort properly. I’d love to know if there’s a way to achieve this with the current plugin features or if I need to approach it differently.

Would you be able to point me in the right direction? I really appreciate your time and support!

Best regards,
JSG

JSGsorting.txt

[SebastianMC]

Hi @JSG-1

to match against files and folders you don't need to include any specifier - this is a default behaviour.
In other words, by example:

• /folders ... \-D+ matches folders which name follows the specified pattern
• /:files ... \-D+ matches files, accordingly
• ... \-D+ matches files and folders which name follows the specified pattern

Let me construct the patterns then for your date schema, using a different syntax, introduced in 2025:

• ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] matches a file or folder which name ends with a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format
• ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] \a+ matches a file or folder which name ends with a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format followed by a word (\a+ denotes a word).
• \[yyyy-mm-dd] matches a file or folder which name is a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format
• \[yyyy-mm-dd] \a+ matches a file or folder which name is a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format followed by a word (\a+ denotes a word).
• \[yyyy-mm-dd]... matches a file or folder which name starts with a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format

Eventually, if you want to combine the above patterns into one big combo, use the /+ prefix (which allows combining the patterns into one larger group). You would end up with something like:

# Sort by ending date for folders inside 
  target-folder: /*
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd]
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] \a+
  /+ \[yyyy-mm-dd]
  /+ \[yyyy-mm-dd] \a+
  /+ \[yyyy-mm-dd]...
    > a-z

I've written the above based on documentation, no testing. If you encounter issues let me know.

regards,
Seb

[JSG-1]

Subject: Help with Sorting Files/Folders Ending in Day Abbreviations

Hi Sebastian,

I wanted to follow up to let you know that the following script works perfectly for sorting both files and folders by the date in their name:

# Sort by ending date for files and folders
target-folder: /*
/+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd]
> a-z

However, I’m still unable to get files and folders that end with a three-letter day abbreviation (e.g., Tue, Thu) to sort correctly. I’ve tried modifying the pattern to account for this, but it hasn’t worked.

Additionally, when I try adding \a+ to match filenames ending in a day abbreviation, I get an error in the console. Specifically, using the following rule causes an issue:

# Sort by ending date for files and folders
target-folder: /*
/+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] \a+
> a-z

I’ve attached:

• A screenshot of the folders/files that end with a day abbreviation but won’t sort correctly.
• 
• A screenshot of the developer console error that appears when I include \a+ in the sorting rule.
• 

Would you be able to help me troubleshoot this?

Thanks again for your time and help—I really appreciate it!

Best,
JSG

[SebastianMC]

Indeed there is such a limitation in the pattern matching!
So, for now there is no other way than to explicitly list the day names like:

  # Sort by ending date for files and folders
  target-folder: /*
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Mon
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Tue
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Wed
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Thu
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Fri
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Sat
  /+ ... \[yyyy-mm-dd] Sun
    > a-z

Long term I can introduce yet another date pattern to cover this specific scenario

[JSG-1]

This worked great!  Thanks Sebastian.

[SebastianMC]

Hi @JSG-1,
FYI you replied via email with a signature including phone numbers and some PII and it was automatically published here. I guess you probably didn't want to expose the PII on a public website like this, hence I've edited your note.