Dev Log #02 | Rule Engine and Safe-Move Protocol
Our Design Principle
Section titled “Our Design Principle”During FinalPlace development, we set one core principle:
FinalPlace isn’t a “smarter” file manager.
It should be a more “obedient” file manager.
What’s the difference between these two?
“Smarter” means FinalPlace makes decisions for you - it learns your habits, predicts your intentions, then automatically organizes for you.
Sounds great. But everyone who’s used similar products knows this “intelligence” often fails:
“I was clearly looking for the contract, it moved the contract to the archive folder” “It thought this image was a screenshot, actually it’s important material” “Forget it, I’ll manage myself” - then uninstalls
So we chose to be “obedient”: you set the rules, FinalPlace executes. Nothing more, nothing less, never overstepping.
Rule Engine Architecture
Section titled “Rule Engine Architecture”What is a Rule?
Section titled “What is a Rule?”A rule = Condition + Action
- Condition: When should this rule trigger?
- Action: What should happen?
Example:
- Condition: File extension is “.pdf”
- Action: Move to D:\Documents\PDF
Rule Types
Section titled “Rule Types”1. File Type Rules
- By extension (.pdf, .docx, .jpg)
- By name patterns
- By size
2. Source Rules
- From WeChat
- From email
- From browser downloads
3. Time Rules
- Not accessed for X days
- Created before/after date
- Modified after certain time
Rule Priority
Section titled “Rule Priority”When multiple rules match, priority determines execution order:
- User-defined priority
- Specificity (more specific rules win)
- Recency (newer rules take precedence)
Safe-Move Protocol
Section titled “Safe-Move Protocol”Moving files is risky. What if power goes out mid-move? What if the target doesn’t exist?
Safe-Move solves this:
1. Copy First
- Copy file to destination completely
2. Verify
- Check file integrity (size, hash)
- Ensure file is complete
3. Delete Source
- Only delete after verification passes
- If verification fails, keep both copies
4. Rollback Capable
- If anything goes wrong, can restore to original state
Why This Approach?
Section titled “Why This Approach?”Because file management is too important to be “smart” about.
Your files are your work, your memories, your data.
We’d rather be boring and reliable than exciting and risky.
FinalPlace - let every file find its correct home.
Want to learn more? View FinalPlace features