diff --git a/src/conf/init.go b/src/conf/init.go
index 5112bf0..2a2ddd3 100644
--- a/src/conf/init.go
+++ b/src/conf/init.go
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ func Init(cli interface{}, lg logseal.Logseal) (conf Conf) {
 		logseal.F{"string": maxAgeArg, "error": err},
 	)
 	conf.DryRun = getcli(cli, "DryRun").(bool)
-
+	if conf.DryRun {
+		conf.MsgPrefix = "(dry run) "
+	}
 	conf.Action = getcli(cli, "SubCommand").(string)
 	conf.Ls.Plain = getcli(cli, "Ls.Plain").(bool)
 	conf.Remove.Yes = getcli(cli, "Remove.Yes").(bool)
diff --git a/src/conf/struct.go b/src/conf/struct.go
index 15a4145..261a373 100644
--- a/src/conf/struct.go
+++ b/src/conf/struct.go
@@ -3,15 +3,16 @@ package conf
 import "time"
 
 type Conf struct {
-	Action  string
-	Now     time.Time
-	Folder  string
-	Matcher string
-	MaxAge  time.Duration
-	DryRun  bool
-	Ls      tLs
-	Remove  tRemove
-	Rotate  tRotate
+	Action    string
+	Now       time.Time
+	Folder    string
+	Matcher   string
+	MaxAge    time.Duration
+	DryRun    bool
+	Ls        tLs
+	Remove    tRemove
+	Rotate    tRotate
+	MsgPrefix string
 }
 
 type tLs struct {
diff --git a/src/fileaxe/action.go b/src/fileaxe/action.go
index 751fca3..d166a5e 100644
--- a/src/fileaxe/action.go
+++ b/src/fileaxe/action.go
@@ -6,9 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/triole/logseal"
 )
 
-func (fa FileAxe) list() {
-	logFiles := fa.Find(fa.Conf.Folder, fa.Conf.Matcher, fa.Conf.MaxAge, fa.Conf.Now)
-	for _, el := range logFiles {
+func (fa FileAxe) list(fileList FileInfos) {
+	for _, el := range fileList {
 		if fa.Conf.Ls.Plain {
 			fmt.Printf("%s\n", el.Path)
 		} else {
@@ -20,13 +19,12 @@ func (fa FileAxe) list() {
 	}
 }
 
-func (fa FileAxe) rotate() {
-	logFiles := fa.Find(fa.Conf.Folder, fa.Conf.Matcher, 0, fa.Conf.Now)
-	for _, fil := range logFiles {
-		tar := fa.makeZipArchiveFilenameAndDetectionScheme(fil.Path)
-		fa.Lg.Trace("make file name and detection scheme",
+func (fa FileAxe) rotate(fileList FileInfos) {
+	for _, fil := range fileList {
+		tar := fa.makeCompressionTargetFileName(fil.Path)
+		fa.Lg.Trace("make target file name",
 			logseal.F{
-				"source": fil.Path, "target": tar, "detection_scheme": tar.DetectionScheme,
+				"source": fil.Path, "target": tar,
 			},
 		)
 
@@ -38,46 +36,26 @@ func (fa FileAxe) rotate() {
 				logseal.F{"file": fil, "error": err},
 			)
 		} else {
-			fa.Lg.Debug("skip truncate")
-		}
-
-		if fa.Conf.MaxAge > 0 {
-			compressedLogs := fa.Find(
-				fa.Conf.Folder, tar.DetectionScheme,
-				fa.Conf.MaxAge, fa.Conf.Now,
-			)
-			for _, fil := range compressedLogs {
-				if !fa.Conf.DryRun {
-					fa.rm(fil.Path)
-				}
-			}
+			fa.Lg.Debug("skip truncate", logseal.F{"file": fil})
 		}
 	}
 }
 
-func (fa FileAxe) remove() {
-	if fa.Conf.MaxAge > 0 {
-		files := fa.Find(
-			fa.Conf.Folder, fa.Conf.Matcher,
-			fa.Conf.MaxAge, fa.Conf.Now,
-		)
-		for _, fil := range files {
-			if !fa.Conf.DryRun {
-				if fa.Conf.Remove.Yes {
+func (fa FileAxe) remove(fileList FileInfos) {
+	for _, fil := range fileList {
+		if !fa.Conf.DryRun {
+			if fa.Conf.Remove.Yes {
+				fa.rm(fil.Path)
+			} else {
+				if askForConfirmation(fil.Path) {
 					fa.rm(fil.Path)
-				} else {
-					if askForConfirmation(fil.Path) {
-						fa.rm(fil.Path)
-					}
 				}
-			} else {
-				fa.Lg.Info(
-					"dry run, might have removed file",
-					logseal.F{"path": fil.Path},
-				)
 			}
+		} else {
+			fa.Lg.Info(
+				"dry run, might have removed file",
+				logseal.F{"path": fil.Path},
+			)
 		}
-	} else {
-		fa.Lg.Info("nothing to do, remove mode requires a max age definition, use --max-age or -m")
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/fileaxe/compression.go b/src/fileaxe/compression.go
index 7aa91a9..aaa50eb 100644
--- a/src/fileaxe/compression.go
+++ b/src/fileaxe/compression.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package fileaxe
 import (
 	"context"
 	"os"
-	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -11,15 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/triole/logseal"
 )
 
-type tTarget struct {
-	Folder          string
-	FullPath        string
-	BaseName        string
-	ShortName       string
-	DetectionScheme string
-}
-
-func (fa FileAxe) compressFile(sourceFile FileInfo, target tTarget) (err error) {
+func (fa FileAxe) compressFile(sourceFile FileInfo, target string) (err error) {
 	start := time.Now()
 
 	format := archiver.CompressedArchive{
@@ -41,10 +33,10 @@ func (fa FileAxe) compressFile(sourceFile FileInfo, target tTarget) (err error)
 			Archival:    archiver.Tar{},
 		}
 	}
-
-	fa.Lg.Info("compress file", logseal.F{
-		"file": sourceFile.Path,
-		"size": sourceFile.SizeHR,
+	fa.Lg.Info(fa.Conf.MsgPrefix+"compress file", logseal.F{
+		"file":   sourceFile.Path,
+		"size":   sourceFile.SizeHR,
+		"target": target,
 	})
 
 	sourceFilesArr := []string{sourceFile.Path}
@@ -54,11 +46,11 @@ func (fa FileAxe) compressFile(sourceFile FileInfo, target tTarget) (err error)
 		elapsed := end.Sub(start)
 
 		if err == nil {
-			taInfos := fa.fileInfo(target.FullPath, time.Now())
+			taInfos := fa.fileInfo(target, time.Now())
 			fa.Lg.Info(
 				"compression done",
 				logseal.F{
-					"file": target.FullPath, "duration": elapsed,
+					"file": target, "duration": elapsed,
 					"size": taInfos.SizeHR,
 				},
 			)
@@ -74,11 +66,11 @@ func (fa FileAxe) compressFile(sourceFile FileInfo, target tTarget) (err error)
 	return
 }
 
-func (fa FileAxe) runCompression(sources []string, target tTarget, format archiver.CompressedArchive) (err error) {
+func (fa FileAxe) runCompression(sources []string, target string, format archiver.CompressedArchive) (err error) {
 	var files []archiver.File
 	fileMap := make(map[string]string)
 	for _, fil := range sources {
-		fileMap[fil] = target.BaseName
+		fileMap[fil] = filepath.Base(target)
 	}
 
 	files, err = archiver.FilesFromDisk(nil, fileMap)
@@ -90,7 +82,7 @@ func (fa FileAxe) runCompression(sources []string, target tTarget, format archiv
 		return err
 	}
 
-	out, err := os.Create(target.FullPath)
+	out, err := os.Create(target)
 	if err != nil {
 		fa.Lg.Error(
 			"can not create file",
@@ -111,17 +103,12 @@ func (fa FileAxe) runCompression(sources []string, target tTarget, format archiv
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (fa FileAxe) makeZipArchiveFilenameAndDetectionScheme(fn string) (tar tTarget) {
-	tar.Folder = rxFind(".*\\/", fn)
-	base := rxFind("[^/]+$", fn)
-	base = rxFind(".*?\\.", base)
-	base = strings.TrimSuffix(base, ".")
-	tar.BaseName = base + "_" + timestamp() + ".log"
-	tar.ShortName = tar.BaseName + "." + fa.Conf.Rotate.CompressionFormat
-	tar.DetectionScheme = path.Join(
-		tar.Folder,
-		base+"_[0-2][0-9]{3}[0-1][0-9][0-3][0-9]t[0-2][0-9][0-5][0-9][0-5][0-9]\\.log\\."+fa.Conf.Rotate.CompressionFormat+"$",
+func (fa FileAxe) makeCompressionTargetFileName(fn string) (tar string) {
+	cleanBase := rxReplaceAllString(filepath.Base(fn), "[^A-Za-z0-9_\\-]", "_")
+	noext := strings.TrimSuffix(cleanBase, filepath.Ext(fn))
+
+	tar = filepath.Join(
+		filepath.Dir(fn), noext+"_"+timestamp()+"."+fa.Conf.Rotate.CompressionFormat,
 	)
-	tar.FullPath = path.Join(tar.Folder, tar.ShortName)
 	return
 }
diff --git a/src/fileaxe/fileops.go b/src/fileaxe/fileops.go
index 3b8cd46..bc17e6f 100644
--- a/src/fileaxe/fileops.go
+++ b/src/fileaxe/fileops.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (fa FileAxe) fileInfo(path string, refTime time.Time) (fi FileInfo) {
 }
 
 func (fa FileAxe) truncate(filename string) error {
-	fa.Lg.Info("truncate", logseal.F{"file": filename})
+	fa.Lg.Info(fa.Conf.MsgPrefix+"truncate", logseal.F{"file": filename})
 	if !fa.Conf.DryRun {
 		f, err := os.OpenFile(filename, os.O_TRUNC, 0664)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/fileaxe/main.go b/src/fileaxe/main.go
index 389c1dc..fd613c0 100644
--- a/src/fileaxe/main.go
+++ b/src/fileaxe/main.go
@@ -8,30 +8,21 @@ import (
 
 func (fa FileAxe) Run() {
 	if !fa.Conf.Ls.Plain {
-		fa.Lg.Info(
+		fa.Lg.Debug(
 			"start fileaxe",
 			logseal.F{
 				"conf": fmt.Sprintf("%+v", fa.Conf),
 			},
 		)
-
-		if fa.Conf.DryRun {
-			fa.Lg.Info(" --- DRY RUN START ---")
-		}
 	}
 
+	fileList := fa.Find(fa.Conf.Folder, fa.Conf.Matcher, fa.Conf.MaxAge, fa.Conf.Now)
 	switch fa.Conf.Action {
 	case "ls":
-		fa.list()
+		fa.list(fileList)
 	case "rotate":
-		fa.rotate()
+		fa.rotate(fileList)
 	case "remove":
-		fa.remove()
-	}
-
-	if !fa.Conf.Ls.Plain {
-		if fa.Conf.DryRun {
-			fa.Lg.Info(" --- DRY RUN END ---")
-		}
+		fa.remove(fileList)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/fileaxe/util.go b/src/fileaxe/util.go
index 69c1227..3558bcf 100644
--- a/src/fileaxe/util.go
+++ b/src/fileaxe/util.go
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ func round(val float64, roundOn float64, places int) (newVal float64) {
 	return
 }
 
-func rxFind(rx string, content string) (r string) {
-	temp, _ := regexp.Compile(rx)
-	r = temp.FindString(content)
+func rxReplaceAllString(basestring, regex, newstring string) (r string) {
+	rx := regexp.MustCompile(regex)
+	r = rx.ReplaceAllString(basestring, newstring)
 	return
 }