[asxless]

What is the best alternative to Spotlight for simple file directory searches? I'd be happy to simply replicate the Find functionality in the previous version of the OS X Finder. That meets the 90%+ test for me.

FWIW Spotlight is way too buggy to use for anything but amusement. It can't even be trusted to honor it's own preference panel (e,g, unchecked Categories still appear in search results). Apple's belief that I really wanted to search the _contents_ of files makes Spotlight's default results panel overwhelming and frustrating if what I really wanted to do was find a file whose name contained Spot

Thanks in advance -- asxless in iLand

[mduell]

Open up the console and discover "locate"

[brettcamp]

I like the freeware service EasyFind, from Devon technologies. On their freeware downloads page, you'll find lots of other useful enhancements to the Services menu that I use literally every day. The stuff they sell is pretty great, too.
Here's their blurb:


EASYFIND 3.8.1

EasyFind is an alternative to or supplement of Spotlight and finds files, folders or contents in any file without the need for indexing. This is especially useful if you are tired of slow or impossible indexing, outdated or corrupted indices or if you are just looking for features missing in the Finder or Spotlight.

Highlights:

* Boolean operators, wildcards, phrases
* No indexing, search immediately
* Finds invisible files and files inside packages (which Spotlight doesn't search)
* Displays the location of each file in a separate column
* Provides contextual menus and services
* Supports drag-and-drop
* Very responsive due to multithreading
* Uses little memory

[asxless]

Originally Posted by mduell

Open up the console and discover "locate"

WOW your install must be quite a bit different than mine

FWIW the unix command "locate" is only about half as good as a broken watch -- because the results from "locate" are usually only correct once a day -- right after the cron job runs to update the database it searches.

-- asxless

[asxless]

Originally Posted by brettcamp

I like the freeware service EasyFind, from Devon technologies.....

Thanks. That is what I'm using now. I was just hoping there might be some other suggestions for simple file finding tools that don't depend on Spotlight's index(s) and GUI.

Thanks again -- asxless

[leperkuhn]

This might be just me, but I usually don't lose files immediately after creating them. Locate is useful for me 99% of the time.

Get Locator. It's a gui front end to locate.

[jmgriff]

Locate works well for files that don't change all the time ... assuming your cron tasks run regularly.

If you search macosxhints.com there are a number of articles with ways of returning a simple name search to the Finder. Apple's insistance that you want a metadata search by default drives me nuts too!

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...50621230020563

[asxless]

Originally Posted by leperkuhn

This might be just me, but I usually don't lose files immediately after creating them. Locate is useful for me 99% of the time.

Get Locator. It's a gui front end to locate.

No thanks. On my PowerBook "locate" is far more out of date than just 24hrs . The cron job only rarely runs because I usually put it to sleep when I'm not using it. Each of us have different usage patterns and therefore need different functionality / options.

IMHO The whole concept of bulding a simi-redundant database to store information about the _local_ file structure that goes out of date as soon as the cron job finishes is seriously flawed. Particually when this information is already sitting in a local database (read disk directory) which today's computers can search nearly as fast. OTOH locate is quite useful for finding static stuff in hidden directories (e.g. etc, bin)

One of the basic flaws in Spotlight -- is mixing information which requires asynchronous indexing (content) with information which is already adequately "indexed" in real time (file structure). Note: When you block Spotlight from indexing a folder/ volume/ etc you also block it from being able find a file by name DUH.

Which is the reason I made the original request -- I have disabled Spotlight an ALL volumes and would still like to find files.

-- asxless in iLand

[asxless]

Originally Posted by jmgriff

...If you search macosxhints.com there are a number of articles with ways of returning a simple name search to the Finder. Apple's insistance that you want a metadata search by default drives me nuts too!

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...50621230020563

Thanks for the link. It's a good summary.

FWIW I had already figured out how to get Spotlight to default to a file name style search. But this is not very helpful if I've told Spotlight not to waste time and disk space indexing a volume's metadata (e.g. one containing periodic backups) but would still like to find a file on it _by name_

-- asxless

[leperkuhn]

Originally Posted by asxless

No thanks. On my PowerBook "locate" is far more out of date than just 24hrs . The cron job only rarely runs because I usually put it to sleep when I'm not using it. Each of us have different usage patterns and therefore need different functionality / options.

why don't you have the cron run at a different time, or edit the crontab for root and have it update once an hour?

there's perfect, and good enough. I've found locate to be good enough. on my linux machine, i just run "updatedb" if I know the db is out of date.

but hey, do what you want, doesn't matter to me. please post what ends up being your solution, as I might switch over if it's compelling enough.

[CatOne]

Originally Posted by asxless

No thanks. On my PowerBook "locate" is far more out of date than just 24hrs . The cron job only rarely runs because I usually put it to sleep when I'm not using it. Each of us have different usage patterns and therefore need different functionality / options.

IMHO The whole concept of bulding a simi-redundant database to store information about the _local_ file structure that goes out of date as soon as the cron job finishes is seriously flawed. Particually when this information is already sitting in a local database (read disk directory) which today's computers can search nearly as fast. OTOH locate is quite useful for finding static stuff in hidden directories (e.g. etc, bin)

One of the basic flaws in Spotlight -- is mixing information which requires asynchronous indexing (content) with information which is already adequately "indexed" in real time (file structure). Note: When you block Spotlight from indexing a folder/ volume/ etc you also block it from being able find a file by name DUH.

Which is the reason I made the original request -- I have disabled Spotlight an ALL volumes and would still like to find files.

-- asxless in iLand

Locate is a unix holdover. And it is GREAT and FAST for finding things like executables or libraries, which don't move that often. It is lightening fast for those purposes. For user files, it's not so good... you need to let your cron jobs run more frequently.

[asxless]

Originally Posted by CatOne

.. you need to let your cron jobs run more frequently.

Actually my wife's Powermac is on 24/7, so it runs these cron jobs everynight BUT she wouldn't even consider using the command line interface (or crude GUI) for finding files.

Shockingly enough, she thinks that basic stuff like this should work _well_ before a new OS X version is released. A quick scan of these (and Apple's) support forums tell me Spotlight was and still is not ready for prime time.

BTW The solution I'm looking for has to work for her too. I'd like to update her OS but not until I'm sure she won't be acusing me of losing basic stuff she has grown to depend on.

-- asxless

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by asxless

No thanks. On my PowerBook "locate" is far more out of date than just 24hrs . The cron job only rarely runs because I usually put it to sleep when I'm not using it. Each of us have different usage patterns and therefore need different functionality / options.

On Tiger, there are no cron jobs by default. The periodic scripts are run by launchd, not cron, and if the computer is asleep during the time they should run, launchd runs them as soon as the computer wakes up.

[Hal Itosis]

Originally Posted by asxless

but would still like to find a file on it _by name_

Well you've got EasyFind... and for Terminal, try:

  $ find ~ -iname "*STRING*"

(provide your own search STRING).

[asxless]

Originally Posted by Hal Itosis

Well you've got EasyFind... and for Terminal, try:

$ find ~ -iname "*STRING*"

(provide your own search STRING).

Gosh the very thought of explaining regular expressions to my wife makes me go all tingly.

Especially when I imagine a MacNN Uber-Geek having a go at it. I've always wanted to watch some blood sport

-- asxless

[brettcamp]

How about Quicksilver? I realize it searches contents and has a GUIl and is probably too much like Spotlight for your needs, but it's a snazzy app anyway -- and free.

[dru]

Do you have Classic? Sherlock and even the earlier Find Files do work there.

Spotlight is crap. Always finding too many items, starts too quickly, hard to 'stop' if you use the Finder "Find" command and there are some folders it won't ever look in even if you add them to the "source" list. And, if you want to find something in a package, you're basically SOL.

[asxless]

Originally Posted by dru

Do you have Classic? Sherlock and even the earlier Find Files do work there....

As it happens, this is the very first time I did NOT install Classic. Surely I thought by 10.4.3 I would no longer have a use for it

-- asxless

[asxless]

Originally Posted by brettcamp

How about Quicksilver?

Thanks again! I 'll give it a look see.

-- asxless

[asxless]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

On Tiger, there are no cron jobs by default. The periodic scripts are run by launchd, not cron, and if the computer is asleep during the time they should run, launchd runs them as soon as the computer wakes up.

Thanks for the clarification Charles.

BTW for all the MacNN Uber-Geeks who suggested 'locate'...

a ground zero install of Tiger does not even create the /var/db/locate.database after several days of 24/7 uptime

-- asxless in iLand

[CharlesS]

Yep, you're right, the periodic scripts don't seem to update the locate database anymore, as executing sudo grep -r locate /etc/periodic/daily returns nothing.

If it's any consolation to you, a script to update the locate database could be added to the periodic tasks manually...

[scb]

Just turn off indexing of your disk and use Spotlight. It will only search filenames. Works for me.

[asxless]

Originally Posted by scb

Just turn off indexing of your disk and use Spotlight. It will only search filenames. Works for me.

Say what Bro???

When I use the SpotLight System Preference panel to turn off indexing of all the monted volumes (e.g. by adding them to the Privacy pane lists)... ALL search results disappear. Nada, Zilch, 0.

How are you turning off indexing AND keeping the file name search results?

-- asxless

[CharlesS]

You have to use the command line. Something like this:

sudo mdutil -i off /

You know, what Spotlight needs is a decent GUI.

[jmgriff]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Yep, you're right, the periodic scripts don't seem to update the locate database anymore, as executing sudo grep -r locate /etc/periodic/daily returns nothing.

If it's any consolation to you, a script to update the locate database could be added to the periodic tasks manually...

Please excuse me if I'm wrong ... but AFAIK the 'weekly' script rebuilds the locate database?

[CatOne]

Originally Posted by jmgriff

Please excuse me if I'm wrong ... but AFAIK the 'weekly' script rebuilds the locate database?

Yep. And they're still there in 10.4.3:

[quadzilla:~$] sudo grep -r locate /etc/periodic/weekly
Password:
/etc/periodic/weekly/500.weekly:if [ -x /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb ]; then
/etc/periodic/weekly/500.weekly: echo "Rebuilding locate database:"
/etc/periodic/weekly/500.weekly: locdb=/var/db/locate.database
/etc/periodic/weekly/500.weekly: echo /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb | nice -5 su -fm nobody 2>&1 | sed -e '/Permission denied/d'

[asxless]

So what I'm planning to run with is a combination of jmgriff's link to OSX Hints...

I setup a default_smart.plist for a file only search for Command F in the Finder

and

CharlesS' suggestion to use mdutil to turn off metadata indexing (and remove the existing index(s))

sudo mdutil -i off /
sudo mdutil -E /
sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/other_mounted_partitions_go_here
sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/other_mounted_partitions_go_here

This provides a reasonable facsimile of the 10.3 Finder's Command F that I think my wife will use

Of course Apple could have made this a lot easier with a simple option in Spotlight that turned on / off metadata searching. FWIW I don't mind the metadata index being built. I just don't want to search it by default. Spotlight's "privacy" pane does not provide this functionality. If it's in the privacy pane Spotlight won't search it -- period. Note: even after I had placed volumes in the privacy list mdutil -s returned that they were indexed.

thanks to all who read/thought about this issue. And a special thanks to those who posted ideas.

-- asxless in iLand

[Hal Itosis]

Originally Posted by asxless

Gosh the very thought of explaining regular expressions to my wife makes me go all tingly.

As I said, you've already got EasyFind for her.

My "find" command suggestion was merely to
address your concerns about locate's index...