Annoying Spotlight result
isw
what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
bunch of iCal files in the result? None of them contains anything of
significance concerning what I am searching for. Plus, if you click on
them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
are.
I was looking for "DSC00144" (part of the name of a JPEG image), and I
got 9 hits that were iCal files.
How do I make them go away?
Isaac
nospam
<i...@witzend.com> wrote:
spotlight preference panel, uncheck the categories you are not
interested in.
Barry Margolin
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
> Why is it that when I do a Spotlight search on "Contents", no matter
> what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
> bunch of iCal files in the result? None of them contains anything of
> significance concerning what I am searching for. Plus, if you click on
> them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
> are.
Are they named corestorage.ics? The corestorage.ics files live in
~/Library/Application
Support/iCal/Sources/<random-looking-string>.calendar/. There's a
.calendar folder for each calendar in iCal, and the corestorage.ics file
in it contains all the calendar entries.
If these are some other .ics file, they're probably email attachments
containing meeting invites.
If you can find the files, you could try looking at them. They're plain
text files containing the event information, so you could open it in a
text editor to see where the string you're looking for appears.
> I was looking for "DSC00144" (part of the name of a JPEG image), and I
> got 9 hits that were iCal files.
I don't get any matches.
--
Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***
salgud
I find that Spotlight, as great as it is, always gives me a lot of annoying
"detritus" with most searches. I use Evernote for keeping all kinds of
miscellaneous info, and I usually get a number of Evernote notes with a
Spotlight query that don't have the text in the query at all. Don't know
where they come from, much less how to get rid of them, other than removing
EN from the search entirely, which I don't want. I just want to see only
those notes that contain the query text.
I view it as the downside of having such a powerful search tool, which is
one of the things I miss most when I'm at a Windoze machine.
isw
nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
OK; thanks. But I still don't understand why so many of those files had
random collections of characters that just happened to match what I was
searching for...
Isaac
Barry Margolin
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
> In article <241220091526417136%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
> nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> > In article <isw-DDD856.12005024122009@[216.168.3.50]>, isw
> > <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Why is it that when I do a Spotlight search on "Contents", no matter
> > > what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
> > > bunch of iCal files in the result? None of them contains anything of
> > > significance concerning what I am searching for. Plus, if you click on
> > > them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
> > > are.
> > >
> > > I was looking for "DSC00144" (part of the name of a JPEG image), and I
> > > got 9 hits that were iCal files.
> > >
> > > How do I make them go away?
> >
> > spotlight preference panel, uncheck the categories you are not
> > interested in.
>
> OK; thanks. But I still don't understand why so many of those files had
> random collections of characters that just happened to match what I was
> searching for...
Did you try my suggestion?
Wes Groleau
> Why is it that when I do a Spotlight search on "Contents", no matter
> what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
Did you really try a few random strings? Or just guessing because
DSC00144 seemed random?
> .... Plus, if you click on
> them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
> are.
When I type something into Spotlight (in Tiger), I get the hits in a
dropdown. Hover over one, and I get a yellow popup that tells me the
full name and path. At the top of the list is a "Show All." If I click
that, I get a regular window with a list that can be sorted, grouped,
and filtered in various ways. Each item in the list has in info icon
on the right which expands the item to a miniature 'Get info' type of
listing. Each item also has a right-click context menu that includes
Open, Get Info (full), Show in Finder, Slideshow (usually disabled),
Mail, and Create Workflow.
I learned all of this in five minutes of "research" for this post.
Moral of the story is "Take chances; make mistakes; get messy"
(two points for 'who said that?')
> I was looking for "DSC00144" (part of the name of a JPEG image), and I
> got 9 hits that were iCal files.
That got me zero iCal files, but that's probably because
I rarely use iCal. But it looks like the beginning of the sort
of long string some code might generate when it needs to create
a storage file with a unique filename. Perhaps iCal and some
image program use the same library for that. Or you are putting
graphics (knowingly or not) in your appointments. Or some sort
of workflow is creating an appointment for you or for itself to
come back to that image later. Or you got the image(s) from someone
else and didn't know they had included some iCal files with them.
Try the "get info" or "show in finder" thing and explore.
Take chances; make mistakes; get messy--that's the way
babies learn, and it still works for me at age 55.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good ... weekend.
--
Wes Groleau
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^ A UNIX signature isn't a return address, it's the ASCII equivalent ^
^ of a black velvet clown painting. It's a rectangle of carets ^
^ surrounding a quote from a literary giant of weeniedom like ^
^ Heinlein or Dr. Who. ^
^ -- Chris Maeda ^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
dorayme
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> isw wrote:
> > Why is it that when I do a Spotlight search on "Contents", no matter
> > what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
> > bunch of iCal files in the result? ...
>
> Did you really try a few random strings? Or just guessing because
> DSC00144 seemed random?
>
> > .... Plus, if you click on
> > them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
> > are.
>
> When I type something into Spotlight (in Tiger), I get the hits in a
> dropdown. Hover over one, and I get a yellow popup that tells me the
> full name and path. At the top of the list is a "Show All." If I click
> that, I get a regular window with a list that can be sorted, grouped,
> and filtered in various ways. Each item in the list has in info icon
> on the right which expands the item to a miniature 'Get info' type of
> listing. Each item also has a right-click context menu that includes
> Open, Get Info (full), Show in Finder, Slideshow (usually disabled),
> Mail, and Create Workflow.
>
Infuriating process, I find it best to use Spotlight via Command-F in a
directory window. Sometimes you try your luck in the spotlight bar and
play pin the tail on the moving donkey (the hover gives useful info if
you can make the trigger stay still as more and more things are added...)
> I learned all of this in five minutes of "research" for this post.
>
> Moral of the story is "Take chances; make mistakes; get messy"
> (two points for 'who said that?')
Ms. Frizzle
--
dorayme
isw
Barry Margolin <bar...@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> In article <isw-93526F.20561424122009@[216.168.3.50]>,
> isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
>
> > In article <241220091526417136%nos...@nospam.invalid>,
> > nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <isw-DDD856.12005024122009@[216.168.3.50]>, isw
> > > <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Why is it that when I do a Spotlight search on "Contents", no matter
> > > > what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
> > > > bunch of iCal files in the result? None of them contains anything of
> > > > significance concerning what I am searching for. Plus, if you click on
> > > > them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
> > > > are.
> > > >
> > > > I was looking for "DSC00144" (part of the name of a JPEG image), and I
> > > > got 9 hits that were iCal files.
> > > >
> > > > How do I make them go away?
> > >
> > > spotlight preference panel, uncheck the categories you are not
> > > interested in.
> >
> > OK; thanks. But I still don't understand why so many of those files had
> > random collections of characters that just happened to match what I was
> > searching for...
>
> Did you try my suggestion?
?? I never saw it. I even did "Open All References" and found no posts
from you.
What was it?
Isaac
Barry Margolin
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
Open All References only finds the direct chain of ancestors leading up
to the current message, not all the cousin messages. Mine was a direct
reply to your original message, not in this subthread.
> What was it?
<barmar-4C6494....@nothing.attdns.com>
Wes Groleau
> Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
>> Moral of the story is "Take chances; make mistakes; get messy"
>> (two points for 'who said that?')
>
> Ms. Frizzle
Two points to dorayme. Although I remember the series well,
in five minutes of straining, I couldn't pull the name out
of the bottom of the pile.
--
Wes Groleau
A child’s funeral
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1583
isw
Barry Margolin <bar...@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> In article <isw-DDD856.12005024122009@[216.168.3.50]>,
> isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
>
> > Why is it that when I do a Spotlight search on "Contents", no matter
> > what the search phrase is (even random characters), there's always a
> > bunch of iCal files in the result? None of them contains anything of
> > significance concerning what I am searching for. Plus, if you click on
> > them, no path info is displayed, so you can't even find out where they
> > are.
>
> Are they named corestorage.ics? The corestorage.ics files live in
> ~/Library/Application
> Support/iCal/Sources/<random-looking-string>.calendar/. There's a
> .calendar folder for each calendar in iCal, and the corestorage.ics file
> in it contains all the calendar entries.
>
> If these are some other .ics file, they're probably email attachments
> containing meeting invites.
>
> If you can find the files, you could try looking at them. They're plain
> text files containing the event information, so you could open it in a
> text editor to see where the string you're looking for appears.
>
> > I was looking for "DSC00144" (part of the name of a JPEG image), and I
> > got 9 hits that were iCal files.
>
> I don't get any matches.
(Note that these only show up when searching file contents, not names)
They have names like ""First Day"; "Last Weekday"; "2nd and 4th
Thursday"; with iCal icons and with no extension. They are kind: "iCal
file". When one is highlighted, the path display at the bottom of the
window remains blank.
Putting the name of one of them, say "Last Weekday", in the search
cartouche and searching on names will cause it to show up in the
results, but again, highlighting it provides no path info.
So, I don't know how to find them.
Isaac
Barry Margolin
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
Weird. What happens if you select one of them from the spotlight
results?
isw
Barry Margolin <bar...@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
Double-clicking on one causes iCal to gain focus (it's always running),
and a dialog pops up: "Adding new events". I did not continue, because I
didn't want to mess with iCal.
Isaac
Barry Margolin
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
From the names and actions, it sounds like these are some kind of script
or template for creating custom monthly events. But I don't see
anything in iCal that allows you to create such templates. Do you have
any events that repeat on those schedules? Maybe custom repeat
schedules get save somewhere that Spotlight indexes.
I just created an event on the 4th Wednesday of the month, but searching
for "4th Wednesday" in Spotlight didn't show anything.
Paul Sture
dorayme <dorayme...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
Infuriating is the right word and I abandoned Spotlight back when I was
using Tiger. Many a time it would display the file I wanted straight
away but before I'd had chance to click on it, it had disappeared from
the list, not be been seen again.
I recommend Matt Neuberg's NotLight. It allows you to specify the type
of search (name, content, extension) before the search starts.
<http://www.tidbits.com/matt/>
(scroll down to get to the NotLight entry)
--
Paul Sture
dorayme
Paul Sture <paul....@sture.ch> wrote:
I am crazy to still use spotlight, but I do! Mainly I use the command-F
route in a directory window but the simple brilliant idea of the
spotlight field, top right corner tempts me now and then and I fall for
it like a big sucker! If it were good, it would be such gem in the OS X
crown! But it is an absolute disgrace! I even had a case the other day
when I was staring at the file I pretended to find, and "no result" -
Yes, I copy/pasted from the file name to the Spotlight field. Maybe, to
be fair, my slower QS 933 takes its time. It was recently transferred
file from camera to HD...
--
dorayme
Wes Groleau
> dorayme <dorayme...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>> Infuriating process, I find it best to use Spotlight via Command-F in a
>> directory window. Sometimes you try your luck in the spotlight bar and
>> play pin the tail on the moving donkey (the hover gives useful info if
>> you can make the trigger stay still as more and more things are added...)
>
> Infuriating is the right word and I abandoned Spotlight back when I was
> using Tiger. Many a time it would display the file I wanted straight
> away but before I'd had chance to click on it, it had disappeared from
> the list, not be been seen again.
It's probably "in there" but Spotlight is guessing wrongly which
hits are the most likely.
I did one yesterday that had thousands of hits. What I was
looking for was one of a dozen that had the same filename,
different contents. Every time I opened one to look inside,
Spotlight went back to the top of the #$%^&%^& list, and
I had to scroll back down, figure out which ones I hadn't
looked in yet, ...
--
Wes Groleau
An example of how important grammar points are deferred
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1560
isw
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> Paul Sture wrote:
> > dorayme <dorayme...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
> >> Infuriating process, I find it best to use Spotlight via Command-F in a
> >> directory window. Sometimes you try your luck in the spotlight bar and
> >> play pin the tail on the moving donkey (the hover gives useful info if
> >> you can make the trigger stay still as more and more things are added...)
> >
> > Infuriating is the right word and I abandoned Spotlight back when I was
> > using Tiger. Many a time it would display the file I wanted straight
> > away but before I'd had chance to click on it, it had disappeared from
> > the list, not be been seen again.
>
> It's probably "in there" but Spotlight is guessing wrongly which
> hits are the most likely.
>
> I did one yesterday that had thousands of hits. What I was
> looking for was one of a dozen that had the same filename,
> different contents. Every time I opened one to look inside,
> Spotlight went back to the top of the #$%^&%^& list, and
> I had to scroll back down, figure out which ones I hadn't
> looked in yet, ...
If you just double-click the icon of a file in the "found" list, that
file will open in whatever app "owns" it, while your place in the list
of found items is not disturbed.
Isaac
Wes Groleau
> Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
>> Spotlight went back to the top of the #$%^&%^& list, and
>> I had to scroll back down, figure out which ones I hadn't
>> looked in yet, ...
>
> If you just double-click the icon of a file in the "found" list, that
> file will open in whatever app "owns" it, while your place in the list
> of found items is not disturbed.
I repeat: every time I opened one to look inside,
Spotlight scrolled the list back to the top.
--
Wes Groleau
New numbers for next year
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1495
isw
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> isw wrote:
> > Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> >> different contents. Every time I opened one to look inside,
> >> Spotlight went back to the top of the #$%^&%^& list, and
> >> I had to scroll back down, figure out which ones I hadn't
> >> looked in yet, ...
> >
> > If you just double-click the icon of a file in the "found" list, that
> > file will open in whatever app "owns" it, while your place in the list
> > of found items is not disturbed.
>
> I repeat: every time I opened one to look inside,
> Spotlight scrolled the list back to the top.
Try clicking where I suggested -- *in the "found" list*. Selecting from
the list and then clicking the icon in the ribbon at the bottom of the
window behaves as you say.
Isaac
Wes Groleau
> Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
>> isw wrote:
>>> Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
>>>> different contents. Every time I opened one to look inside,
>>>> Spotlight went back to the top of the #$%^&%^& list, and
>>>> I had to scroll back down, figure out which ones I hadn't
>>>> looked in yet, ...
>>> If you just double-click the icon of a file in the "found" list, that
>>> file will open in whatever app "owns" it, while your place in the list
>>> of found items is not disturbed.
>> I repeat: every time I opened one to look inside,
>> Spotlight scrolled the list back to the top.
> Try clicking where I suggested -- *in the "found" list*. Selecting from
> the list and then clicking the icon in the ribbon at the bottom of the
> window behaves as you say.
They must have made major changes to the UI after Tiger.
There is nothing resembling a toolbar anywhere in the window.
Double-click in the original corner window opens the file
and closes the window.
Double-click in the "all" window opens the file and scrolls
the window to the top every time.
Right-click and selecting Open opens the file and usually
scrolls the Window to the top. (One time out of many, it
did not scroll to the top. Same file; I don't know what
was different.)
--
Wes Groleau
The Basics—Trust as the cement
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1312
John Varela
<Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> isw wrote:
> > Try clicking where I suggested -- *in the "found" list*. Selecting from
> > the list and then clicking the icon in the ribbon at the bottom of the
> > window behaves as you say.
>
> They must have made major changes to the UI after Tiger.
I don't see any ribbons in the Spotlight display in 10.6.2.
> There is nothing resembling a toolbar anywhere in the window.
> Double-click in the original corner window opens the file
> and closes the window.
But at the TOP of the Spotlight pull-down is the option to "Show
All". If you have that in Tiger, have you tried using it?
> Double-click in the "all" window opens the file and scrolls
> the window to the top every time.
>
> Right-click and selecting Open opens the file and usually
> scrolls the Window to the top. (One time out of many, it
> did not scroll to the top. Same file; I don't know what
> was different.)
--
John Varela
Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email
Wes Groleau
> On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 18:33:46 UTC, Wes Groleau
>>> Try clicking where I suggested -- *in the "found" list*. Selecting from
>>> the list and then clicking the icon in the ribbon at the bottom of the
>>> window behaves as you say.
>> They must have made major changes to the UI after Tiger.
>
> I don't see any ribbons in the Spotlight display in 10.6.2.
Curiouser and curiouser. OK, 'isw' please clarify for us
what this 'ribbon' is.
>> There is nothing resembling a toolbar anywhere in the window.
>> Double-click in the original corner window opens the file
>> and closes the window.
>
> But at the TOP of the Spotlight pull-down is the option to "Show
> All". If you have that in Tiger, have you tried using it?
Yes. That's how I get what I called the "all" window.
>> Double-click in the "all" window opens the file and scrolls
>> the window to the top every time.
>>
>> Right-click and selecting Open opens the file and usually
>> scrolls the Window to the top. (One time out of many, it
>> did not scroll to the top. Same file; I don't know what
>> was different.)
--
Wes Groleau
Rant on using folk wisdom in the classroom
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1015
isw
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> John Varela wrote:
> > On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 18:33:46 UTC, Wes Groleau
> >> isw wrote:
> >>> Try clicking where I suggested -- *in the "found" list*. Selecting from
> >>> the list and then clicking the icon in the ribbon at the bottom of the
> >>> window behaves as you say.
> >> They must have made major changes to the UI after Tiger.
> >
> > I don't see any ribbons in the Spotlight display in 10.6.2.
>
> Curiouser and curiouser. OK, 'isw' please clarify for us
> what this 'ribbon' is.
On Tiger and Leopard (I don't have the Snow variety), when you have a
spotlight search window open, and select (single-click) one of the found
items, the entire path to that item is revealed across the bottom of the
window.
Double-clicking the desired item's icon *in that path display* behaves
as you say, resetting the selection to the top of the list.
Double-clicking on a found item's icon *directly in the list of found
items* behaves as I said: opening that item and leaving the selection on
that item. In fact, you can run down the list, double-clicking as many
items as you wish, and having all of them open at the same time.
I find the path display useful because you can open any part of the path
(say, the folder containing the found item's containing folder) by
double-clicking it; sometimes you want to locate the place you put
something rather than the thing itself.
Isaac
John Varela
> In article <hhsl2p$o00$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
>
> > John Varela wrote:
> > > On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 18:33:46 UTC, Wes Groleau
> > >> isw wrote:
> > >>> Try clicking where I suggested -- *in the "found" list*. Selecting from
> > >>> the list and then clicking the icon in the ribbon at the bottom of the
> > >>> window behaves as you say.
> > >> They must have made major changes to the UI after Tiger.
> > >
> > > I don't see any ribbons in the Spotlight display in 10.6.2.
> >
> > Curiouser and curiouser. OK, 'isw' please clarify for us
> > what this 'ribbon' is.
>
> On Tiger and Leopard (I don't have the Snow variety), when you have a
> spotlight search window open, and select (single-click) one of the found
> items, the entire path to that item is revealed across the bottom of the
> window.
Not here in 10.6.2, nor do I recall it working that way in Leopard.
When the cursor hovers over an entry in the Spotlight list, a yellow
box opens just under the entry, showing the path. It's impossible to
click on that box because when the cursor moves toard it the box
jumps to the path of the next item in the Spotlight list. Right
click on the item in the Spotlight list does nothing. Left click
causes the behavior that Wes describes: the item opens and the
Spotlight list closes.
> Double-clicking the desired item's icon *in that path display* behaves
> as you say, resetting the selection to the top of the list.
As I say, I can't click in the path display because it won't stay
still.
> Double-clicking on a found item's icon *directly in the list of found
> items* behaves as I said: opening that item and leaving the selection on
> that item. In fact, you can run down the list, double-clicking as many
> items as you wish, and having all of them open at the same time.
I am unable to double-click fast enough: the item opens and the
Spotlight list closes before I can make the second click.
> I find the path display useful because you can open any part of the path
> (say, the folder containing the found item's containing folder) by
> double-clicking it; sometimes you want to locate the place you put
> something rather than the thing itself.
If there is a preference that controls these different modes of
action, I can't find it.
John Varela
<Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> John Varela wrote:
> > But at the TOP of the Spotlight pull-down is the option to "Show
> > All". If you have that in Tiger, have you tried using it?
>
> Yes. That's how I get what I called the "all" window.
When I click on "Show All", a Finder window opens listing all of the
found items. It behaves just like any other Finder window, except
that Column view is unavailable. Clicking on an item in the window
opens the item, while the Finder window remains unchanged.
Odd observation, still on topic for the thread: to make sure I got a
long enough list to test, I had Spotlight search on "txt" (without
the quotes). I expected Spotlight to give me a list of a zillion
txt files. Instead, it finds a long list of .rtf's, emails, and
pdf's. There are no .txt files that I can see. Checking the
contents of several entries, one of which is a .pdf of the
Constitution of the United States of America, the group "txt" does
not appear within.
So what the hell is that about?
Wes Groleau
> On Tiger and Leopard (I don't have the Snow variety), when you have a
> spotlight search window open, and select (single-click) one of the found
> items, the entire path to that item is revealed across the bottom of the
> window.
Ah, when I hear 'ribbon' in a computing context, I think of Microsoft's
recent decision that "toolbar" is no longer an acceptable term.
BUT, Spotlight on my eMac with 10.4.11 does NOT behave that way,
nor can I find anything in its preferences to change it.
Hence, "curiouser and curiouser." In the small window,
- hover puts name and path in a yellow pop-up "tooltip"
- single-click opens the file and closes Spotlight
In the "all items" window (which does not show all items until you
click all of the "more" links!),
- hover does nothing
- single-click selects but does not change what is displayed.
- double-click opens the item and _usually_ scrolls the list
back to the top, but it _does_ leave the item selected in
the list. Yesterday, I had one exception. Now, out of many,
I have one that did not move and two that scrolled a couple of lines.
> Double-clicking the desired item's icon *in that path display* behaves
> as you say, resetting the selection to the top of the list.
Well, I have no such "path display" in the bottom of the window.
If I click ON the info icon, I get a mini-version of the GetInfo
window, but I get it under the file row, not at the bottom.
If I double-click in that, the file opens and usually the LIST (not the
_selection_) scrolls to the top.
> Double-clicking on a found item's icon *directly in the list of found
> items* behaves as I said: opening that item and leaving the selection on
> that item. In fact, you can run down the list, double-clicking as many
> items as you wish, and having all of them open at the same time.
For me, it leaves the selection on the item, but it scrolls the list
to the top. This is proctalgia when the list (as in my most recent
search) contains thousands of items.
> I find the path display useful because you can open any part of the path
> (say, the folder containing the found item's containing folder) by
> double-clicking it; sometimes you want to locate the place you put
> something rather than the thing itself.
Hmmm, no matter where I double-click in mine, I open the actual file.
One of us must have some sort of hack installed.
--
Wes Groleau
I have to admit, it's cool
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/WWW?itemid=125
Wes Groleau
> When I click on "Show All", a Finder window opens listing all of the
> found items. It behaves just like any other Finder window, except
> that Column view is unavailable. Clicking on an item in the window
> opens the item, while the Finder window remains unchanged.
Hmmm, mine is not a Finder window. It has a "title bar" approximately
two text lines in height. first line contains the traffic lights on the
left and "Spotlight: <search text>" in the center. Second line has
a search box similar in style to that of Mail and iTunes on the left,
with the count of results next to it. The main panel has a subpanel on
the right containing filtering, grouping, and ordering controls,
with the list on the left. Default list is grouped by kind, showing
five of each kind, followed by the count of those not shown which, if
you click, shows all of them. Each item shows (left to right):
- icon
- name
- two columns, month/year or "Today"/time or (blank)/"No Date"
- an info icon
Each kind has a blue header bar with the Kind in white letters.
If the kind is PDF, the bar also has an icon to switch it from a list
to a bunch of previews of page one and another to switch it back to the
list. If the Kind is Images, it has the same preview icon plus
an icon to do a slideshow of those images.
> Odd observation, still on topic for the thread: to make sure I got a
> long enough list to test, I had Spotlight search on "txt" (without
> the quotes). I expected Spotlight to give me a list of a zillion
> txt files. Instead, it finds a long list of .rtf's, emails, and
> pdf's. There are no .txt files that I can see. Checking the
> contents of several entries, one of which is a .pdf of the
> Constitution of the United States of America, the group "txt" does
> not appear within.
My wild guess is that txt is hard-coded as a synonym of text which
is a metadata field for any kind that may have text within it.
--
Wes Groleau
achy breaky grammar
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/WWW?itemid=229
isw
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
Well, it behaves the same way on my wife's Mini with Tiger, and I did
that install fresh from the Apple-provided discs not two weeks ago.
Here's a screenshot I just took of a search window:
http://profile.imageshack.us/user/isw/
I annotated it with a green oval to show where to click, and a red one
to show where not to. Does your search window look different?
Isaac
Wes Groleau
> Here's a screenshot I just took of a search window:
> http://profile.imageshack.us/user/isw/
Aha! I do not know whether that qualifies as a Spotlight window.
I and probably John were talking about what you get when you click the
spotlight icon (white magnifying glass on a blue circle) in the menubar.
What you depicted is obtained by opening a Finder window and then
cmd-F of File->Find
I did not recognize your description, because I use that
even less than I use Spotlight. In fact, I _never_ saw one
before today! But I could tell it was a Finder window,
so it was easy to guess how to get it.
--
Wes Groleau
Quote from a learning log
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1386
isw
Wes Groleau <Grolea...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> isw wrote:
> > Here's a screenshot I just took of a search window:
> > http://profile.imageshack.us/user/isw/
>
> Aha! I do not know whether that qualifies as a Spotlight window.
> I and probably John were talking about what you get when you click the
> spotlight icon (white magnifying glass on a blue circle) in the menubar.
>
> What you depicted is obtained by opening a Finder window and then
> cmd-F of File->Find
Or by just typing in the cartouche in the top right corner of every
Finder window. I also use splat-F (a long-ago ingrained habit from OS 7
or 8 -- whichever one first had a find function) when I need to use more
sophisticated search conditions. It never occurs to me to poke the
magnifying glass.
Anyhow, I thought all of those were just different "entry points" to
Spotlight's functionality; is that not correct?
> I did not recognize your description, because I use that
> even less than I use Spotlight. In fact, I _never_ saw one
> before today! But I could tell it was a Finder window,
> so it was easy to guess how to get it.
However you get it, it still has the attractive characteristic of
allowing you to rummage through a long list of found files without
losing your place.
Q: Do you know how to make Spotlight always show results in list mode,
without requiring each and every Finder window to use it too? Icon mode
for a large "found" list is pretty silly. View/Show View Options doesn't
work in a Spotlight window.
Isaac
isw
"John Varela" <OLDl...@verizon.net> wrote:
Did you have Spotlight set to search "Contents" or "File Name"? When I
search for "txt" in a File Name, I get a bunch of files with ".txt"
stuck on the end, but if I select "Contents" then I get a HUGE list of
all sorts of wonky files.
For the PDF, if you opened it in a PDF reader (Preview, say), then what
showed up on the screen (and so what you could search) is nowhere near
all of what's actually in the file. What if you open it in a text editor
(TextWrangler, ferinstance) and search for "txt" there?
Isaac
John Varela
That which you describe does not appear in that image.
isw
"John Varela" <OLDl...@verizon.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 5 Jan 2010 06:27:00 UTC, isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
-snip-
> > Here's a screenshot I just took of a search window:
> >
> > http://profile.imageshack.us/user/isw/
> >
> > I annotated it with a green oval to show where to click, and a red one
> > to show where not to. Does your search window look different?
> >
> > Isaac
>
> That which you describe does not appear in that image.
Could you elaborate? I don't know what you're referring to. The image
certainly shows a red oval and a green one.
Isaac
Tom Stiller
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
You probably should have used
<http://img39.imageshack.us/i/picture3of.png/> as the url, rather than
pointing to the link-containing page.
--
Tom Stiller
PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF
isw
Tom Stiller <tom_s...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Could be, but if you follow the link I provided, there's only one image
to click on; seems pretty obvious to me...
Isaac
Tom Stiller
isw <i...@witzend.com> wrote:
But it wasn't obvious to "John Varela".
isw
Tom Stiller <tom_s...@yahoo.com> wrote:
I dunno; I never saw his response to my question. Did I just miss it?
Isaac
Mike Rosenberg
> > > Could be, but if you follow the link I provided, there's only one
> > > image to click on; seems pretty obvious to me...
> > >
> > > Isaac
> >
> > But it wasn't obvious to "John Varela".
>
> I dunno; I never saw his response to my question. Did I just miss it?
You responded to his post:
<dxizd0mOwXzR-pn2-SySJcxtjozYf@localhost>
--
My latest dance performance <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_9pudbFisE>
Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi>
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John Varela
wrote:
Yeah, that works.
I understand Isaac to be saying that if he double-clicks an entry in
the "Show All" list, the window scrolls to the top and loses his
place in the list.
That's not what happens here.
If I double-click on an entry in the "Show All" Finder list or on
the filename in the "ribbon" at the bottom, the Finder list scrolls
the entry to the top of the window.
The entry is still selected and the "ribbon" is unchanged, only the
selected line is now the first entry in the window. The selected
entry is still visible and the place in the list is not lost.
John Varela
wrote:
No need for quotes; that's my real name.
I just returned to Isaac's URL and there's no image there to click
on. That may be because I'm running an obsolete news reader under an
obsolete OS with an obsolete version of Firefox, version 1.5.
Wes Groleau
> I understand Isaac to be saying that if he double-clicks an entry in
> the "Show All" list, the window scrolls to the top and loses his
> place in the list.
No, that's what _I_ was saying--and someone else.
But Isaac's image reveals that he is not looking
at the same window I am looking at.
Also, I was unclear on one detail: the item
I double-click remains selected, so I haven't
completely lost my place in the list. But
I still have to scroll down to it, which is
proctalgia when the list is very long.
--
Wes Groleau
Genealogical Lookups:
http://groleau.freeshell.org/ref/lookups.shtml