(High Sierra 10.13.6) Most files suddenly disappeared from Spotlight, Saved Searches, and Apple Mail Smart Folders.

[Dudley Brooks]

Yesterday everything was there in my Saved Searches and Mail Smart
Folders, and Spotlight worked just fine.

Today most of those are completely empty but a few of them have just two
or three files each, and Spotlight hardly returns anything.

I only recently started using these capabilities ... not long enough, I
guess, for this disappearance to have ever occurred before.

Advice?

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

[Jolly Roger]

On 2022-02-18, Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> Yesterday everything was there in my Saved Searches and Mail Smart
> Folders, and Spotlight worked just fine.
>
> Today most of those are completely empty but a few of them have just
> two or three files each, and Spotlight hardly returns anything.
>
> I only recently started using these capabilities ... not long enough,
> I guess, for this disappearance to have ever occurred before.
>
> Advice?

That's not normal. If it persists after restarting the computer, it
sounds like something may be wrong with your Spotlight database. In that
case, I would try rebuilding it for that storage volume. To do that:

1. Open System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
2. Add the volume to the list. Wait a few seconds for Spotlight to
delete its database for that volume.
3. Remove the volume from the list. Spotlight will start scanning the
volume to rebuild the database.

The amount of time it takes to rebuild will vary based on the type of
storage volume this is and how fast your computer is. So I would give it
at least an hour or so before checking the results.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

[Dudley Brooks]

On 2/18/22 8:17 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:

> On 2022-02-18, Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
>
>> Yesterday everything was there in my Saved Searches and Mail Smart
>> Folders, and Spotlight worked just fine.
>>
>> Today most of those are completely empty but a few of them have just
>> two or three files each, and Spotlight hardly returns anything.
>>
>> I only recently started using these capabilities ... not long enough,
>> I guess, for this disappearance to have ever occurred before.
>>
>> Advice?
>
> That's not normal. If it persists after restarting the computer, it
> sounds like something may be wrong with your Spotlight database. In that
> case, I would try rebuilding it for that storage volume. To do that:
>
> 1. Open System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
> 2. Add the volume to the list. Wait a few seconds for Spotlight to
> delete its database for that volume.
> 3. Remove the volume from the list. Spotlight will start scanning the
> volume to rebuild the database.
>
> The amount of time it takes to rebuild will vary based on the type of
> storage volume this is and how fast your computer is. So I would give it
> at least an hour or so before checking the results.

They were missing all day yesterday (including after turning the
computer off and back on, several times).

Today they're suddenly all back!

Computers!

Thanks for the instructions. I'll know what to try if this happens again.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2022-02-18, Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> On 2/18/22 8:17 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:
>
>> On 2022-02-18, Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Yesterday everything was there in my Saved Searches and Mail Smart
>>> Folders, and Spotlight worked just fine.
>>>
>>> Today most of those are completely empty but a few of them have just
>>> two or three files each, and Spotlight hardly returns anything.
>>>
>>> I only recently started using these capabilities ... not long enough,
>>> I guess, for this disappearance to have ever occurred before.
>>>
>>> Advice?
>>
>> That's not normal. If it persists after restarting the computer, it
>> sounds like something may be wrong with your Spotlight database. In that
>> case, I would try rebuilding it for that storage volume. To do that:
>>
>> 1. Open System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
>> 2. Add the volume to the list. Wait a few seconds for Spotlight to
>> delete its database for that volume.
>> 3. Remove the volume from the list. Spotlight will start scanning the
>> volume to rebuild the database.
>>
>> The amount of time it takes to rebuild will vary based on the type of
>> storage volume this is and how fast your computer is. So I would give it
>> at least an hour or so before checking the results.
>
> They were missing all day yesterday (including after turning the
> computer off and back on, several times).
>
> Today they're suddenly all back!

Ah, good. I bet Spotlight was rebuilding the indexes or something.

> Computers!

They were supposed to make life /easier/ for us... : D

> Thanks for the instructions. I'll know what to try if this happens again.

Welcome.

[Dudley Brooks]

Yes, that's my mantra: "Computers were invented to make life easier for
us. Computers were invented to make life easier for us. Computers were
invented ..."

They tell me that if I repeat it enough, I'll start to believe it.
Hasn't happened yet.

>> Thanks for the instructions. I'll know what to try if this happens again.
>
> Welcome.

--

[Lewis]

In message <susl25$85a$1...@dont-email.me> Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> They tell me that if I repeat it enough, I'll start to believe it.
> Hasn't happened yet.

the other day I took a sixty second snippet of auido out of an 2.5 hour
video using a single line, and it took less than 10 seconds.

#v+
ffmpeg -i <video> -vn -ss 2:07:13 -to 2:08:12 maudio.m4a
#v-

I could not have done that without a computer.

I do dozens of things every day that would not be possible or would be
horrifically expensive and tedious without a computer.

Hell, this message is being sent all over the world in a few seconds to
thousands of servers using computers.

--
I got food poisoning today. I don't know when I'll use it. -- Steven
Wright

[Dudley Brooks]

On 2/19/22 11:26 PM, Lewis wrote:

> In message <susl25$85a$1...@dont-email.me> Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
>
>> They tell me that if I repeat it enough, I'll start to believe it.
>> Hasn't happened yet.
>
> the other day I took a sixty second snippet of auido out of an 2.5 hour
> video using a single line, and it took less than 10 seconds.
>
> #v+
> ffmpeg -i <video> -vn -ss 2:07:13 -to 2:08:12 maudio.m4a
> #v-
>
> I could not have done that without a computer.
>
> I do dozens of things every day that would not be possible or would be
> horrifically expensive and tedious without a computer.
>
> Hell, this message is being sent all over the world in a few seconds to
> thousands of servers using computers.

I also love my computer and other technology and find them indispensable
... when they're working the way they're supposed to.

But I am irritated several times a day by badly designed programs ...
and especially badly designed UIs.

Several years ago I learned that the UC Berkeley Computer Science
department (and presumably other schools' CS departments) now mandate
one semester of UI design for CS majors. Every year I see more and more
programs and apps that were designed by people who obviously never took
such a course.

And anyway, humor frequently requires ignoring some facts and only
focusing on others.

[corvid]

On 2/18/22 13:45, Jolly Roger wrote:
>> Computers!
> They were supposed to make life/easier/ for us... : D

It was a trick, as Lewis pointed out. He doesn't get more leisure time
out of it, he's just expected to finish more work in the same amount of
time. Productivity.

[Dudley Brooks]

Yep! I remember that that was discovered quite early during the general
adoption of computers into business offices.

[Ant]

Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> On 2/19/22 11:26 PM, Lewis wrote:

> > In message <susl25$85a$1...@dont-email.me> Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> >
> >> They tell me that if I repeat it enough, I'll start to believe it.
> >> Hasn't happened yet.
> >
> > the other day I took a sixty second snippet of auido out of an 2.5 hour
> > video using a single line, and it took less than 10 seconds.
> >
> > #v+
> > ffmpeg -i <video> -vn -ss 2:07:13 -to 2:08:12 maudio.m4a
> > #v-
> >
> > I could not have done that without a computer.
> >
> > I do dozens of things every day that would not be possible or would be
> > horrifically expensive and tedious without a computer.
> >
> > Hell, this message is being sent all over the world in a few seconds to
> > thousands of servers using computers.

> I also love my computer and other technology and find them indispensable
> ... when they're working the way they're supposed to.

> But I am irritated several times a day by badly designed programs ...
> and especially badly designed UIs.

And annoying bugs that don't get fixed!

> Several years ago I learned that the UC Berkeley Computer Science
> department (and presumably other schools' CS departments) now mandate
> one semester of UI design for CS majors. Every year I see more and more
> programs and apps that were designed by people who obviously never took
> such a course.

Good. Mine didn't have that back in the 90s. I don't see it in its
current
http://catalog.apu.edu/academics/college-liberal-arts-sciences/engineering-cs/computer-science-bs/
unless it is in one of those courses.
...
--
GG, Beijing, but Bing Dwen Dewn is :(. Winter & slammy times again. War? D:
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

[Dudley Brooks]

On 2/23/22 4:51 PM, Ant wrote:

> Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
>
>> On 2/19/22 11:26 PM, Lewis wrote:
>
>>> In message <susl25$85a$1...@dont-email.me> Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> They tell me that if I repeat it enough, I'll start to believe it.
>>>> Hasn't happened yet.
>>>
>>> the other day I took a sixty second snippet of auido out of an 2.5 hour
>>> video using a single line, and it took less than 10 seconds.
>>>
>>> #v+
>>> ffmpeg -i <video> -vn -ss 2:07:13 -to 2:08:12 maudio.m4a
>>> #v-
>>>
>>> I could not have done that without a computer.
>>>
>>> I do dozens of things every day that would not be possible or would be
>>> horrifically expensive and tedious without a computer.
>>>
>>> Hell, this message is being sent all over the world in a few seconds to
>>> thousands of servers using computers.
>
>> I also love my computer and other technology and find them indispensable
>> ... when they're working the way they're supposed to.
>
>> But I am irritated several times a day by badly designed programs ...
>> and especially badly designed UIs.
>
> And annoying bugs that don't get fixed!

Yep!

BTW, re. computer programs which everyone relies on every day:

I think my attitude towards computer programs is very well summed up by
the motto of the Mutt email client:

"All email programs suck. Ours just sucks less."

>> Several years ago I learned that the UC Berkeley Computer Science
>> department (and presumably other schools' CS departments) now mandate
>> one semester of UI design for CS majors. Every year I see more and more
>> programs and apps that were designed by people who obviously never took
>> such a course.
>
> Good. Mine didn't have that back in the 90s. I don't see it in its
> current
> http://catalog.apu.edu/academics/college-liberal-arts-sciences/engineering-cs/computer-science-bs/
> unless it is in one of those courses.

BTW, I think that when the Computers and Ethics requirement started it
had a lot about considering the effects that your program might have on
the world -- at least, I certainly hope it did! I recently saw that the
current syllabus has a lot about stuff like how not to violate the
intellectual property rights of the company you work for.