Annoying Spotlight result
in [Mac Applications]
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From: Wes Groleau on 5 Jan 2010 23:14 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 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
From: isw on 6 Jan 2010 00:47 In article <hi12n7$jth$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)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
From: isw on 6 Jan 2010 00:58 In article <dxizd0mOwXzR-pn2-WUjMIOjxUhNx(a)localhost>, "John Varela" <OLDlamps(a)verizon.net> wrote: > On Mon, 4 Jan 2010 11:57:15 UTC, Wes Groleau > <Groleau+news(a)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? 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
From: John Varela on 5 Jan 2010 16:02 On Tue, 5 Jan 2010 06:27:00 UTC, isw <isw(a)witzend.com> wrote: > In article <hhu5n9$ovc$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, > Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> wrote: > > > isw wrote: > > > 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. > > 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 That which you describe does not appear in that image. -- John Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email
From: isw on 6 Jan 2010 13:04
In article <dxizd0mOwXzR-pn2-SySJcxtjozYf(a)localhost>, "John Varela" <OLDlamps(a)verizon.net> wrote: > On Tue, 5 Jan 2010 06:27:00 UTC, isw <isw(a)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 |