[X4U] Spotlight search results are not sortable by usual Finder metadata

[Ray Choiniere]

On Jan 6, 2008, at 5:45 PM, Michael Elliott wrote:

> Hi Ray,
>
> I've used EasyFind before, specifically because it will easily  
> search for invisible files without a problem.
>
> However, to compare it to Spotlight searches is pretty poor. I need  
> searches that will search by content, not just filename.

Hi Michael;

I'm using EasyFind 4.0.1, which I believe is a relatively recent  
version, and it does in fact search for file contents, not just file  
name. And it offers choices for All Words, Any Word, Phrase,  
Wildcards, and Boolean for your search entry. Maybe it would be worth  
looking at again in its current incarnation?

> Also, the speed of Easyfind is abysmal.  I started a search of my  
> drives for one word that I know to be rare on my drives,  
> "elephant".  I have answered a phone call, and literally walked  
> downstairs to get a cup of tea, and then write this letter, and the  
> search still isn't completed.

I suppose you're right about that, but of course perception of speed  
depends on individual requirements and expectations. Probably my  
requirements and expectations are just not very high, so I was  
content -- not thrilled, I confess, but content -- with the search I  
just did. Just for the heck of it I searched in my entire Home folder  
for my last name as file contents. The folder is about 44 GB  
according to the Finder Info window and the search was completed in  
65 seconds. (45 occurrences of my name, "Choiniere," by the way.  
Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!)

Then just for the heck of it I did the same search but on "All  
volumes." That took about 4 minutes, 45 seconds. Of course my HD is  
only carrying 96 GB of data, so it's hardly a huge body of data to  
search. Even so, I do try to constrain the search as much as I can

In any event, this is just a bit more data that you might consider,  
especially if you're not using the latest version.

> Ah well, we can't get everything we want!

A thousand comments come to my mind about that, but not one of them  
is as funny as I wish it were. So I think I'll just shut up and move  
on.  ;-)

Ray