Find function and spotlight - some reactions

Hi,
I just got at new iMac and I'm trying to get hip to what's what with Leopard. I hit a glitch when it came time to look for a file on the hard drive. Is it me or is the find function almost useless? (I've given up on Spotlight.) When I select File > Find... a window comes up that indicates the search is "This Mac". Why not use the name of the hard drive? Further along the top of this window, "Contents" is selected. (I want "File name".) Who wants to start a search with contents??? If I select a different hard drive, this row of options disappears and I just have the search field in the top right of the window. If I type into the search field, it goes back to searching content on my mac?!
When you initiate a new search, the window is small and you inevitably have to resize the columns and window. And what's with the smart folder icon at the top of the window? For me, the results show too much info.
Oh, and I still "like" the way it displays the file path of the found file. It's ok if the file isn't buried 10 folders deep or one has a gigantic 24" screen where resizing will show it. It seems that the find function has gotten progressively worse as the cats have come and gone. This will be unbearable at work where I have to search 100's of folders on a Windows share digging through 200,000 plus graphics and word pro files.
Oh, I found out that when I select a file name to copy and paste it, the extension is not hilighted. Is this going to get stupid?
And in the end, what prompted me to use the find file in the first place was I wanted to import the ical .abbu file to my new iMac. I just couldn't import this .abbu file from my other machine. Not migrating assistant, copying that iCal '.abbu' file into a folder--wherever that is on my iMac now--or importing the file using iCal will set my new iCal like the old one.
Keith
<Edited by Moderator>

soehnk wrote:
Hi,
I just got at new iMac and I'm trying to get hip to what's what with Leopard. I hit a glitch when it came time to look for a file on the hard drive. Is it me or is the find function almost useless?
It has some quirks, and it's not always obvious how to use it to its best, but it's far from useless.
(I've given up on Spotlight.)
I assume you mean the Spotlight menu. Spotlight still does the searching in Finder windows. And when you know its ins and outs (for instance, it searches both Contents and Name, you should adjust the categories listed in the menu thru the Spt Pref pane since only 20 items are listed, you can see the path to a listed item, or have it revealed in the Finder; you can use keywords for more targeted searches... and so on).
When I select File > Find... a window comes up that indicates the search is "This Mac". Why not use the name of the hard drive?
It's letting you search everything (all mounted volumes), not just the internal drive, giving you the widest possible search area. The bigger problem with this element is that the second "search area" option, which is the folder window you started in, isn't the default selection. I suppose the thinking there was that if you're looking in a folder and can't find what you want, you want to widen your search, not narrow it with more criteria. But most of us want that optional folder set as the default when we go into Find!
Further along the top of this window, "Contents" is selected. (I want "File name".) Who wants to start a search with contents???
I suppose the people who want to start with Contents aren't complaining, so we don't hear from them. But I agree that File Name should be the default. However, if you use Command-Shift-F instad of Command-F (or hold Shift while opening the File menu the Find command changes to Find By Name), you'll get a Search window whose first criterion bar is already set to "Name contains..." and you can go right for the file name.
If I select a different hard drive, this row of options disappears and I just have the search field in the top right of the window. If I type into the search field, it goes back to searching content on my mac?!
Yes, one of the ways to get out of a Search mode window is to click on something else for the window to display; it really should set the Search area to a disk or folder you click on. But when you do go back into Find mode by typing in the Search field, your optional Search area is now the volume you just clicked on.
When you initiate a new search, the window is small and you inevitably have to the columns and window. And what's with the smart folder icon at the top of the window? For me, the results show too much info.
If your search is in a current window rather than a new one, it inherits the size of the current window; try clicking the zoom button before you go into Find mode.
Not sure what your beef with the Smart Folder icon in the window. The Find window isn't a regular folder, and it behaves just like a Smart Folder, really, and can be turned into a Smart Folder with a click of the Save button; this detail makes more sense to me than a regular folder icon or another icon altogether.
I assume that by "show too much info" you mean the search isn't targeted enough and the list is too long? Because the only info it shows for each hit is the name, kind, and last opened date. It's missing the basic Size column, so even if you Find according to Size, you can't sort according to size! I'd call that not enough info!
So, I'm guessing you mean "too much info" as "too many files that don't match what I'm looking for". But you can narrow your search all sorts of ways both in the Search field with multiple words, literal strings, boolean operators ("this AND that" "this OR that but NOT the other thing") and in as many criteria bars as you want to define kind, created or modified dates, folders not files, a partial file resize name PLUS a few words of the content....
Oh, and I still "like" the way it displays the file path of the found file. It's ok if the file isn't buried 10 folders deep or one has a gigantic 24" screen where resizing will show it. It seems that the find function has gotten progressively worse as the cats have come and gone. This will be unbearable at work where I have to search 100's of folders on a Windows share digging through 200,000 plus graphics and word pro files.
Are you referring to the squeezed-up list of folders in the Path bar at the bottom of the window? Hovering your cursor over any of the squeezed-up names shows you the full names of the interim files.
As for digging through 200K files... again, narrowing your search with parameters like "name contains..." "modified before/after" "kind is image" or "kind is JPEG" and so on... all this is available to dig through that mountain, and it's the same kind of parameters you'd have to define for any search engine to know what you want and narrow the choices.
Oh, I found out that when I select a file name to copy and paste it, the extension is not hilighted. Is this going to get stupid?
Well, here we totally disagree. The non-hilite on the extension is a boon - you can select a name and rename the file without having to retype the extension. When you want the name with the extension, just select the file (not the name) and choose Copy - you can paste the whole name that way. (Other info is copied with a select-and-Copy procedure. Depending on where you do the paste, you get different things: it copies the icon, too, so if you want to paste it in a Get Info window as a custom icon, you can use that; it copies the entire file, to, so you can Copy a file in one folder and Paste it in another. The Mac pretty much knows which part of the copied info you want to use based on where you do the pasting.)
And in the end, what prompted me to use the find file in the first place was I wanted to import the ical .abbu file to my new iMac. I just couldn't import this .abbu file from my other machine. Not migrating assistant, copying that iCal '.abbu' file into a folder--wherever that is on my iMac now--or importing the file using iCal will set my new iCal like the old one.
.abbu is for Address Book, .icbu is for iCal - I assume this was just a typo on your part. But whichever one you meant, I have no trouble finding either one (not that I had them before I tested this based on your comment, since I use Time Machine for backing them up). However, I created both program-based backups, and each was instantly found both thru the Spotlight menu and a Search window with no problem. the icbu file's Kind is iCal Backup file; searching by Kind is "iCal Backup" should get it for you. The abbu file Kind is "Address Book Archive FIle"; searching for Kind is with that whole, or partial, description should help you find it.
sharon

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