Smart folder broken

I have a problem with smart folders, or "saved searches" : I can't edit them anymore.
Worst, when clicking "show search criteria", nothing is displayed and the smart folder definition is destroyed ! Without any warning !

This is just a "me too", "show search criteria" does not show the criteria it erases it instead. Otherwise the original saved search appears to be OK, if left alone.
Inspecting the saved search in '~/Library/Saved Searches' with TextEdit before and after a "show search criteria" does confirm that the search data is lost.

Similar Messages

Importing to a Smart Folder

I created my 1st Smart Folder just moments ago. And I quickly learned how to get to the Filter HUD. But after setting filter preferences, how does a person Import images that match the Filter?
1) Is the process automatice.
2) If not, can you grab matching images from in many different folders on an external HD, or do you have to navigate to each folder, open it and then Import the images sequentially? That would be a lot of work. :-(

The smart folders in Aperture only relate to images, that already have been imported to Aperture.
Import all folders with images that you want to maintain in your Aperture library; then your smart folders in the library will structure and filter them.
If you need smart searches to find the image files that you want to import to your library, use smart folders in the Finder.
Open a Finder window and press ⌘F, then press the "+" button to add search rules, for example to find all "jpeg" images taken in the last 30 days, you could search like this:
Then select all images that have been found and copy or drag them to a folder or directly into Aperture's import window.

How to create a smart folder that only selects from a specific directory?

I am trying to create a smart folder that lists all my iPhoto original content in the last few months. I want this so that my wife can connect into the smart folder over the LAN when copying specific photos to her PC.
I am have trouble working out how to restrict the search to only those files that exists in the iPhoto directory. When I look at info for a photo is states "Where: /Users/Shared/iPhoto Library/iPhoto Library/Data/2009/....etc etc".
However if I add an filter for "Where from" begins with "/Users/Shared/... etc etc" it returns nothing. Is there a way to do this?

Find the iPhoto library file.
Right click -> Show package contents.
Double click the Originals folder.
Type anything in the Search box at the top of the Finder window.
In the top of the Finder window, click "Originals".
Click the + (plus) sign next to Save.
Select Kind is Image.
Click the + (plus) sign again.
Select *Created date* is *within last 3 months* (or whatever you want).
Go to the search box and delete what you typed. Don't hit the X to delete the search text.
Now save the smart search.
This is saved in ~\Library\Saved searches. Copy or move it to the desktop where your wife can get access to it.

If i delete a file from a smart folder is it deleted from the hard drive?

I've got a late 2011 17" MacBook Pro with a 750 GB harddrive. I'm trying to free up space by deleting movie files. I spoke with tech support about this, and they suggested creating a smart folder of all my movie files in order to find them and delte them. I did this and deleted many files, but when I open system information to check on the amount of hard drive space, I'm still seeing the same amount of hard drive space dedicated to movies.
If I make a smart folder and delete files in that, am I really deleting them from my hard drive or just from the smart folder?

What files are stored automatically by Time Machine? I thought Time Machine pretty much saved everything on my hard drive to my external hard drive. If that is the case, wouldn't my music files and picture files be on Time Machine (via my external hard drive)?
Time Machine does backup almost all files on your hard drive, unless you have chosen to exclude them. There are a few exceptions, but nothing you should worry about. Your music and photos should be there, but Time Machine will not backup your iPhoto library if iPhoto is open.
Also, are the photos from iPhoto automatically stored on my external hard drive via Time Machine? If so, can I delete the pictures from iPhoto without deleting them from the external hard drive?
Yes to both questions, with the above cavat that Time Machine won't backup the library if iPhoto is open.
I notice that it takes iPhoto quite a while to load, and if deleting those photos would allow it to load quicker I would delete them (providing they would remain on the external hard drive.
I only have a few pictures in iPhoto, compared to my wife's 3,500+, and my iPhoto doesn't load appreciably faster that her's does even though I have a faster computer. In my opinion, it isn't worth the effort it would take to delete them for such a small gain.
You should have at least 2 complete backups to try to make sure you won't lose any data. Hard drives do fail and/or files can become corrupted. Time Machine can back up to more than one external hard drive or you can use a cloning program.
Time Machine FAQ

Deleting files in a smart folder

If I delete a file in a smart folder, does it delete it from the 'puter or just the smart folder?
(after 6 years, I finally looked at smart folders. They are quite nice, but allow for the bad habit of not organizing correctly)

Deleting a file in a smart folder moves it to the Trash.
(48354)

How do I make a Smart Folder for Applications last opened over a month ago?

Can anyone give me some pointers on generating a Spotlight saved search/Smart Folder under Leopard that will give me all applications NOT opened in a given time period (say one month)? I can do Kind:Application and Last Opened:before a given date (1 July 2009), but I don't believe this will update as time goes by? The date is absolute rather than relative, if you will?
Attempts at using some negation of the Last Opened:within 1 month (using a dropdown "Match None of the following rules") appears not to function as I would expect. From having a dig around in the .savedsearch it seems the trouble is attempting to negate a range rather than a fixed date?
The only thing I now suspect is that I need the .savedsearch query, which looks like this:
+<string>((((_kMDItemGroupId = 8) && ((kMDItemLastUsedDate < 268063200))))) && (true)</string>+
To perhaps instead use +$time.this_month(-1)+ in place of the hard coded date, but danged if I know how to do so. Now it's late, and I'm posting incoherently to the Apple Support Forums. Any enlightenment appreciated. (Forgive me if this is the wrong forum - it's a Leopard/Spotlight issue)

If you go into Edit > Preferences, then on the General tab make sure that Ringtones is ticked and it should then appear on the left-hand side of your iTunes.

How to delete a Smart Folder?

I have been trying to delete a Smart Folder in the Search section of Finder. I have not been successful! I can't even open it or access it. I tried dragging it to Trash and it pops back to place. How do I eliminate this folder?

Yeah, that got introduced with 10.6.7. Too many people were dragging things off by mistake so they gave it the same process as removing something from the menubar. Too bad they didn't implement it for the dock...
Captfred

Is there a way to create a smart folder in iTunes, that contains the most recent (say 10) used playlists?

Is there a way to create a smart folder in iTunes, that contains the most recent (say 10) used playlists? By having this I would be three clicks (touches from what is recent).
Thanks

100s with about 30 folders, comprised on different moods, years, genre, favorites, audiobooks, podcasts. Being accessed from multiple Macs and Apple TVs.

Can Aperture not be set up to show a "Last Import" smart folder?

I'm trying to make the transfer from using iPhoto to using Aperture.
One thing I found really great in iPhoto was the smart folder that was simply set to show the last import, no matter when that import was done - whether it was today, yesterday or 6 months ago.
The reason I found this so handy was because I set my iPad up in iTunes to only sync the photos from that Last Import smart folder, rather than all my photos.
That way, every time I synced my iPad, I always had my most recent photos on my iPad, no matter when the pictures were taken.
Now with Aperture, I cannot see a way to create anything similar. The best I can do is to create a smart folder with photos imported within the last month, let's say.
But the problem with that is that if I haven't imported any new photos for over a month, then the next time I sync my iPad, then all my photos will no longer be on the iPad.
If I create a longer timeframe, to let's say 3 months, then I might end up with way too many photos trying to sync across, and that's something I don't want. I could end up with hundreds and hundreds of photos, and I don't have the free space to be able to do this!
When I used "Last Import" with iPhoto, then I always only had around 50 or 60 photos, because that's just generally how many I usually imported at any one time. Sometimes it was more, sometimes less, but the average worked for me.
So to sum up: Can Aperture not be set up to show a "Last Import" smart folder, regardless of date?
Or alternatively, is there any way I could "hack" or "trick" Aperture into doing something like this so that I always have a managable amount of the most recent photos on my iPad?

Hello Brett,
that does not seem to be an easy probem as you discovered.
Some Workarounds:
You might to use a smart album rule "Import session is" instead of a date range, but that will not be automatic.
Create a folder "recently added" and keep your recent projects inside that folder; create a smart album at the top level of that folder; move older projects somewhere else.
Or enable the Photo Stream - that is the current replacement for the "most recently added" album; it will (is supposed to) always show the most recent 1000 images.
If you are familiar with AppleScript, you can make Aperture run an AppleScript on import (Import Settings) to add your imported image to an album of new images. From time to time remove the older images.
Sorry, but no really convenient way to do it..
Regards
Léonie

Creating a smart folder with Terminal?

What I'm trying to do might not be possible, which wouldn't surprise me at all. What I'd like to do is one of the following:
1. Create a smart folder that contains everything in the "/" folder.
2. Create a smart folder that is populated with every volume currently mounted on my Mac.
Essentially what I'm hoping to do is create a smart folder I can then use as a stack that would contain all the volumes currently located on my Mac. The only solution I've found so far for this is to use the /Volumes/ folder but this doesn't suit my needs as occasionally I get double icons for drives (1 being the alias the second being a private folder). Also it fails aesthetically which is part of the reason I'm doing this in the first place.
If anyone could recommend a solution that'd be great. I figured Terminal was my best bet, unfortunately my knowledge of this form of coding is non-existent and no amount of Google searches could help me.

I don't see how either item on your wish list can be satisfied by any of this "smart" stuff. The smart searches/folders are based on queries against the same metadata used by Spotlight - and that doesn't even look at / or /Volumes. Even if the info were available, is it up-to-the-minute enough to really be usable?
If you want to examine the built-in searches as a guide, you'll find them in:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/CannedSearches
Note that each of the items therein is a package, so you'll have to drill a bit deeper to get to the query file. I found that Property List Editor from XTools was a good way to get a structured view of them.

Smart folder in iphoto to burn folder on desktop

Hi.
I set up a smart folder in IPHOTO (collecting all photo's taken on a vacation) and have set up a burn folder on the desktop.
I can't figure out how to get the smart folder to the burn folder. It won't move from within Iphoto or via the finder.
Is what I want to do possible in Tiger and Iphoto?
I have a new Macbook.
thanks in advance.

If by :burn to the desktop: you mean copy, then no. You have to either select all and drag to a folder on the desktop or use the File->Export->File Export menu route.
If you want to burn directly to a disk with those images then click on the smart album and use the File->Export->File Export menu route but this time selecting the blank mounted disk on the desktop as the final destination.
Do you Twango?

New Smart Folder in iPhoto

I am trying to set up a new smart folder in iPhoto to collect all my video clips. I have followed the instructions but there is no 'Movie' word for me to select in my drop down menu list of words. How do I add this word? Currently there is a random list of words contained - no idea how they have arrived in the list.

Are you using the smart rule "Photo is ...."?
It should look like this:

How to view and or delete smart folder in finder sidebar

Sounds easy, but I am having a problem. I recently had my hard drive replaced at the genius bar. I have a smart File on the finder side bar that I can not open or delete. When I click on the file I get the message "the volume for (name of file) cannot be found. I tried using both "spotlight" & "the finder go to" locate this smart folder to no avail. I cannot remember when I created this file but I had labeled it appleworks 6 manual.. I don't ever remember using this smart file, I may have just created it without ever putting anything in it. So how do I open it or just plain delete it. I can remove it from the side board but it just comes back. I also went to /volumes which took me to the hard drive, but when I looked at all the files I couldn't find a smart file with this label. Any suggestion? Thanks Paula

I made another smart folder. I wanted to see if I could get the options with the control key. My test folder worked fine and I was able to get the options. I could delete the test folder without any problems. If it is that I have an Appleworks manual stored in an image file, then how could I find the image file? And if I did find it, what would I do to it, so I could delete this smart folder that I set up? I did a spotlight search for image file, but I couldn't find anything. I also searched appleworks manual and I did find a "getting started with appleworks 6 document" with an path of '/application/appleworks (U.S. English) Applework 6 documentation ... when I click on it it opens in preview.. but that manual is stored in my appleworks in applications, so I don't think it is related to the smart folder in the finder sidebar. If I did manage to close or delete the image file that was related to this folder, does that mean I'm just stick with this smart folder that I can't delete on my finder sidebar?

If I create a smart folder in iPhoto, and then delete it, are the pictures gone?

I am still trying to figure iPhoto out. I just created a "Smart Folder" and it imported some of my photos. I decided to delete that folder. Did that delete the pictures or are they still somewhere else in iPhoto or on my computer? Thanks!

several issues with your question
1 - there is no such thing as a smart folder in iPhoto
2 - folders in iPhoto can not hold photos and it is not possile to import photos into them
3 - there are smart albums - deleting a smart album has no effect on the photos - the "contents" of the smart album are simply pointers to the photos in your library that meet the criteria - deleting the album has no effect on the photos themselves
4 - as the contents of a smart album is the photos that meets the criteria it is no possible to import photo into a smart album
5 - it is helpful to know what version of iPhoto you have
So please ask with correct terms since we can not see you or your computer and can only help based on wha tyou tell us
LN

Smart folder "Most visited" position in bookmarks toolbar is not consistent among 2 synched firefox installations

I have Firefox installed on 3 devices:
- desktop, windows XP
- desktop, linux ubuntu 12.04
- android mobile, ICS 4.0.4
Latest updated version of Firefox (Italian) on every device. Installations use Sync to synchronize bookmarks, passwords and history.
I have set browsers to show bookmarks toolbar.
The probelm:
"Most visted" smart folder, should be the first item on the very left side of this toolbar.
When I switch from one desktop to the other one, most visited folders does not stay in his position, but I find it on the very right side of the toolbar as last item. If I drag it on the left, when I switch to the other destop, after a while, it goes again on the right.
I close the browser before changing desktop.
I tried to delet the smart folder, ad reset it setting the proper key in about:config section.
This does not fix the issue.
How can I have the folder remain on the left side, and this being consistent among the various installations?

Hi Kossa,
You can also check if the issue occurs in
Clean Boot. If the issue disappears in the Clean Boot environment, you can continue to narrow down which entry is causing the issue.
Besides, uninstall it and re-download
a fresh copy of FireFox to check the result. If the issue still exists, create a new user account to see if it occurs.
If the issue persists, you can contact Mozilla Support directly and use Internet Explorer (IE) during the time.
J
Please Note: The third-party product discussed here is manufactured by a company that is independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise,
regarding this product's performance or reliability.
Regards,
Linda

Smart folder broken

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