Smart Folders and Spotlight

Previous discussions on this forum regarding Spotlight's inconsistent ability to find files caused me to disable Spotlight (using Spotless) and use Easy Find to find things.
No one warned me that disabling Spotlight would interfere with smart folders. I use smart folders in Mail, iTunes and elsewhwere. At first I couldn't figure out why they weren't working right.
It is not intuitively obvious that smart folders are basically saved Spotlight searches. Participants on this forum should know.
I've re-enabled Spotlight, I force a re-index now and then, and have Easy Find ready for backup use, if Spotlight can't find something.
That way, most of the time, smart folders are correct, or nearly so.
Just my .00000002 cents worth.
Tim
533 mhz dual CPU G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I have never had any need to "save my searches". Why on earth would I want to do that?
Consider the fllowing scenario: a disabled person to be cared for, rich and varied sources of information via articles, emails and even images. Literally thousands of documents. Few are about a single subject, such as, say a particular medication, but many refer and discuss the medication inter alia. Do a search based on the name of the medicine. Save it. Everytime the medicine is mentioned in a new article or email, that gets added to that folder. Now search for Physiotherapy. Many of the same articles and emails, but in a different folder.
That's why on earth I would want to save a search. And have many such. Invaluable.
I realise that Spotlight is not for you, but for some of us it's a boon.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Smart Folders and Filtering based on Focal Length

Can we please be given the ability to create Smart Folders and be able to Filter images based on focal length?
Doing so based on Lens alone does not take into account that more and more people rely on zoom lenses. When you have 16-35, 27-70, 35-135 and 70-200 lenses, one could benefit from having the ability to search for images created in wide-angle, normal, zoom and tele-zoom ranges.
Providing this feature would be greatly appreciated.
Regards, JML

Thanks Colin, I will try it.
Sounds like it may work - however bit awkward solution in otherwise ergonomic LR environment :-(
I really do not understand why this value is not among the filtering metadata when LR recognizes it and shows it on every corner. Especially considering the fact LR is supposed to be full WF solution and certain development settings cannot be effectively applied without selecting images only with certain focal length values.
The very last feature I am missing on this SW designed to cover entire WF (since LR1) is the distortion/perspective control and ability to apply corrections based on lens/focal length used.
b Does anyone have an idea if Adobe plans to eventually implement this feature?
I do not want to be forced to use DxO which always means interruption of the WF and inevitably generated new files on disk.

Smart folders and .doc files

Problem: Smart folders do not show Microsoft .doc files. I have created a smart folder to show all documents I worked on recently. The search criteria in the smart folder are
kind -> document
last opened -> within last 14 days
The folder shows now all documents I opened during the previous 14 days, EXCEPT .doc files. Any solution?

Axxelerator wrote:
Somewhere must be a setting that tells spotlight which file is a document which one is not...
Actually, that information is a part of the metadata for the file. As I mentioned above, the actuall criteria used when you select Documents is the nearly all-inclusive
kMDItemContentTypeTree = public.content
You can read the metadata for any file using the Terminal. Launch Terminal, then type:
mdls
a space, then drag and drop a file into the Terminal window and hit the Return key. You'll see something like this:
NoobiX:~ francine$ mdls /Users/francine/Documents/wordocs/MyFamily.doc
kMDItemAuthors = (
"Francine Schwieder"
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2008-08-31 12:49:48 -0700
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2008-08-31 12:49:48 -0700
kMDItemContentType = "com.microsoft.word.doc"
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.microsoft.word.doc",
"public.data",
"public.item",
"public.composite-content",
"public.content"
kMDItemDisplayName = "MyFamily.doc"
And so on, with all the rest of the metadata displayed. The relevant entry in this case is "public.content" statement in the kMDItemContentTypeTree.
I can't imagine that that entry is changed by saving something as .doc rather than .docx, which is why the only thing I can think of that would cause the behavior you are seeing is a Spotlight plist that is somehow messed up and excluding the extension doc. But I can't imagine how THAT would happen either.
As for AND searches: you already have that setup when you click the + button to add something. Thus, in the example above, the search is for files that are Documents AND were modified in the last 3 days, but are NOT jpegs, etc.
I have difficulty with correctly setting up the OR function, I always think that an option click on the + button, then selecting "Any" and adding a criterion ought to do it, but that doesn't seem to work as expected (or at least as I expect it to!). Anyway, one OR method that would yield approximately the same results as the example search above would be to select Kind is Other and then put this into the blank space after Other:
HTML OR text OR PDF OR RTF OR archive
Trouble is that if there WERE some doc or docx files, or some other sort of text based item, it wouldn't show up. I find it easier to just exclude things I know I don't want.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

What are smart folders and what do they do?

Do smart folders keep copies of files or alias's?

Do smart folders keep copies of files or alias's?
What a smart folder "keeps" is not the same as what it "displays" in the window that you see when you open it.
A "smart folder" as stored on disk is not a folder at all, but is only a very small file, of type "Saved Search Query". The default location for storing these files is your home>Library> Saved Searches folder. That small file contains only a saved set of spotlight-type instructions for a search, and doesn't "keep" anything at all. When that smart folder file is opened by the Finder, the Finder effectively carries out a "command-F" search using the instructions in the file, and displays the results in a window very similar to a command-F Finder search window. And just as with an ordinary command-F search, what you see in that search window are not copies or aliases, but the actual items that you have searched for. If you delete something from that window, you are deleting the item itself.

Duplicate smart folders and syncing

I have 5 Macs. They are all set to sync using dot mac.
I hadn't used 2 of them lately, the others were being synced.
I noticed that mail had 2 of the exact smart folders (with several folders within them). And all of the criteria disappeared from the smart folders.
I wanted to get the smart mailbox criteria from the computers I had not synced lately as that was still ok.
So I thought I could turn off the syncing for mail rules, signatures and smart mailboxes by removing the check mark from that option. But immediately upon syncing, my smart mail box was replaced with 2 duplicates with no criteria available. So it seems that ignored the fact that the option was not checked when I synced.
Now I have 1 mac left. On that Mac I would like to sync bookmarks, calendars, contacts, keychains. But I would like to keep the smart mailboxes the way they are and send them to the other macs.
The problem is that my MacBook Pro is set for automatic syncing. And when I turn it on, it will connect wirelessly and automatically sync.
How do I get to it quick enough so the sync will not happen and I can put it in manual mode?
Then how do I sync just what I want to sync? And how do I then sync the smart mailboxes back to the other macs?
I don't want to turn on the MBP until I know exactly what to do.

The first thing you should do is to make a backup of any data you don’t want to be overwritten as a result of synchronizing with the server, and you can avoid that to happen until you’re done by just turning off the Internet connection or disconnecting the computer from the network.
In particular, you should make a backup of ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist and any *.plist files within ~/Library/Mail/, such as SmartMailboxes.plist. As long as you keep a backup of those files, you don’t have to care about being fast enough.
After making sure at least one of your Macs has all the settings as desired (quit Mail and manually replace any *.plist files if necessary), go to System Preferences > .Mac > Advanced, click Reset Sync Data, and choose the appropriate options to reset the Mail data stored on the .Mac server with the data locally stored on the computer, i.e. sync data must flow from the computer to the .Mac server.
There may be other (better) ways to do it that I haven’t considered -- I don’t have a .Mac account myself.

Smart folders and drag&drop

Morning.
Is there a way to create a smart folder and then drag&drop some emails into this smart folder, so that I can find in this folder all emails I've collected in it without that these emails are moved out of their respective original mailbox?
This would be very usefull to merge emails without a special evident unique attribute but with similarity given by the user.
Do you know, what I mean?
TIA and kind regards, Friedrich

vatolin wrote:
V.K. wrote:
no. smart folders are … saved searches.
That's understood. Is there any other approach to catch my concern to collect e-mails in one place without move them out of their original place and without to duplicate them?
no, it has to be a smart folder to do something like that.
Otherwise I think I'll set a keyword in MailTags and create a smart folder that catches all items including the keyword.
That's probably your best bet.
TIA and kind regards, Friedrich

Smart folders and an automator question

does anyone know how I can have multiple search criteria in smart folders?
also does know how I can use automator to copy recently update files to the drop box for sending to another mac via bluetooth periodically?

Finder_>File->New Smart Folder, set the critera as desired, and save it. As for automator, check http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/automator/ for workflows.

Smart Folders and logical option

Hi all,
I have found a search option in "Last week" smart folder that I haven't found anywhere else. It is
"All (/None/Some) of the following are false"
If you could tell me where to find it I would appreciate because it would be very helpful to create smart folders that exclude things. Especially with Leopard where there is no more (at least by what I know so far) the "is/is not/contain" switch in every search option.
I haven't found it in the long and very detailed list of search option in "Other...".
It is an Automator creature?
Thank You very much for any advice.

no. it's not possible with Aperture. you'll have to work around this limitation.
in my library, I use keywords including one ' unidentified'. when I decide to place an image into a smart album, I first apply the appropriate keyword and then remove (shift-click the keyword control button) the ' unidentified' keyword.

Searching Smart Folders and Negating... or not...

Hey, I've been searching the discussions for a bit and can't seem to find what I'm looking for.
Basically I have two iTunes Library folders (with a bunch of artist/ album sub folders). I have two smart folders that isolate all the audio files from each library... but from there I'm trying to search the two smart folders to see which files are in one folder and not the other. I was trying to use the kMDItemFSName and the kMDItemPath attributes to find what files had 'Temp Music' in their path names compared to those that don't (as a way to differentiate which libraries the files come from). However I don't think I'm using them correctly with all the sub folders. Is there an easy way to search for "whats here && not in here" on the smart folders?
One music library is on an external drive. Don't think that should make much difference... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

The path attribute doesn't actually work. I think the best thing to do is to navigate to the iTunes folder in the Finder, hit Command-F, make sure that the iTunes folder is still selected in the toolbar (it tends to revert to Computer), and fill in a the Name:Contains field and also put the search into List view. Then save the search. Do the same for the other iTunes folder. Bring up both Saved searches and check what you want. For instance, if you want to know if both have a certain song or artist folder you would change the Name:Contains field in both to same thing.
As for what you are trying to do: if you actually have a folder named "Temp Music" in your iTunes Libraries, I'm afraid the easiest approach would be to simply open the two folders in List view and compare them.
Personally, I haven't found any easy way to compare file system stuff using nothing but the Finder. The only good way to compare my two iTunes Libraries that I've found is to use the Analyze function of Chronosync:
http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/Downloads/downloads.html
It is what I use for my incremental backups, so I've found it well worth the $30, especially since you get free updates forever.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Smart Folders and Music backups

I have a query. I currently have a smart folder which collects music added to my library after a set date, which I then backup automatically (thank god for .Mac...) to my external HD. It has, over the last couple of months and a minor hard disc error on my iMac, saved my bacon.
However, I've noticed recently that it's not backing up all the music I'm adding to the library, as it's only backing up music created after a certain date, not music added after a certain date. I'm wondering if anyone out there knows how to create a spotlight search for music added to the iTunes library after a set date, not just the date of creation.
If so, you'd REALLY be saving me messing about with iTunes playlists and dragging, dropping, clicking........... Obviously, my future arthritic self thanks you all in advance.

In order to make a SmartFolder in the Finder, you have to use the metadata, which is what is read by the Spotlight process. While both creation date and modification are part of the metadata, the date added to iTunes is data which is kept by iTunes and is not added to the file's own metadata. However, if you do anything to the file when you add it to iTunes, such as set the genre or modify the artist's name, then the modification date will be the same as the date added. You can check whether some modification you make affects the file by a control click of the file in iTunes, select "Show in Finder" and then see if the modification date has changed.
Personally, I use iTunes itself to make a Smart Playlist based on date added and, when I get sufficient new stuff, then burn an audio CD and change the Playlist date. As for backing up to an external drive, I use Chronosync to keep my iTunes synced on the backup with the iTunes on the startup drive.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Default smart folders and ignoring stack groupings

I'm trying to get the default Rejected folder to ignore stack groupings. Clicking on the looking glass icon to the right of Library brings up a Smart Settings pane where I can check "Ignore stack groupings". However, this setting doesn't appear to affect the underlying albums, and it also isn't checked the next time I bring up the Smart Settings pane. In the mean time, I've created my own Rejects smart folder that ignores stack groupings, but it would be nice to get this behavior out of the default folders. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Andreas

I am familiar with that, thanks for pointing that out. It actually works great.
However, recent items includes all bunch of stuff (such as system prefs, etc). I would like to have a more specific saved search / smart folder.
I found this, which is where I got the idea from. However, I still have no idea how to do it.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=4802311&posted=1#post4802311
Thanks!

Smart Folders and the File Pathname attribute

In making a smart folder, choosing Other... from the attribute type pop-up menu presents a long list of attributes. One of them is "File Pathname".
From its name, I would think that a search on "converted" would find all of these:
HD300:Converted Items:A-M:Alfred.txt
HD300:Older Items:January:converted_datebook.html
Porta:My Files:Last Converted:All.dmg
In otherwords, anything with "converted" anywhere in its pathname.
But putting any value into the search field, with any of the options (Is, Begins, Ends, Contains) returns NO results at all.
This attribute seems to be broken. Am I right, or am I missing something?
Mac OS X (10.4.7)

It is "broken" in the sense that it was apparently not meant to be used for queries. Don't ask me why it's in the menu.
From Spotlight Metadata Attributes Reference
kMDItemPath
Complete path to the file. This value of this attribute can be retrieved, but can't be used in a query or used to sort search results.

Smart folders and multiple email addresses

My wife uses multiple email addresses. I've tried to set up a smart folder in my mail that would allow me to put multliple conditions that would allow me to have one smart folder that collects emails from her multiple accounts.
The problem I hsve is that it seems I can only have one email address per folder. If I create a second contition that has "contains" the second email address nothing appears in the folder.
Is this not possible with the mac mail program?

Hello,
I think the key is in the line here that says "that match->Any" instead of Match all of the following conditions..

Using the due date function in Smart Folders

Hi
I'm experimenting with my smart folders and I saw there is an option for "due date".
Does this mean I can create a folder with files that need to be processed by a certain date?
How do I add a due date to a file?
This would be useful for me, for instance, in following up invoices. I could set a 30 day date on them and then they would show up in my smart folder when they should be paid.
iJemz

It's not very simple, unless there is a third-party program out there that might set them.
The dates in the MDItem attributes are stored as binary plists.
You would have to create an xml plist with the date, like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<array>
<date>2013-07-28T05:03:59Z</date>
</array>
</plist>
Then, you would convert it to a binary plist using
plutil -convert binary1 path/to/xml.plist
Then, you would load it into the extended attribute using
xattr -wx com.apple.metadata:kMDItemDueDate "`xxd -p /path/to/binary.plist`" /path/to/file/to/set/dueDate
This could likely be all wrapped in shell script or automator service, but I don't know how to due that.

Smart Folders show icons only in Open Dialog pane

Hi,
I have created a couple of Smart Folders and put them in the side bar. When i select the Smart Folder, it shows the files and their preview icons. When i access the same Smart Folder in an Open Dialog pane from Keynote or another application, it shows regular file icons only, not the preview icons.
Is this how it is supposed to work?

While I'm not quite sure what you mean, it sounds to me like you had the Open dialog set for Column view, and at some point changed it to List view. Take a look at the toolbar at the top of the Open dialog window, you should see the back/forward buttons, then a group of three icons representing icon, list and column view. Both icon view and column view will show a preview icon of the selected file. Personally, I like icon view, since you see all the files that fit in the window with custom thumbs, and can pick what you want quickly. If you change the setting, in say Safari, to list view (which makes more sense in Safari), then the Open dialog for, say, TextEdit gets changed too. Just change it back by clicking the little icon in the toolbar at the top of the Open window.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Smart Folders and Spotlight

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