Spotlight/Finder search inside bundles?

I'm wondering how to search inside bundles (.app, .mpkg, etc...). When, for example, I do a search for "Kind: Applications" in the Finder, I get lots of results (including system files, which I added as a search attribute), but nothing inside another application or bundle. How do I do this?

Hi L,
Sorry for the missing bar for System!
Strange behavior is what you got.
Log in with you Admin account, you can do that in Terminal using the command line "login" when you will be prompted for user name and password (after finishing shell interaction, logout from Admin account with the command line "exit" - this logout is mean to be used as default for any shell interaction). As Admin try using the find without the sudo and the copy, like:
find /Applications/ /Library/ /System/ /Users/ /Developer/ -name "*.icns"
If you have items listed, even with some access denied messages, then append the copy instruction. Check the copied files existence, if they were there do the simple find again but insert the sudo - this should ask for your user password (not the root password); from here the same as before, getting listing append the copy instruction.
If sudo do not work check for log entries in your /var/log/auth.log and bring those entries here.
Good luck.

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Spotlight text search inside iWork 08

A quick test finds that Spotlight does not find text inside a Pages document. Whereas it will find text inside many other formats, including PDF files.
Is this really the case? Or maybe it's just my machine?
Similarly, Spotlight used to be able to find text inside MS Word documents on my machine. That functionality subsequently disappeared.
So what is the score with Spotlight & iWork08?
Go well!
David

For Spotlight to index content there has to be an mdimporter for that content type. If the files are in fact plain text, it is possible to do a bit of hacking to get them indexed, see this discussion at MacOSXHints:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050514182520714&query=mdimport
Be sure to read the comments! And don't do it without a current clone of your system on an external drive that is NOT attached when you try this out (if you do try it).
Francine
Francine
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Spotlight/Finder Search not finding files in search

Hello everyone,
When I do a search for a file, any file or folder in fact, that exists in any of the system folders or the /library and user/library folders, they NEVER appear in the search results.
Could someone please explain to me, for example, why a simple seacrh, say for example, for a folder called "Desktop Pictures" which can be found in MacOS X/Library, never shows up in the search result. Is it just my mac that has this problem?
I look forward to any responses volunteered!
thanks!
SB

As baltwo eventually explained, you have to add the search criteria "System files" to your search, with the option "Include" selected, to find many items Spotlight otherwise excludes from search results. Alternately (& quite ridiculously), if your search is restricted to the parent folder containing the item, you don't need to add this.
For example, if you open /Library in the Finder, enter "Desktop Pictures" in the search box, you won't get it in the results with the default "This Mac" location, but if you click "Library" for the location, you will. (Yes, many users think this is bizarre, "what were they thinking?" behavior.)
What Spotlight considers "system files" is only slightly less bizarre, as you will probably discover once you start using it to broaden searches. For instance, Safari history items & Mail.app messages are not found unless you include system files, but many files like C Header Source files (in System/Library/Frameworks) are found without including system files in the search.
When it was introduced in Tiger, Spotlight was supposed to be a next-generation search engine, capable of accurately guessing what you were looking for (& filtering out what you weren't) with near-sentient intelligence. I think almost anyone who used that version will agree it did not achieve that lofty goal. Apple apparently agreed, or at least listened to the complaints enough to realize it needed rethinking. Unfortunately, what its designers came up with for the Leopard rethink feels like an early beta version, full of hastily implemented, quirky features that never got sorted out before it was released.
We can only hope that we won't have to wait for OS 10.6 for a more mature, less quirky version.

Spotlight - Finder Search - Difference?

What is the difference between spotlight and the search function within the finder?
Does the one in the finder only search within the current folder?
Why are they different?

Hello star:
I do not know for sure, although I believe they both use the same search engine. I am sort of old fashioned in my searches, so I always use "find" in the finder for my searches.
Barry

Getting Spotlight to look inside Word files

Hi,
I'm trying to get Spotlight to search the contents of Word files on one of my machines running Tiger (10.4.11). It works fine on one machine (fresh install of Tiger), but the one I want it to work on doesn't return any Word files on the same search. I've looked in system.log for error messages, but don't see any.
How do I get Spotlight to search inside Word files on a machine running Tiger that was upgraded from Panther to Tiger?
Also, is there any way to customize Spotlight to tell it to search just Word files in a given directory tree?
Thanks for any tips or ideas!
Ed

Hi BDAqua,
I looked into my problem more closely, comparing a typical search for a string that's only inside a specific Word file on two different G4s, both running the same version of Tiger and Spotlight. One machine was fine, returning the one and only file that had the string in the contents of the Word file. The same search on the problem machine returned other files in the search results, but not the one expected.
Turning to the issue of permissions, I note for others who may read this, that a full, clean install of Tiger on a new disc will, by default, result in each $USER belonging to a group with the name $USER. Whereas an upgrade install of Tiger on a machine that, prior to the upgrade, was running either Jaguar or Panther, will result in each $USER belonging to a group called "staff". This was the default setup on earlier versions of Darwin that has since changed under Tiger.
I changed the group from $USER to staff for my test Word file on both machines. No changes. Spotlight doesn't seem to mind, as I expected, the change of group from $USER to staff.
Then, based on your comment about Spotless, I downloaded and installed Spotless. Again no change. BUT, I started thinking about the indexing of files that Spotlight relies upon.
I then ran across Main Menu which allowed me to force a re-indexing of Spotlight. That did it! My test search then worked fine on the problem machine.
Thanks again for your help and getting me to think thru the problem.
Ed

Spotlight doesn't find search results in .HTML file contents

When I use Spotlight to search, it doesn't find any .HTML file contents. If I rename an .HTML file to use a .TXT extension, the contents are found. Is there a way to enable Spotlight to find contents in .HTML files?

I remembered that used to be problem, so I just checked on my local version of my site, and Spotlight found the files on the basis of content without a problem. So I took a look at my installed mdimporters in /Library/Spotlight, to see what may have led to this happy turn of events. I thought perhaps the iWeb mdimporter might be doing it, but was unable to find a reference to HTML in its type declarations. I then took a look at in /System/Library/Spotlight and discovered that RichText.mdimporter has a declaration for public.html as a content type. You should have that mdimporter installed by default, but you might take a look to make sure it is there.
If the mdimporter is there, but the html files aren't being indexed, it could be that whatever program you are using to create them isn't giving them the appropriate content type. I code by hand using TextEdit, which saves them with the following metadata entry:
kMDItemContentType = "public.html"
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"public.html",
"public.text",
"public.data",
"public.item",
"public.content"
They are then evidently indexed without problem by the RichText.mdimporter. You might try opening one of your html docs in TextEdit (as plain text), resave, and see if Spotlight then picks up the content of the file. Of course, the content means the words that people see when they look at the page in a browser. If the content you are talking about is stuff that is inside an html tag, you are out of luck. I know of NO way to get Spotlight to find that. EasyFind will though, but it is a brute force search and will take awhile, even when restricted to a particular folder.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Spotlight/Finder Doesn't Search In ASP and other file types?

.asp and .c file types are nothing more than .txt files with different extentions..
Am I correct in thinking that Spotlight doesn't search inside these files? I have a folder full of asp files and spotlight doesn't seem to find anything when I type text that I know is inside one (as a test)
It does appear to search INSIDE .html files in the same folder.. Can you add different file extentions that spotlight will search into?
If not, then "Spotlight" is much ado about nothing as google desktop search, X1 and the msn desktop search (Windows) released years ago search inside ALL files..
Signed,
Curious Switcher
Wayne Bienek
Mac Pro 3Ghz / 4GB Ram Mac OS X (10.4.8) 30" Cinema Display + 20 " Cinema Display

Spotlight makes a content index for files using mdimporter, and that process depends on mdimporter modules for the specific file type. Thus in /Library/Spotlight you will see a collection, such as Microsoft Office.mdimporter, of "extras" for special file types. There are also the built-in ones in /System/Library/Spotlight. If you installed Xcode/Developer Tools, there should be a SourceCode.mdimporter, which I imagine would index the asp and c files. If not, some people have modified it to also index php files, see this discussion:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050514182520714&query=spotlight%2 Bphp%2Bfiles
at MacOSXHints. I think you could do something similar (at your own risk of course) for other pure text based files. Be sure to expand the the replies and read them.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

My hard drive icon is gone from desk top and does not show up in spotlight or finder searches!

Hi there
recently my hard drive icon has disappeared from my Macbook Pro (10.7.4) desk top and does not show up in spotlight or finder searches! I have tried several fixes posted online for earlier operating systems with no luck.
Also, when I connect my external hard drive the icon does not appear on the desl top nor in the finder either, making looking for documents impossible.
Help!!!
Thanks in advance!
Marni

In "finder" click "finder" then "preferences" and navigate to the "general" tab.
Select which items you would like to have show on your desktop.

Finder search not the same as Spotlight

When I use Spotlight, my word files (.doc) files show up
under the "Documents" group. But when I do the same search in Finder, the
word files show up under "Other," and the only file that shows up in
the "Documents" is a txt file.
This is a new computer and I only have two doc files, but I would think that word documents would be categorized as a "Document" group.

Hi, jmoon —
Please accept a warm welcome to Apple Discussions!
As far as I know, what you're calling a "Finder search" (⌘-F) is a Spotlight tool ——> essentially, a more fine-tuned" version. So please forgive if I'm "answering" the "wrong question" below —
Are you using the (⌘-F) »» "other" (= "select a search attribute") »» "Creator" (= "Application used to create the document") &/or »» "Name extension" setting?
I'm by no means "expert" in the peccadilloes of Spotlight or (⌘-F) — so I did a quick < ">Spotlight forum in an effort to help.
Rather than regurgitate, I'll link a few threads that seem promising:
(1) odysseus's thread, "Spotlight won't index Word files w/o .doc extension-solved!" In it, he references a MacNN thread on the topic.
(2) A discussion in Michael Hesson's thread, "Can't find .doc docs?" — where eventually using a smart folder seemed to help...
(3) Laurie Leonard's thread, "Changing extensions so Spotlight works better." Francine Schwieder links to a helpful AppleScript for making batch-name-changes... Unfortunately, this approach apparently worked only for 1994 – 1998 Word files. (Duh?)
Btw, if you don't mind —I'm curious about a couple of things. When you "Get Info" on one of your ".doc" files, is "Name & Extension" »» "Hide extension" selected? Also, does toggling "Document" — or dragging to modify its order — in the System Preferences »» Spotlight »»Search Results make any difference?
Does this help?
Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Regards,
Dean
I edited this message...
[1,965 ⊥ 3,355]

Spotlight/Finder can't find a file, yet when I search the timecapsule for they find it. If I try to restore the file I get "file with that name already exists...." What is wrong?

I was trying to find a file (iTunes Backup). When using finder/Spotlight they couldn't find the file.
I then opened up my timecapsule and searched for the file....tick-a-de-da it found it in yesterdays backup. I attempted to restore the file and got the prompt "A file with that name already exists in this location, would you like to keep both, replace the file or cancel the request.
So if the file is there why can't spotlight/finder find the file??
If it helps I get this from the terminal when checking if indexing was enabled.
$ mdutil -s -a
Indexing enabled.
/Volumes/Data:
2014-11-18 18:09:39.542 mdutil[1472:572531] Metadata.framework [Error]: mdsCopyStoreAttributes failed: (8) (os/kern) no access
No index.
/Volumes/Time Machine Backups:
Indexing and searching disabled.
/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb:
Indexing enabled.

Hi Danielle,
Is there any possibilty that some of your files (a VI or DLL?) have been moved, renamed, or deleted? Also, what version of LabVIEW are you using and are you using any .NET DLLs? Another option to consider would involve VISA or DAQmx property nodes. Are you using any of these property nodes in your code? Here is a KnowledgeBase article to describe more about the VISA and DAQmx property nodes in a source distribution:
Error Creating Source Distributions Involving rc Files: http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/833BFD5E9CA0224886257584004DAA4C?OpenDocument
I hope this is able to help.
Anna L
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

Organize search results in spotlight's finder search function ?

Hello.
The search results in the finder search window (cmd-f from within finder)—is there a way to organize them just like the files in any finder window (name, date, size, kind … ) ?
(I guess I should add that I of course know there is some organization offered by the sideboard on the right in the actual spotlight window. But this one offers other and in may cases less effective criteria.)
Would be very useful. Thanks a lot.
n.
Titanium PowerBook G4 / 1,67 MHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

If the ⌘F search results are in a "brushed metal" window in the "Finder", the window should have buttons for "Icon" and "List" view near the top left edge, just like a regular "Finder" window (unless you have customized your "Finder" toolbar to remove those buttons). Switching to "List" view should allow the full choice of sort criteria to be selected from "View Options" (⌘J).
If the window is in "aqua" mode (no toolbar or sidebar), it is still possible to switch to "List" view from the menu bar - "View" > "as List" (⌘2).

How to disable spotlight searches inside packages

Hi,
I tagged all my files inside my document folder, now I'd like to create and save a smart folder searching for all the untagged files, just in case I create or move a file to that folder without tagging it first.
The problem is that I have several files, which are packages with other files in them (created with Scrivener, Devonthink, OmniOutliner...). These other files aren't tagged (and I don't need nor want to tag them) so they are showed in my spotlight search.
I can't exclude the folders containing these files in spotlight preference, since there are a lot of them and I often create new files of these kinds.
I would like to tell spotlight not to search inside packages. Is that possible?
thanks in advance,
pietro

You can't remove it so as it is fixed in the OS of the phone.

Spotlight and Finder search

Hi,
What is the difference between the Spotlight search and the Finder Search ? anybody?
Or its spotlight in the finder?
yours sincerely
jagjit

The way I like to define the Spotlight Search function is that it is usually the EASIEST way to find whatever you're looking for on your computer.

Search inside Coldfusion files with Spotlight?

I've recently found to my dismay that you cannot search inside .cfm files with Spotlight, and there appears to be no easy way to tell Spotlight to start looking in those files. I would assume that since they're just text files, and Spotlight does seem to search inside .htm files, that it shouldn't be too difficult to get Spotlight to do this, but I'm at a loss as to going about it.
Can anybody point me in the right direction?
Thanks.

For Spotlight to index content there has to be an mdimporter for that content type. If the files are in fact plain text, it is possible to do a bit of hacking to get them indexed, see this discussion at MacOSXHints:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050514182520714&query=mdimport
Be sure to read the comments! And don't do it without a current clone of your system on an external drive that is NOT attached when you try this out (if you do try it).
Francine
Francine
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Spotlight keeps searching after finding everything?

Since Snow Leopard I'm using Spotlight as an application launcher (previously I used QuickSilver). I will, for instance, enter "act" in the Spotlight menu and find Activity Monitor, then launch it. I notice however that a lot of disk activity remains, and it turns out to be Spotlight still searching minutes after I exited the menu.
I already rebuilt the index with "sudo mdutil -Eav" but this has no effect.
I found this post that was never resolved...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1782035&tstart=3165
Is this a bug or a feature? I'd hate to have to manually quit the search by clearing the search box every time I launch an application...

I'm having the exact same problem and it seems to have started after upgrading to SL.
When using the Spotlight menu search, the activity indicator keeps spinning and the disk keeps chugging away even after all possible results have been exhausted.
As a test, I turned off all of the categories in the Spotlight Preferences except for Applications folder. Yet, if I search for "Firefox", it still keeps churning the disk and spinning the indicator after finding the result.
I did notice that it eventually stopped after about ten minutes, but a second search for the same term resulted in the same delay.
Odd.

Spotlight/Finder search inside bundles?

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