Spotlight searches using operators

Recently learned that Spotlight can use operators to search, eg. "album:albumname," etc., but I have found that "song:songname" doesn't work. I find it very taxing to have to remember either the album (or artist, which successfully searches) of every song on my Mac. Anyone know if there is an Automator/Terminal way to add this to Spotlight's searching parameters?

It seems that I (somehow) wasn't thinking at all when I posted this question. I now realize that only typing the name of the song will bring it up, so that part of my question is answered. Not sure how I overlooked something that monumental.
In regards to the larger question here, is there any way to add other operators to Spotlight search? I have found articles on 10.5 which claim that the ones that exist are in "/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/...," but that folder doesn't exist in 10.6.2. Has this been moved?
Message was edited by: The Incendiary

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Using AppleScript for launch a raw-query Spotlight search?

As per usual with my limited scripting skills, I am finding the apparently simple stuff rather difficult to achieve.
My problem with Spotlight is that I want to use the same type of raw query repeatedly, but I want to avoid the tedium of having to:
1) open my saved search
2) choose "Show Criteria" to make the saved raw query visible
3) edit the text field containing the raw query, where the visible stuff is not what I want to edit, so I have to scroll to the right within that tiny field
So my idea would be to design a simple UI with AppleScript that
1) pops up a dialog asking for a phrase to search
2) launches a Spotlight search using the raw query:
kMDItemTextContent=="xxx*"
where "xxx" is the phrase that I am searching for, and opens a Finder window with the results of that search.
My reason for wanting to do this is that, by default, a search for an exact phrase with Spotlight fails to return matches that contain the plural form when the searched phrase is a singular.
See:
http://www.betalogue.com/2010/05/07/spotlight-plural/
http://www.betalogue.com/2010/05/11/spotlight-phrase/
for more information about the background for this.
Would this be relatively easy to do with AppleScript?
Thanks in advance.
Pierre

Hi
Pierre Igot wrote:
Am I correct in assuming that this means that what I wanted could not just be achieved with AppleScript and required a Perl script?
Message was edited by: Pierre Igot
A smart folder is an XML file (PLIST), you can edit it in many ways.
It's possible with other shell commands (sed or awk).
But perl works seamlessly with extended characters (ASCII > 127)
Also it's possible with AppleScript commands (open for access, read, write, close access), or with *property list file* in System events
But it requires more lines of code.
Here's the script :
global a_text
set smartFolder to "/Users/jack/Library/Saved Searches/Recherche dans “Bureau”.savedSearch"
set a_text to text returned of (display dialog "Enter a phrase to search" default answer "")
if a_text contains """ then
set a_text to findAndReplace(""", "\"", a_text)
end if
tell application "System Events"
set TheXML to property list file smartFolder
repeat with i in (get property list items of contents of TheXML)
set t_name to name of i
if t_name is "RawQuery" then
tell i to set value to my replace_text(get value)
else if t_name is "SearchCriteria" then
tell property list item 2 of property list item "displayValues" of property list item 1 of property list item "FXCriteriaSlices" of i to set value to my replace_text(get value)
else if t_name is "RawQueryDict" then
tell property list item "RawQuery" of i to set value to my replace_text(get value)
end if
end repeat
end tell
set smartFolder to ((POSIX file smartFolder) as alias)
tell application "Finder"
activate
open smartFolder
end tell
on replace_text(t)
set x to the offset of "kMDItemTextContent==" in t
set L to length of t
repeat with i from L to 1 by -1
if character i of t = """ then
set y to i
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
return (text 1 thru (x + 20) of t) & a_text & (text y thru -1 of t)
end replace_text
on findAndReplace(tofind, toreplace, t)
set ditd to text item delimiters
set text item delimiters to tofind
set t to text items of t
set text item delimiters to toreplace
set t to t as string
set text item delimiters to ditd
return t
end findAndReplace

Spotlight search freezes

On my iPhone 4S running iOS 5.1.1, when I try to type in a string in a spotlight search using the soft keyboard, the device freezes for about 5 to 8 seconds before resuming. Usually this happens when as I am typing the search string out.
Any suggestions?

If a reset didn't help, the next step is to restore from backup...sync first to create a current backup, then right-click in the left device pane & select "Restore from Backup". Follow this by syncing your iTunes content back to your phone. If no change after restoring from backup, the next step is to restore as new, again followed by syncing your iTunes content back to your phone.

I accidentally quit my CC on my Macbook pro and now the cloud icon is grayed out and every time I hover over it with the mouse I get the spinning beach ball of death on the icon. I have no idea how to open it because when I use spotlight search to open it

I accidentally quit my CC on my Macbook pro and now the cloud icon is grayed out and every time I hover over it with the mouse I get the spinning beach ball of death on the icon. I have no idea how to open it because when I use spotlight search to open it it gives me a message saying "Creative Cloud is not open anymore" help!

Since you didn't include any pertinent info such as the Mac model and OS version you are running, here is some general information:
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When using spotlight search on my 5s it will not show past text messages that haven't even been deleted even if I type a specific word that I know is in a message I want to search for. I have message search turned on in the spotlight settings.

When using spotlight search my phone will not show all text messages with a common word even though I have not deleted any messages from my phone and I have the message search turned on in settings under spotlight search. The search only shows the messages that are recent within the past day or so. Why won't it show the other messages when I search for them even using a specific word that I know was in the message I'm searching for.

Hello ChiomaM,
It sounds like you are not getting notifications for new text messages that are coming in, and you must manually check the app. I recommend checking the Notification settings to see if they are configured correctly:
iOS: Understanding notifications
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3576
iOS apps can provide three types of notifications:
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Alerts/Banners: An alert or banner appears on the screen.
Badges: An image or number appears on the application icon.
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Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
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Sterling

How to use the spotlight search for photos imported onto an apple ipod model MB528BT

I have an apple ipod model MB528BT version 4.2.1 (8C148) Im think its an iPod touch as opposed to the old iPod but cannot be certain. So first of all does this model number mean anything and/or can I confirm myself via the unit itself?
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I have copied photos from a dvd I purchased for identifying birds onto my iMac which I readily search via spotlight.
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Anyone know the answer please!
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"also i use imessage alot so when somebody sends a message who will get it the ipad or the ipod?"
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Boolean operators (and/or, etc.) in bridge spotlight search?

Anyone know if boolean operators are possible in Bridge's spotlight search field in the upper right?
I realize it's available through edit > find, and that smart collections can be saved, but looking for faster ways.
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Are messages sorted by date when you use spotlight search on iphone / ipad?

When you use spotlight search on an ipad or iphone, and you are searching specifically for text messages, how are the results sorted?
it doesnt look like they sort by date modified, or do they?

i mean Imessages not SMS messages

Desktop is black and dock disappeared. I have to use spotlight search to open apps. How do i fix this?

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open spotlight and type the name of any folder. Select it. A finder window will open. Basically you just need a finder window. right click on the title of the window. You will get a dropdown menu. Select the name of your hard disk ( most probably "Macintosh HD") now you will see a folder named system alongside applications, users, library, etc. click on the system folder. Then click on the library folder which is the only folder that appears once you get inside system folder.
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Is there any way to use Quickview from within Spotlight search results?

I'm sure this has been answered previously, but my searches came up empty....
Is there any way to use Quickview from within Spotlight search results? I'd like to be able to do a Spotlight search and hit the space bar for a quick Quickview look before actually launching the program. I'm guessing this isn't possible, but thought I'd ask...

Thanks, Kappy.
Duh...I meant Quick Look. Sorry about that.
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Does Mail search use Spotlight?

In Apple Mail, the search functions work poorly for me. I can find things by the category "From," for example, but searching for something in the "Entire message" doesn't find things that are there.
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Yes, Mulder is right, Mail Uses Spotlight for the Entire Message search (but not the To, From or Subject).
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See my post below....
===
Leopard Mail Entire Message Search - FIXED!!!
My Original Post is here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7462907#7462907
Posted by: DaveC
This is a known issue. Check out:
http://www.betalogue.com/2008/02/25/mac-os-x-105-tip-repairing-broken-spotlight- searches-in-mail/
http://www.betalogue.com/2008/03/28/mac-os-x-105-broken-spotlight-indexing-for-m ail-messages-caused-by-presence-of-older-mail-application/
Thanks Dave. I went to Betalogue and went through all the posts and I finally found a way to fix the Search Entire Message Spotlight problem in Apple Mail - at least it worked for me. I have been trying to fix this with all sorts of solutions for months and it turns out it was related to a problem with the Launch Services Database. I confirmed this by looking inside my user/library/mail folder and seeing that inside each Mailbox folder, the sub mailboxes all had standard folder icons and not the inbox tray style icons.
Note that you can easily fix this through Terminal Commands, and not all the following steps are completely necessary, but there are many people looking at these threads that want to just push buttons...
*== So here are my simple steps to fixing Apple Mail Search ==*
1. Attach and turn on any external hard drives you have that may have a copy of Mail.app on them
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3. Install the latest version of Onyx - free to use and download from www.macupdate.com
~ I suggest Onyx, because some people don't want to mess with the Terminal.
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~ This should fix the primary problem with searches
6. When that process finishes, select only the Mail's Envelope Index box. Click Execute.
~ This should fix related problems with other searches
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~ This will give you a clean fast Spotlight database that Mail uses for Entire Message searches.
8. Quit Onyx
9. Open Mail.app and test your Entire Message Search!
====
Hope that helps - it certainly, finally, did for me!
Bryce.

Why my old emails show up when I use the spotlight search?

why my deleted emails show up when I use the Spotlight search?

Hi ..
Try a reset.
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
If that doesn't help, tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings
No data is lost due to a reset.

After Mavericks update spotlight search menu gone, not possible to use spotlight at all

Hello,
I updated last week to Mavericks and since the update Spotlight is completely gone.
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Even the spotlight magnifier icon in the menu bar is not there any more.
Can anybody help?

Some of your user files (not system files) have incorrect permissions or are locked. This procedure will unlock those files and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.
Back up all data.
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Enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (triple-click, copy, and paste):
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res
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Why is my spotlight search slow/unresponsive in IOS 7... specifically when I start the search with the letters "n" or "c".

I have an iPhone 5 that must be just over a year old now. I don't remember exactly when this problem started, but I think it was right after updating to IOS 7. The problem is that with certain searches, such as "chrome" or "calender", the spotlight search will basically do nothing. It is somewhat random. Sometimes it will work imidiatly as I am typing it like it usually did. But other times, I will write out the whole word, press search, and still nothing will come up.
As I was just testing it now, I came up with an interesting discovery. I tested every letter of the alphabet and while 24 of them immidiatly worked fine like usual, it was actually only searches that started with "n" or "c" that did not work. Perhaps the reason I noticed this so much is because some of the apps I use all the time are Chrome, Calender, Notes, Contacts, Calculator, Clock, Camera (wow- just realized how many apps started with "c"!).
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When spotlight search is unresponsive if I wait for about a min sometimes results will actually come up, other times it will sort of crash (it will just randomly close before any results came up).
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Thanks for reading,
Matt

I've seen this happen before, and generally turning off Documents and Data in Settings > iCloud will fix it.
If that doesn't work, try the following.
1. Restart the phone and check it out.
2. Reset the phone (hold the home button and the lock button until you see an Apple Logo and then let them go).
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Mail+Spotlight Search Not Working in Lion

I've been dealing with this problem for over a month and have not been able to fix it. Search works fine in Lion on several computers, but on my laptop it still won't do a complete search. It will only pull up emails from people in my contacts list..... no subject key word searches or people outside my contacts searches..... very frustrating! The searches also don't work in Spotlight, so I can't use spotlight as a backup.
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Other Info:
Macbook Pro 2008 Version with 2.5 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
Running 10.7.4

Glenn,
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Spotlight searches using operators

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