FIle Finder - can't find files in Bulk mode

[Joe Austin]

I was recently trying to reconcile a list of images from a client with records in my database.    I used File Finder in bulk mode and found about 4400 of the 4600 files in the list.   I looked for several of the files that the FF search omitted and found them in both the database and the list from the client.    

Within Imatch, I copied all of the images that my db said should be with the client, but FF coudn't find, and pasted the path/names into a text file.   I then copied the contents of the txt file into the FF bulk window,  stripped path, and ignored extension.   No files found.    But when copying a few of the filenames into the "FIle name search window",  FF was able to find them.

Maybe I'm missing something, but seems like a bug in the Bulk mode that affects occasional paths|filenames ?  

[Mario]

Maybe 4600 file names is just too much and exceeds the capacity of the Buld editor input field?
This is designed to occasionally find a couple of dozen or maybe a few hundred files. It was years ago that I had a look at that app and it has always worked for me since then. Probably just a length exceeded problem.

Did you try splitting this into sets of 1,000 files to see if this changes anything?

As a minimum required we would need to know more about the file names you use, how long they are in characters, and what maybe differentiates the file names found from the file names not found.
Case?
Are the file names wich are not found at the start, middle or end of your list?
Maybe blanks or other special characters involved?

A bug report like "I tried to find 4600 file names but only 4400 were found" is not really something that would allow me or other users to make a guess at what the problem might be.

Made a quick test:

In a database with 800,000 files, I select a folder than has 5522 files.
I select all files and press <Ctrl>+<C> to copy the file names into the clipboard.
Switch to the File Window app and paste into the Bulk input field.
All 5522 file names appear.
I press "Find" and after a while, a Result Window opens with 5522 files. All files were found.

So, this works in general.
Now you need to find out which of your file names are not found.
This will give us a hint.

[Joe Austin]

In your test did you strip the file path?    That seems to be the difference for me.   When copying filenames from Imatch, files with path are found, files where path has been stripped are not.

[thrinn]

There seems to be some interference with the "Ignore file extension" setting.
Let's say I have a file like this in the database:

Code Select Expand

Z:\GPX\201x\2017-06 Müritz\R_2017-06-18_11-01.gpx
When I use Bulk Match for exactly this path, the file is found. It does not make any difference if "Ignore file extension" is checked or not. So far, this is the correct behaviour.

Now I use the "Strip Path" button in the app. This means I now search only for

Code Select Expand

R_2017-06-18_11-01.gpxThe file should be found anyway. But if "Ignore file extension" is checked, the search returns 0 matches - which is wrong.
When I now uncheck "Ignore file extension", the search returns 1 match - which is correct.

In this example, "Ignore file extension" should not make any difference. But it does, but only when searching for file names without path.

So, it has nothing to do with the number of files.

[thrinn]

I think the direct cause is in line 581 in app.js. bulkMatchFileNames contains the file name including the extension, but is compared to f.namene, which is the name without extension.

[Mario]

If you use the Ignore file extension option, the file names you specify must not include an extension.

[thrinn]

If you use the Ignore file extension option, the file names you specify must not include an extension.

Ah, ok. You are right, when I also strip the extension, it works as expected. Apparently I misunderstood the option. Would be helpful maybe to add a short sentence to this option in the app (like for the different match types).

@Joe: Did the file names you were searching for also include their extensions?

[Mario]

Would be helpful maybe to add a short sentence to this option in the app (like for the different match types).

Yes, maybe. This is such a rarely used app and unchanged for many years.
I've added this option for a commercial customer who often needs to find file names and the file names have no extension is their list.

Maybe I'll add a tooltip for this option when the 172 other things on my urgent to-list are completed

[Mario]

I have updated the File Finder.
It now accepts file names with and without extension when the "ignore file extension" option is enabled.