How to search for a file name?

[kirk]

I have to admit I don't understand the new interface.    I hardly  tried  imatch 5 because of this and would like to do  one more approach

So i am sorry for such basic question  but could somebody tell me please  what should I do step by step to  perform    what  is  "search >> for file names"   in old imatch. 

and another question: where I can set up properties  for a category?   Alt + Enter  dialog?

[jch2103]

It would be a good idea to read the Help that comes with IMatch. Among other things, it has a special topic "For IMatch 3 Users", with additional links to related useful topics. In your particular case, see especially the topic "The Search Bar" which discusses using the File Window search bar, including the important note about the current scope. 

There's a lot of power in IMatch 5, though it's a change from the earlier version. Once you've worked with it, I think the interface is easier to use than IMatch 3 (more like other modern programs).

Regarding your second question, what do you want to accomplish?


ps -
I don't know if these would be useful to you, but there are a couple of preliminary videos available via this forum that give an overview of IMatch 5:
https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=810.0
https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=902.0
Some folks like videos and some don't, so you may or may not find these useful.

[Richard]

From the Help files under The Search Bar

Via the drop-down menu of the X button you can change the search scope to all tags (slower because much more data must be searched) or to search in the file names only. The file name search considers the file name and extension. You can optionally include Attributes in your search and even use Regular Expressions to handle complicated cases.

Categories Properties are right below the Categories.

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[kirk]

I tried to put "Search Bar"  into the help search and got a lot of topics but nothing about that bar exactly.     Is it  the bar above the thumbnails panel with a bold X on the right?   I tried it and it returns  just empty field  or something absolutely unrelated.    The weird thing is that I have never had any necessity to read Imatch 3 help.    Everything was always  instantly clear just after a few clicks.       

I see there is a file search in the  filter panel but I also get nothing after I push apply button.   While I  am definitely able to find those files  in the database   by hand.   


As of categpry properties  I meant a dialog or something where I can set a specific category to be collecting files  from other categories/folders  automatically. in imatch3 it is in Alt+Enter dialog.

[Richard]

Is it  the bar above the thumbnails panel with a bold X on the right?

Correct. And just to the right of the X is a drop down menu that includes file name searches. If you place your cursor on the search bar and press F1 you will get to the correct topic in Help. This is true of almost any feature in IMatch 5. Mario spent a lot of time making a top notch Help file but it does no good unless a user reads it.

When I select a select a category in IMatch 3 and press Alt+Enter I get a Properties Dialog box where one can enter a formula or make the category Data-driven. Same thing is true for the IMatch 5 Properties panel but you do have to scroll down to see all that Properties can do.

[jch2103]

...   Is it  the bar above the thumbnails panel with a bold X on the right?   I tried it and it returns  just empty field  or something absolutely unrelated.   
...

To extend what Richard replied above:

From the Help (Table of Contents: The File Window):

The Search Bar
The search bar in the File Window toolbar is one of the search features in IMatch. It is a simplified version of the powerful Metadata Search available in the Filter Panel. The search bar works very well for the most common search cases. If you want full control over the search and more options, use the Metadata Search.

You can either click into the search bar or press Ctrl+F to activate the search bar. Then just enter the word you're looking for:


About two seconds after you stop typing, the search bar searches all files currently loaded in the file window. You can continue typing anyway, the search will stop automatically and continue when you stop typing again.

The search bar searches the current scope - the files you see in the file window. Before using the search bar, make sure that the file window displays the files you want to search. Enable the hierarchical mode as needed to include files in sub-folders or child categories into the file window.

This gives you fine control over where you search: files in one or more folders, categories, collections, time line nodes or even all files in the database. Just bring the files you want to search in into a file window. See also the information in the Filter Panel help topic.

The two important points are 1) make sure the current scope includes all the files you want to search in and 2) also see the Help topic for 'Filter Panel' which has very powerful search functions.

As of category properties  I meant a dialog or something where I can set a specific category to be collecting files  from other categories/folders  automatically. in imatch3 it is in Alt+Enter dialog.

If I understand properly what you want to do, see Richard's second screen shot. You'll want to scroll down some more in the Properties pane, where you will see 'Formula'. Hit the F1 key for context-sensitive help for Categories, which explains formula and data-driven options.

John

[kirk]

Thanks a lot guys ,   I guess I have that hierarchical mod off  since the search doesn't find anything even when I select database top category and I still have no idea how to turn it on.

The second question is answered , thanks a lot too

[jch2103]

See screen shot.


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[kirk]

Thanks again jch2103,       I somehow managed to see  couple of files when specific folder and  two levels is selected . Then with "show all levels"  and database or disk  top level  I see nothing again           Initially I wanted to search across the whole database.     

Not sure if i should give up on imatch5 and just continue to use imatch3  as before,  it works quicker on my pc and makes  nothing unexpected,  but the map panel with gps locations is super cool and I really need it .   

[Richard]

Hang in there. There is a whole lot to be desired in IMatch 5 but it can take time to understand all that it can do. Time spent reading Help is time well spent. I don't mean that you should read all of it but make use of F1 anytime you are into something that is new to you.

[Mario]

Regarding the File Window Search Bar:

See this FAQ and the IMatch help (Just click into the search bar and press <F1> to find the information.

The Category Properties are available in the category properties panel directly under the Category Tree:



Switch to the Category View, select the category for which you want to change something, and then use the property panel to do it. See the IMatch help for details: Click into the Category Tree or the category property panel and press <F1>.

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[kirk]

Thanks Mario.     As of category properties  I just had not noticed it has a scroll down  where formula field is.

But with  the search  thing I am still confused.  Sometimes it works just right and sometimes it doesn't  for no apparent reason .   I can find necessary files  in a selected  folder and its subfolders  but can't do the same on database level.       I still think I am doing something wrong  after reading your faq.     Maybe I forget to do something simple like enter "enter"  or something .    Sometimes I have a key word typed into the search bar and the file window doesn't even show top blue bar  indicating any searching is on the go.

ps. The find panel works the same way on my end. Works on a folder level, doesn't on disk and database level.    And I did a special new database for imatch5 .   

[Mario]

After reading your description I've run some tests myself, just to see if things are working as intended.

I thing I have found an unexpected side effect caused by some internal optimizations when the file window is configured to automatically pause when more than n files are about to be displayed, and the search bar.

You click on a folder with 10,000 files, including all sub-folders. The File Window is in hierarchy mode and the auto pause is set to 1000 files.
To fill the File Window, IMatch starts with the selected folder and then works down the child folders to find out what to display int he file window. If the threshold of files to load is reached, IMatch stops the processing and the file window pauses. You then see the "Auto paused, click on the Pause button..." message.

The problem is now that when the user now types a search string into the search bar, the search bar searches what has been loaded to far. Which means that from the 10,000 files in the folder, only 1000 are searched. The search bar of course should search all 10,000 files in the selected folder!

The same happens when you select the Database node, or a large category.

The problem is subtle and depends on the hierarchy mode, the auto-pause, if and how IMatch optimizes and finally when the user uses the search bar. I just discovered this this morning so I don't have a fix yet. I will look into this for the upcoming 5.1.0.6 release.

Please try this:

Set the file window auto-pause (Pause button drop-down menu) to never pause.
This ensures that IMatch always loads all files for the selected object (folder, database, ...) into the file window.
Your search should then work correctly.

Let me know what you find out.

[kirk]

yes, now it works ( with never pause) but also with some weird behavior.      It finds about 20 completely  unrelated files on the top and then, after some considerable time,  those files i wanted.  No progress bar. 

I have to say I  would prefer old imatch 3 way  since I always search through the whole database.   Maybe you could add the old way into the search menu.       I even like the fact that the search result appears in a separate window in imatch3

[Mario]

Usually the file window does not need a progress bar because the searches are very quick.

Do you search only file names or do you search all metadata? See https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=2679.0.

If you work with the database, you can switch the file window to use a hierarchy (there will be a bar / group for each folder) or you disable the hierarchy, then the file window just displays the resulting files. I think this is what you want. This is more like IMatch 3.

[kirk]

I already disabled the hierarchy , otherwise I just see countless and countless  lines/folder names.   I tried both "only names' and "all metadata" and didn't noticed much difference.       Also it's pretty quick  on a folder level,  but on database level it's not.   I probably didn't see results initially just because i didn't let it more time.   

  The separate search result window is somehow convenient just because you can see your current working folder and search results folder at the same time  and switch back instantly

[jch2103]

Mario -

I believe the FAQ https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=2679.0 needs to be expanded to include what you discussed in https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=2675.msg17406#msg17406. As you said, a user that wants to search their entire database should set the Pause button in the file window to 'Never pause'. Otherwise, they'll get empty results.


Incidentally, I find that searching my ~41,000 file database takes more than a few seconds. See attached log file for two File Window searches for the phrase 'National Zoo' (using 'limit search to frequently used tags'). The first search, on Media & Folders/Database returned 37 hits in 22495 ms; the second on Categories/@All using the same search phrase returned the same hits in 10608 ms (assuming I read the log correctly: InnerSearchMetabase). Queries using the Filter panel tend to be quite a bit faster; they're usually more narrowly focused. For background, I'm running Win7/64 on a computer with Q6600 i7 processor, SSD for OS and IM database and files on a 1GB hard drive. I'm not sure how this compares to other users.



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[Mario]

As you said, a user that wants to search their entire database should set the Pause button in the file window to 'Never pause'. Otherwise, they'll get empty results.

This was caused by the problem I described above. It has been fixed for the upcoming build 5.1.0.6.