Search subfolders in a scrap container?

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richardk
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Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by richardk »

Is it possible to search the subfolders of folders I put in a scrap container?

Searches of scrap containers don't seem to be turning up results from subfolders and I don't see a way to make that happen. The 'search subfolders' checkbox is greyed out but also checked.
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Kilmatead
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by Kilmatead »

No, if you use <Ctrl+F> from within a Scrap window, you are only searching the contents of that window itself (i.e., the names of folders listed), not the actual folders themselves.

To search a "previously found folder" you need to go to that folder first (right-click on it in the scrap window and select "Open File Location", or use File -> Browse <Ctrl+Enter>).
Last edited by Kilmatead on 2013 Sep 07, 14:12, edited 1 time in total.
richardk
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by richardk »

Kilmatead wrote:No, if you use <Ctrl+F> from within a Scrap window, you are only searching the contents of that window itself
Thanks. As you might have guessed I am grasping for a workaround to make it possible to search in multiple, non-nested folders.
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by Kilmatead »

What you can do is select all the folders you want to search (in the scrap pane), then use <Ctrl+Alt+C> to copy them as a comma-separated list, then go back to the main window, hit <Ctr+F>, then paste <Ctrl+V> that list into the "Look In" box.

It's a bit fiddly, but it works. :D (It will not work, however, if any of the selected folders have comma's (',') in their names.)

As an alternative (if you want to search only a subset of folders that are selected in your current pane (not a scrap window), you might look into this. Unfortunately it won't work directly from within a scrap container (without a bit of awkward rewriting).
richardk
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by richardk »

Kilmatead wrote: you might look into this. Unfortunately it won't work directly from within a scrap container (without a bit of awkward rewriting).
Great, thanks. I don't need it to work within a scrap container. Just anything to allow searching multiple folders that have commas.

I don't know how to create a user command, though ("Using the EXE from the link below, just create a user-command as such: > "{Path}\LocaleSearch.exe" $A ")

If you could tell me what to do or point me to guidance that would be great, but I realize you can't be posting detailed tutorials on demand. If it's a command prompt thing, that's fine as I've used command prompts occasionally in the past but not for Xplorer2. My coding experience was little 20-line things in GIS and statistics programs 6 years ago.
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by Kilmatead »

The easiest way is just to highlight the LocalSearch.exe file then go to Customise -> User Commands -> Add Current, and x2 will make the first part for you - all you need to do is add $A to the end of the text in the "Description" box, so it ends up looking something like this:

> LocalSearch.exe $A

You may then access that user command from the same dropdown menu (Customise -> User Commands), or you may create a more convenient toolbar button for it by right-clicking on a toolbar and selecting "Customise..." then finding the LocalSearch command (assuming you called it that) in the left menu (repeatedly type the first letter of the name until it shows up), then click "Add" to put it on the right side and clicking the Close button (thus adding it to the toolbar).

Unfortunately you can't "replace" the <Ctrl+F> keyboard shortcut for search, but a toolbar button is the next best thing if the (limited) choices for user-command accelerators don't meet your fancy.

Aside from Scrap containers (as noted), it works fine for everything else. It was originally made as an example for Nikos to understand what users actually wanted, but he didn't seem to take the hint. :shrug:
richardk
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by richardk »

Kilmatead wrote:The easiest way is just to highlight the LocalSearch.exe file then go to Customise -> User Commands -> Add Current...
Terrific - thank you so much. Convoluted, as you clearly realize, but it's better than nothing
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Re: Search subfolders in a scrap container?

Post by Kilmatead »

Kilmatead wrote:...it won't work directly... without a bit of awkward rewriting...
For anyone interested (and in keeping with a proper solution regarding the title of this thread) LocaleSearch has been updated to work everywhere (including in the mini-scrap pane and scrap containers), so it's now a suitable launch substitute for <Ctrl+F> to make x2's search work "as it should" rather than "as it does" on selected folders.

A useful side-effect I discovered when playing with this is that x2 does the searches "sequentially" in the order the items are supplied in the "Look in" box - and since LocaleSearch populates that box in the order the items are displayed in the pane when they are captured, this can be exploited by the user.

For example, if I wanted to search 5 drives (out of 10) on my system, I'd go to the 'Computer' list and select the drives I wanted to search - except I don't want to search them in alphabetical order (why sit through all of C when most of what I want is on M?), I can use the listview-trick of holding <Ctrl+Shift> and pressing <Up>/<Down> to move the focused drives into the order I want them searched (obviously drive-letters are simple enough to type, if need be, but imagine trying to edit a list of 20 lengthy folder-names into a the desired search-order) - makes more sense to put the ones "most likely" to contain what you want first before sitting through all the others.

Anyway, now if only someone could come up with a way of making <Ctrl+F> call a user-command (without using an annoying "trap & redirect" method which requires a background process), I'd be quite happy.
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