<?xml version="1.0"?> <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" [ <!ENTITY legal SYSTEM "legal.xml"> <!ENTITY appversion "2.26"> <!ENTITY manrevision "2.8"> <!ENTITY date "March 2009"> <!ENTITY app "Search for Files"> <!ENTITY ug "MATE Desktop User Guide"> ]> <!-- (Do not remove this comment block.) Maintained by the MATE Documentation Project http://developer.mate.org/projects/gdp Template version: 2.0 beta Template last modified Jan 25, 2005 --> <!-- =============Document Header ============================= --> <article id="index" lang="en"> <!-- please do not change the id; for translations, change lang to --> <!-- appropriate code --> <articleinfo> <title>&app; Manual</title> <abstract role="description"> <para> A search tool to find files, folders and documents on your computer. </para> </abstract> <copyright> <year>2005</year> <holder>Dennis Cranston</holder> </copyright> <copyright> <year>2002</year> <year>2003</year> <year>2004</year> <holder>Sun Microsystems</holder> </copyright> <copyright> <year>2000</year> <holder>Alexander Kirillov</holder> </copyright> <!-- translators: uncomment this: <copyright> <year>2002</year> <holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder> </copyright> --> <publisher> <publishername> MATE Documentation Project </publishername> </publisher> &legal; <authorgroup> <author role="maintainer"> <firstname>Dennis</firstname> <surname>Cranston</surname> <affiliation> <orgname>&app; Maintainer</orgname> <address>dennis_cranston@yahoo.com</address> </affiliation> </author> <author> <firstname>Sun</firstname> <surname>MATE Documentation Team</surname> <affiliation> <orgname>Sun Microsystems</orgname> <address></address> </affiliation> </author> <author> <firstname>Alexander</firstname> <surname>Kirillov</surname> <affiliation> <orgname>MATE Documentation Project</orgname> <address> <email>kirillov@math.sunysb.edu</email> </address> </affiliation> </author> <!-- This is appropriate place for other contributors: translators, maintainers, etc. Commented out by default. <othercredit role="translator"> <firstname>Latin</firstname> <surname>Translator 1</surname> <affiliation> <orgname>Latin Translation Team</orgname> <address> <email>translator@gnome.org</email> </address> </affiliation> <contrib>Latin translation</contrib> </othercredit> --> </authorgroup> <revhistory> <!-- <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V&manrevision;</revnumber> <date>&date;</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> --> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V2.7</revnumber> <date>June 2005</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Joachim Noreiko <email>jnoreiko@yahoo.com</email> </para> <para role="publisher">&app; Maintainer</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V2.6</revnumber> <date>January 2005</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Dennis Cranston <email>dennis_cranston@yahoo.com</email> </para> <para role="publisher">&app; Maintainer</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V2.4</revnumber> <date>February 2004</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V2.3</revnumber> <date>September 2002</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app;l Manual V2.2</revnumber> <date>August 2002</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V2.1</revnumber> <date>July 2002</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual V2.0</revnumber> <date>May 2002</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Sun GNOME Documentation Team</para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> <revision> <revnumber>&app; Manual</revnumber> <date>2000</date> <revdescription> <para role="author">Alexander Kirillov <email>kirillov@math.sunysb.edu</email> </para> <para role="publisher">MATE Documentation Project</para> </revdescription> </revision> </revhistory> <releaseinfo>This manual describes version &appversion; of &app;. </releaseinfo> <legalnotice> <title>Feedback</title> <para>To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding the &app; application or this manual, follow the directions in the <ulink url="help:mate-feedback" type="help">MATE Feedback Page</ulink>. </para> <!-- Translators may also add here feedback address for translations --> </legalnotice> </articleinfo> <indexterm> <primary>Search Tool</primary> </indexterm> <!-- ============= Document Body ============================= --> <!-- ============= Introduction ============================== --> <sect1 id="gsearchtool-introduction"> <title>Introduction</title> <para>The <application>&app;</application> application enables you to search for files on your system. To perform a basic search, you can type a filename or a partial filename, with or without wildcards. To refine your search, you can apply additional search options.</para> <para><application>&app;</application> uses the <command>find</command>, <command>grep</command>, and <command>locate</command> UNIX commands. By default, when performing a basic search <application>&app;</application> first uses the <command>locate</command> command, and then uses the slower but more thorough <command>find</command> command.</para> <para>The case sensitivity of the search depends on your operating system. For example, on Linux, the <command>find</command>, <command>grep</command>, and <command>locate</command> commands support the <literal>-i</literal> option, so all searches are case-insensitive.</para> </sect1> <sect1 id="gsearchtool-getting-started"> <title>Getting Started</title> <para>You can start <application>&app;</application> in the following ways: </para> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term>From a <guimenu>Menu Bar</guimenu> on a panel</term> <listitem> <para>Choose <menuchoice><guisubmenu>Places</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Search for Files...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>From a <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> on a panel</term> <listitem> <para>Choose <menuchoice><guimenuitem>Search for Files...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>From a command line</term> <listitem> <para>Execute the following command: <command>mate-search-tool</command></para> <para> </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> <para>When you start <application>&app;</application>, the following window is displayed.</para> <!-- ==== Figure ==== --> <figure id="mainwindow-fig"> <title>&app; Window</title> <screenshot> <mediaobject> <imageobject><imagedata fileref="figures/mate-search-tool_window.png" format="PNG"/> </imageobject> <textobject> <phrase>Shows &app; main window. </phrase> </textobject> </mediaobject> </screenshot> </figure> <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== --> </sect1> <!-- ================ Usage ================================ --> <sect1 id="gsearchtool-usage"> <title>Usage</title> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-simple"> <title>To Perform a Basic Search</title> <para>To perform a basic search for a file on the system, perform the following steps:</para> <orderedlist> <listitem><para>Enter the search text in the <guilabel>Name contains</guilabel> field. The search text can be a filename or partial filename, with or without wildcards, as shown in the following table:</para> <informaltable frame="all"> <tgroup cols="3" colsep="1" rowsep="1"> <colspec colname="COLSPEC0" colwidth="33*"/> <colspec colname="COLSPEC1" colwidth="33*"/> <colspec colname="COLSPEC2" colwidth="34*"/> <thead> <row valign="top"> <entry colname="COLSPEC0"> <para>Name Contains Text</para></entry> <entry colname="COLSPEC1"> <para>Example</para></entry> <entry colname="COLSPEC2"> <para>Result</para></entry> </row> </thead> <tbody> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Full or partial filename </para> </entry> <entry> <para><userinput>myfile.txt</userinput> </para> </entry> <entry> <para><application>&app;</application> searches for all files that contain the text <userinput>myfile.txt</userinput> in the filename. </para> </entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Partial filename combined with wildcards (*, [, ]) </para> </entry> <entry> <para><userinput>*.[ch]</userinput> </para> </entry> <entry> <para><application>&app;</application> searches for all files that have extension <userinput>.c</userinput> or <userinput>.h</userinput>. </para> </entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </informaltable> </listitem> <listitem><para>In the <guilabel>Look in folder</guilabel> field, select the folder or device from which you want <application>&app;</application> to begin the search. </para></listitem> <listitem><para>Click <guibutton>Find</guibutton> to perform the search. </para> </listitem> </orderedlist> <para> <application>&app;</application> searches in the directory that you specify and the subdirectories of the directory. <application>&app;</application> displays the results of the search in the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list box. If <application>&app;</application> does not find any files that match the search criteria, the application displays the message "No files found" in the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list box. </para> <para>By default, <application>&app;</application> will perform a quick search using the <command>locate</command> command followed by a more thorough second search using the <command>find</command> command. The <command>locate</command> command is faster because it uses a database of information about files. If this database is more than a week old, <application>&app;</application> could warn you that the search results may be out of date and give you the option of disabling the quick search. To update the database, run the command <command>updatedb</command> as the root user.</para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-advanced"> <title>To Add Search Options</title> <para>You can add additional options to search for a file on the system. To add search options, perform the following steps:</para> <orderedlist> <listitem><para>Click on the <guilabel>Select more options</guilabel> text. </para></listitem> <listitem><para>Click on the <guilabel>Available options</guilabel> drop-down list.</para></listitem> <listitem><para>Select the search option that you want to apply.</para></listitem> <listitem><para>Click <guibutton>Add</guibutton>. </para></listitem> <listitem><para>Specify the required search information for the search option, as described in <xref linkend="tbl-search-rules"/>.</para></listitem> <listitem><para>Repeat the above steps for each search option that you want to apply.</para></listitem> </orderedlist> <para>To remove a search option from the current search, click on the <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button next to the option. </para> <para>To disable the search options from the current search, click on the <guilabel>Select more options</guilabel> text.</para> <table id="tbl-search-rules" frame="topbot"> <title>Search Options</title> <tgroup cols="2" colsep="1" rowsep="1"> <colspec colname="COLSPEC0" colwidth="33*"/> <colspec colname="COLSPEC1" colwidth="33*"/> <thead> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Option Name</para></entry> <entry> <para>Description</para></entry> </row> </thead> <tbody> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Contains the text</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files of type plain text that contain the specified text.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Date modified less than</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are modified less than the period specified in days.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Date modified more than</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are modified longer than the period specified in days.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Size at least</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are equal to or larger than the size specified in kilobytes.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Size at most</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are smaller than or equal to the size specified in kilobytes.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>File is empty</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for empty files.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Owned by user</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are owned by the user specified. Type the name of the user in the text box provided.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Owned by group</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are owned by the group specified. Type the name of the group in the text box provided. </para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Owner is unrecognized</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that are owned by a user or group that is unknown to the system.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Name does not contain</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for filenames that do not contain the string that you enter. Enter a full filename or a partial filename with wildcards in the field provided. Use * to indicate a sequence of characters. Use ? to indicate a single character. The search is case sensitive.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Name matches regular expression</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search for files that contain the specified regular expression in their directory path or filename. Type the regular expression in the text box provided. </para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Show hidden and backup files</para></entry> <entry> <para>Include hidden and backup files in the search. </para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Follow symbolic links</para></entry> <entry> <para>Follow symbolic links when searching for files.</para></entry> </row> <row valign="top"> <entry> <para>Exclude other filesystems</para></entry> <entry> <para>Search in directories that are in the same filesystem as the start directory.</para></entry> </row> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-stop"> <title>To Stop a Search</title> <para>Click <guibutton>Stop</guibutton> to stop a search before <application>&app;</application> completes the search. </para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-view"> <title>To Open a Displayed File</title> <para>To open a file displayed in the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list box, perform one of the following steps:</para> <itemizedlist> <listitem><para>Right-click on the file, then choose <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>. </para></listitem> <listitem><para>Double-click on the file. </para></listitem> </itemizedlist> <para>To open the folder that contains a file displayed in the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list box, right-click on the file, then choose <guimenuitem>Open Containing Folder</guimenuitem>.</para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-delete"> <title>To Delete a Displayed File</title> <para>To delete a file displayed in the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list box, right-click on the file, then choose <guimenuitem>Move to Trash</guimenuitem>. </para> </sect2> <!-- <sect2 id="gsearchtool-search-command"> <title>To View the Search Command Used by &app;</title> <para>To view the command that <application>&app;</application> used to perform the previous search, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Search</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Command</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. The <guilabel>Search Command Line</guilabel> displays the command. </para> </sect2> --> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-savetofile"> <title>To Save the Search Results</title> <para>To save the results of the last search that <application>&app;</application> performed, right-click in the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list, then choose <guimenuitem>Save Results As</guimenuitem>. Enter the name of the file to which you want to save the results, then click Save.</para> </sect2> </sect1> <!-- ============= Settings ============================== --> <sect1 id="gsearchtool-settings-gsettings-keys"> <title>Settings</title> <para><application>&app;</application> provides gsettings keys to modify some of its behavior. The gsettings values can be changed by starting the <application>Configuration Editor</application> in the following ways: </para> <variablelist> <varlistentry> <term><guimenu>Applications</guimenu> menu</term> <listitem> <para>Choose <menuchoice><guisubmenu>System Tools</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>dconf Editor</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry> <term>Command line</term> <listitem> <para>Execute the following command: <command>dconf-editor</command></para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-disablequicksearch"> <title>Disable Quick Search</title> <para>Key name: org.mate.search-tool.disable-quick-search</para> <para>Default value: false</para> <para><application>&app;</application> speeds up file name searches by using the <command>locate</command> command. <command>Locate</command> provides a secure way to index and quickly search for file names. Because <command>locate</command> relies on a file index, the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list may not always be up to date.</para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-disablesecondscan"> <title>Disable Quick Search Second Scan</title> <para>Key name: org.mate.search-tool.disable-quick-search-second-scan</para> <para>Default value: false</para> <para>After completing a quick search, <application>&app;</application> will perform a thorough search using the <command>find</command> command. The purpose of this second scan is to find files that have not been indexed. Files that match the search criteria are added to the <guilabel>Search results</guilabel> list keeping the list up to date.</para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-quicksearchexclude"> <title>Quick Search Excluded Paths</title> <para>Key name: org.mate.search-tool.quick-search-excluded-paths</para> <para>Default values: [/mnt/*,/media/*,/dev/*,/tmp/*,/proc/*,/var/*]</para> <para><application>&app;</application> will not perform a quick search for paths defined by this key. File name searches in the defined paths will use the <command>find</command> command. The wildcards '*' and '?' are supported.</para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-secondscanexclude"> <title>Quick Search Second Scan Excluded Paths</title> <para>Key name: org.mate.search-tool.quick-search-second-scan-excluded-paths</para> <para>Default values: [/]</para> <para><application>&app;</application> will not perform a second scan after a quick search for the paths defined by this key. Quick searches in the defined paths will not be followed by a thorough search using the <command>find</command> command. The wildcards '*' and '?' are supported.</para> </sect2> <sect2 id="gsearchtool-showoptions"> <title>Show Additional Options</title> <para>Key name: org.mate.search-tool.show-additional-options</para> <para>Default value: false</para> <para>This key determines if the <guilabel>Select more options</guilabel> section is expanded when <application>&app;</application> is started.</para> </sect2> </sect1> </article>