Additional advanced search options

[Blue Max]

We would like to suggest that the 'Advanced Search' options for files, in Windows Vista Explorer, include additional options as follows:

1.. A preconfigured button for 'Favorites' just as it does for email, documents, pictures, or music.
2.. Preconfigured buttons to search (or filter and display) 'Folders Only' or 'Files Only'.
3.. Preconfigured buttons to search (or filter and display) 'Names Only', 'Attributes Only', or 'File Contents Only'.
4.. The option to customize the advanced search dialog with user defined buttons and search criteria. Users may want special buttons for finding just font files, startup menu items, internet URL's, network files, Excel files, accounting files associated with a specific application, etc.
5.. The ability to add an 'Instant Search' field to window pane of any windows application, such as the 'Favorites' pane in Windows Explorer.

 

[Richard Urban]

You are not going to see any additional changes in Vista functionality. The
replacement (Windows 7) is already in development at this time. As Vista is
now it will likely remain.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


We would like to suggest that the 'Advanced Search' options for files, in
Windows Vista Explorer, include additional options as follows:

A preconfigured button for 'Favorites' just as it does for email, documents,
pictures, or music.
Preconfigured buttons to search (or filter and display) 'Folders Only' or
'Files Only'.
Preconfigured buttons to search (or filter and display) 'Names Only',
'Attributes Only', or 'File Contents Only'.
The option to customize the advanced search dialog with user defined buttons
and search criteria. Users may want special buttons for finding just font
files, startup menu items, internet URL's, network files, Excel files,
accounting files associated with a specific application, etc.
The ability to add an 'Instant Search' field to window pane of any windows
application, such as the 'Favorites' pane in Windows Explorer.

 

[Retroman]

We would like to suggest that the 'Advanced Search' options for files, in Windows Vista Explorer, include additional options as follows:

1.. A preconfigured button for 'Favorites' just as it does for email, documents, pictures, or music.
2.. Preconfigured buttons to search (or filter and display) 'Folders Only' or 'Files Only'.
3.. Preconfigured buttons to search (or filter and display) 'Names Only', 'Attributes Only', or 'File Contents Only'.
4.. The option to customize the advanced search dialog with user defined buttons and search criteria. Users may want special buttons for finding just font files, startup menu items, internet URL's, network files, Excel files, accounting files associated with a specific application, etc.
5.. The ability to add an 'Instant Search' field to window pane of any windows application, such as the 'Favorites' pane in Windows Explorer.

Hello Blue Max,

Something close to your first three items is already possible, only not with buttons.
I have a shortcut on my desktop to my Searches folder. In that folder I have saved
searches with criteria similar to those you mention. In addition, my saved searches
include specified headings, sorts, and groupings for each folder. From my desktop,
only two clicks are needed to run a saved search and to display the results in just
the format that I want.

As for allowing users to customize the advanced search dialog with their own buttons,
I doubt that will happen. Microsoft has deliberately moved away from a graphic
interface for Windows Desktop Search and towards text-based queries. This surprised
me at first, but over time I've come to appreciate the flexibility and power of the
new system. For one thing, the range of query options is now so great that (as a
practical matter) no one dialog could handle them. Now that I've learned how to
create complex queries by typing, I rarely bother with the "advanced search" window.

Your item 5 is an interesting idea, but Microsoft would have to persuade thousands of
software vendors to support it. My guess is that they would argue that there would
be no point to duplicating the capability now available at any time by simply
pressing Win Key + F.

Regards,

Doug M. in NJ

 

[Blue Max]

Thank you for taking the time to reply, Retroman. You share some very
compelling thoughts which lead to a few more questions if we may:

1. You suggested we can approximate our first three items using 'Search
Folders', but did not elaborate. Would you mind elaborating a little on how
we can create these searches? How do we provide filter criteria, how do we
apply the criteria to a search string, and how do we save the filter for
future searches?

2. You also refer to creating "complex queries by typing." Where might we
find a tutorial or help subject regarding the proper syntax and a list of
operators and arguments available in formulating a search?

Thank you very much,

Richard

************

 

[Retroman]

Thank you for taking the time to reply, Retroman. You share some very
compelling thoughts which lead to a few more questions if we may:

1. You suggested we can approximate our first three items using 'Search
Folders', but did not elaborate. Would you mind elaborating a little on how
we can create these searches? How do we provide filter criteria, how do we
apply the criteria to a search string, and how do we save the filter for
future searches?

2. You also refer to creating "complex queries by typing." Where might we
find a tutorial or help subject regarding the proper syntax and a list of
operators and arguments available in formulating a search?

Thank you very much,

Richard

Hi Richard,

In Vista, each user has a folder called Searches, which contains a number of
pre-configured searches. Users can add their own searches here by using the Save
Search button in Win Explorer. This button appears after executing a search from
Explorer and is shown in a screen shot in the last link given below. For easy
access, I keep a shortcut to my Searches folder on my desk top.

After saving, the search appears as a folder under the parent Searches folder. By
default, the name of the folder is the same as the search criteria. I usually prefer
to use a shorter name, but that is optional. Just click on it to run the search
again. Although a saved search appears as a folder, it is actually an XML file with
a special hidden extension (*.search-ms).

Here are some MS references for Windows Desktop Search 4 (WDS) syntax and queries, as
well as some general tips. These should get you started. I think that they explain
the syntax better than I can, and there are lots of example queries:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/advquery.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/technicalresources/filetypes.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/choose/tipsandtricks.mspx
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/help/9f592ee9-b397-46d6-a607-47bdab5529ec1033.mspx
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/e49c345a-cf3d-4298-8614-fde32a76426d1033.mspx
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/1a6626fa-3cc7-45b4-a973-cc96373dc0d51033.mspx

Of course, before writing, testing, and saving queries, you should ensure that the
WDS indexing options in control panel are set up to include the paths, the file
extensions, and content types that are of interest to the user. And indexing should
be complete.

Regards,

Doug M. in NJ

 

[+Bob+]

2. You also refer to creating "complex queries by typing." Where might we
find a tutorial or help subject regarding the proper syntax and a list of
operators and arguments available in formulating a search?

Thank you very much,

Richard

You might want to look into Agent Ransack. It will allow you to use
Regular Expressions in searching. Note that Regular expressions are
not exactly intuitive... but they are somewhat universal.

Agent Ransack will not help with the pre-configured search buttons you
want. However, it will allow you to save search criteria into small
files. You can then double click the criteria files to start the
search tool with the criteria pre-loaded.

I don't know if the "pro" version (licensed) has additional features
you would find useful.

 

[Blue Max]

Thanks, Doug, some great references. I appreciate the information very
much. Albeit, I still secretly yearn for an 'Instant Search' field at the
top of the 'Favorites' pane in Windows 'Internet' Explorer! I love the
instant search feature in Windows Explorer and can't image why it was not
included in Internet Explorer, especially when users are potentially
searching hundreds of folders with thousands of entries.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[Blue Max]

Hello Bob,

Thank you for the referral.

*******************

 

[Retroman]

Thanks, Doug, some great references. I appreciate the information very
much. Albeit, I still secretly yearn for an 'Instant Search' field at the
top of the 'Favorites' pane in Windows 'Internet' Explorer! I love the
instant search feature in Windows Explorer and can't image why it was not
included in Internet Explorer, especially when users are potentially
searching hundreds of folders with thousands of entries.

Thanks,
Richard

You're quite welcome, Richard.

Doug M. in NJ