jackbrannen

Thanks. Working for now.

Hi again Andrew,

This is randomly failing for me. Spotlight comments are still intact, but suddenly Alfred won't be able to find the folder with them. It can find the folder, just not with those comments.

Screenshot: http://take.ms/y1cty

Thanks! This works.

I have fuzzy matching turned on for my files, but I’m having trouble getting it to work as I want. Not sure if the problem is me or Alfred.

I would like ‘pc’ to return as its first result my “Production Calendar” file.

Right now, that file is the first result for the following searches:

• p
• p c
• pr

etc.

However, when I type “pc,” the file doesn’t show up at all. Shoudn’t fuzzy matching cover this?

Thanks!

Vero, I’m sorry—turns out it was a conflict from another app. Thanks for your support!

Could you please open Console app and let me know if anything is reported when it fails?

Thanks. Nothing new appears in the Console when it is occurring.

Hi Vero, problem is not resolved.

Hi Jack,

 

A couple of things to check...

 

1. Have you tried restarting your Mac to make sure it's not just OS X misbehaving a little?

2. Do you use a third-party Finder replacement? If so, it's possible that OS X is unable to clearly identify which Finder to reveal the files in. You may need to unset and re-set your Finder replacement so that OS X knows to use that.

3. It might sound silly, but if you have multiple screens, check it's not opening on the wrong screen.

 

Let me know how you get on

 

Cheers,

Vero

Thanks, Vero. No third-party Finder replacement and only one screen. Just restarted and have my fingers crossed. Thanks!

Sometimes when I press ⌘Return to reveal a file in the Finder, nothing happens. I’m having trouble finding a pattern.

The metadata indexing system is complex and therefore prone to occasional errors. Things can get missed or not updated because most of the metadata is cached. It's possible that Dropbox didn't update the modification time of the folder, so the metadata indexer didn't recognise it as changed and reindex it.

 

Forcing it to reindex things it hasn't indexed properly, up to and including deep-sixing the entire index if necessary, will usually kick-start it back into action.

Aha. So does Alfred share the same indexing system as Spotlight? If Spotlight can see it, Alfred can?

You can try forcing Spotlight to re-index it via Terminal:

mdimport -d 1 /path/to/your/folder/here

If that doesn't work, try changing the number after -d to show more information (1-4). Use man mdimport for more info.

Thanks, deanishe. The problem had resolved itself by the time I started this. Is this a known issue? Why is this happening to me?

Hi Jack, sorry for the slow reply! 

 

Could you please try renaming your folder, leaving it a moment, then renaming it to its original name? If it isn't turning up in search results, there may be some metadata missing for it and renaming it will force OS X to reindex it.

Hi Vero,

This problem is back with a new folder. If I rename it, I can find it under the new name. If I change it back, Alfred doesn’t see it.

Thanks, deanishe.

They were no help. I talked to Apple and have uninstalled Downcast, but that didn't resolve the issue. Looks like another Apple call is in order.

Where did you create the File Filter if not in a workflow?

It's just the standard Alfred search.

  As Alfred won't let you edit its File List by hand, the way I normally fix this (this happens with Markdown files a lot, too) is to open the workflow's info.plist file and manually change the UTI, i.e. change downcast.opml to org.opml.opml.

Sounds good to me. But this isn't part of a workflow. Where do I find the plist file?

Thanks!

Thanks, Vero!

What exactly is Alfred showing in the File Types list for your OPML document?

There are a good few apps that make a real mess of OPML support on your system (Cloud Outliner is particularly naughty).

Downcast has coopted my OPML files. Think that could be the issue? Seems like Alfred should see it regardless of what file type it is.

 

Could you please download the metadata tool below and drop in one of your OPML files, and copy the output in your reply:

http://cachefly.alfredapp.com/tools/AlfredMetadataTool_v1.1.zip

 

Also, could you include a screenshot of the file types you've added in the Advanced button, in the Default Results section?

 

Cheers,

Vero

 

/Users/jack/Dropbox (PracticeLink)/Resource Library/Reference/PRJ Templates/PRJ Circulation Report.opml


Internal File Metadata
======================


 Display Name: PRJ Circulation Report
    Alt Names: PRJ Circulation Report.opml
    File Type: org.opml.opml
     Comments: 
     Keywords: 
    Last Used: 


Raw mdls File Metadata
======================


kMDItemAlternateNames          = (
    "PRJ Circulation Report.opml"
)
kMDItemContentCreationDate     = 2015-03-25 14:08:28 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2015-03-30 15:27:26 +0000
kMDItemContentType             = "org.opml.opml"
kMDItemContentTypeTree         = (
    "org.opml.opml",
    "public.xml",
    "public.text",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.content"
)
kMDItemDateAdded               = 2015-03-26 12:59:35 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName             = "PRJ Circulation Report"
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate     = 2015-03-30 15:27:26 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate          = 2015-03-25 14:08:28 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode           = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags           = 16
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon         = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible             = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden     = 1
kMDItemFSIsStationery          = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                 = 0
kMDItemFSName                  = "PRJ Circulation Report.opml"
kMDItemFSNodeCount             = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID          = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID           = 501
kMDItemFSSize                  = 5245
kMDItemFSTypeCode              = ""
kMDItemKind                    = "OPML1.0 (.opml)"
kMDItemLogicalSize             = 5245
kMDItemPhysicalSize            = 12288

Alfred is pulling results from me from the path below despite the fact that neither it nor any of its parent folders are included in my search scope.

~/Library/Application Support/

How can I fix this problem?

Hi Jack,

 

Where are the OPML files you're searching for? Make sure they're in a location included in Alfred's search scope too

Thanks, Vero. I had added the immediate parent folder, and there was no change.

Also, sometimes what appears to be one file type can be multiple ones. For example, Markdown files can be .markdown or .md, so check whether the OPML files you find are of the same type as the one you've added.

Yes, they are the same. I dragged the specific file I was looking for into the file type window.

That being said, the less file types you add to Alfred's default search scope, the better the results will be, so is this something that would be better suited to creating a file filter workflow? Here's a tutorial on creating a file filter: http://support.alfredapp.com/tutorials:file-filter-workflow

 

It takes just a minute to create and helps focus your searches so much more! Let me know if you need a hand creating your workflow

 

Cheers,

Vero

Thanks. I'm really not looking for this type of solution. I'm not having performance solutions and just want the basic functionality to work as expected. Thanks, though!

Did you know that you can drag items out fo the main Alfred window? For instance, what you're asking for... if the Open/Save dialog is open, find the item in Alfred, click and drag it off the Alfred window, drop it on the Open/Save dialog. 

Thanks, David. I'm looking for a keyboard shortcut solution.

"baffled by the build-a-workflow components" isn't a particularly easy problem to address.

 

Can you be a bit more specific about what you're having difficulty with?

 

If you don't know where to start, there are lots of tutorials available.

 

The specific use case you want was talked about here.

deanishe, thanks. And you're right, that was a very vague post on my part—sorry about that. I am kind of frustrated because I feel like the workflow thing is way harder than it should be. I'll look in to your links. Thanks again.

When I manually add OPML files to Alfred's file type search list, Alfred does not see them.

However, if I tell Alfred to "Search all file types," the OPML files are visible.

So the problem is not the files themselves.

I have tried removing and re-adding OPML files to Alfred's file type search list to no avail.

I'm trying to write a workflow that will take the current Alfred selection and "go to" it (⌘⇧G) in the current open/save window, but I'm baffled by the build-a-workflow components. Can anyone help?

Could you please try renaming your folder, leaving it a moment, then renaming it to its original name? If it isn't turning up in search results, there may be some metadata missing for it and renaming it will force OS X to reindex it.

Hi Vero, thanks for your reply! I can't reproduce the issue any more, but I will try this if it recurs. Thanks!