"Learning"

[trueloss]

Since using Alfred in High Sierra I've noticed that files I use every day are not being remembered by Alfred and it now takes 4 0r 5 characters until the correct file gets to the top of the list. 

 

Anybody else experiencing this?

 

Ken

PS I'm using the latest version of Alfred.

[vitor]

2 hours ago, trueloss said:

I'm using the latest version of Alfred.

 

You must always specify the exact version. There’s a chance that what you think is the latest version isn’t, and even if it is we won’t know if it’s the latest stable or unstable.

 

2 hours ago, trueloss said:

Since using Alfred in High Sierra I've noticed that files I use every day are not being remembered by Alfred and it now takes 4 0r 5 characters until the correct file gets to the top of the list. 

 

See Alfred can't find the files I'm searching for.

Edited November 11, 2017 by vitor

[bjelakrez]

I have the exact same problem (I think). Over the weekend I updated my system from Yosemite to High Sierra.

 

Everything is fine except for searching for files using Alfred.

 

Let's say I search for a file whose name starts with Euc... I type 'euc in Alfred and it shows up at the fifth spot. I go down and open it. Next time I type 'euc it shows up at the first spot, all good.

 

But if I now type just 'eu it's doesn't appear anywhere in the list. I try to type 'euc a couple more times, opening it each time. In the past this would make it appear in the list when just 'e and 'eu are typed. But not any more.

 

Is this now the correct behavior or is something amuck on my end?

 

Alfred version 3.4.1 [860], High Sierra.

 

This is happening if I revert back to Alfred 2.5 as well.

 

I tried to reindex and repair permissions (https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/preferences/) nothing helps.

[Vero]

@bjelakrez Jumping from Yosemite to High Sierra is a big upgrade skipping quite a few versions, so there's a reasonable possibility that there's some corruption or legacy libraries/files on your Mac playing havoc with the metadata search itself, which then manifests itself in Alfred.

 

Before we go any further, could you please go through the reindex again from Alfred's Advanced prefs, clicking "Rebuild macOS metadata", and this time, ensuring that you check the "Delete /.Spotlight-V100" when the checkbox pops up. Then follow the instructions in Terminal, and check for any error messages in Terminal itself.

 

You'll then need to leave it up to an hour to complete, then have a play again to see whether results are behaving more as expected.

 

Also, if you're a Powerpack user, could you please fill in your Powerpack email address in your forum profile? This is only visible to admins, and allows us to confirm our users' status.

 

[Edited to add: I've hidden your duplicate message in another thread. There's no need to post the same question in two different threads.]

 

Cheers,
Vero

[bjelakrez]

Hi Vero,

 

I did the reindex with the "Delete /.Spotlight-V100" checked.

 

I don't know how to check on the progress of reindexing. In the past if you did a search using Spotlight, there was a progress bar indicating that indexing is in progress. Is this gone now? Is there any other way to check that?

 

In any case, I don't think it helped. I still have to type long strings to get to the file I want.

 

So you confirm that this should still be working as in the past (meaning that in subsequent searches the files should appear when shorter strings are typed)?

 

I'm losing hope I'll get this to work ever again.

[bjelakrez]

FYI,

 

I now also tried "3. Resetting Alfred to Defaults" from https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/preferences/ - no change, still doesn't work.

[Vero]

@bjelakrez You need to be using the most current version for us to be able to help you out, so please update to the latest version of Alfred 3 (3.5.1 b883) downloaded from https://www.alfredapp.com first.

 

Cheers,
Vero

 

 

[bjelakrez]

Done. Still doesn't work.

[Vero]

@bjelakrez To keep the other thread clean, I've removed the post there. If you keep all replies in this thread, it makes it easier to respond in a single place.

 

As Andrew stated, while we haven't been able to replicate this issue, we recognise that there is a small number of users who are experiencing indexing issues in macOS High Sierra. The file results are provided to Alfred by macOS, and if results are missing altogether for certain search terms, there's nothing Alfred can do to to intelligently sort these using his own algorithms.  

 

As Andrew said in the other thread, he has raised bugs with Apple about this, and we are hoping that this behaviour will improve in the next few releases of High Sierra. In parallel, he is also working on ideas to mitigate the issue.

 

The next step is for you to please create a new user account on your Mac temporarily to see what behaviour you see there.

 

Also, as per my earlier post, please fill in your Powerpack email address in your forum profile. This is only visible to admins but allows us to confirm your Powerpack status.

 

Cheers,
Vero

 

[bjelakrez]

It's not that the results are missing, it's that they don't get higher priority after opening them. It looks like opening them doesn't have absolutely any effect.

 

I don't see how my Powerpack status is of any relevance here.

[Andrew]

59 minutes ago, bjelakrez said:

I don't see how my Powerpack status is of any relevance here.

 

As Vero mentioned, this is a non-reproducible and isolated issue only affecting a handful of users, seems to be specific to certain Macs / Mac configurations, and relates to macOS indexing which is mostly outside of Alfred's control.

 

As an Alfred Powerpack user, there are additional avenues we can take to try to debug this issue on your Mac, provide a workaround which requires workflow features, or allocate more time trying to get to the bottom of your problem.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

 

 

[bjelakrez]

Thanks @Andrew for replying here.

 

I get the same results in a fresh user account. I have to type the same number of characters every time to get the file I want (at least it IS in the first position).

 

I think it can be reproducible. Try installing Sierra or any previous OS version and update to High Sierra.

 

I'm not interested in a workflow workaround.

[bjelakrez]

No news on this front? I'm seeing a couple of similar threads in this forum, so maybe this issue is not that isolated.

 

Did you try my suggestion to reproduce the issue?

 

I'm starting to think I'll be forced to switch to another launcher soon.

[Andrew]

@bjelakrez Alfred has millions of users, and there are a couple of threads regarding indexing on High Sierra, so this issue isn't common. I have also been unable to reproduce on the three macs I've updated to High Sierra. Every year Apple does a major macOS update, we go through the same rodeo, and it takes a couple of macOS point releases before things settle down again.

 

I am not deserting this issue though, as I mentioned in this thread which you've seen:

 

https://www.alfredforum.com/topic/11000-issue-finding-new-files-based-on-partial-name/?do=findComment&comment=56933

 

Quote

I have recently raised a bug to Apple with regards to a change in behaviour (and API crash) relating to the macOS metadata search, and while it's unrelated to the specific issue you describe, I am not surprised to see that the High Sierra indexing / metadata query is being quirky.
 
I am currently working on a few different things which may help mitigate overall oddness in default search results provided by Apple when things aren't working 100% in the macOS metadata server, but on the whole, this should work as expected.

 

Once I find some workarounds I am happy with, they will be released in an Alfred update.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[bjelakrez]

Great, thanks for your reply.

 

Can you share what are your experiences with Apple responding to your bug reports? Do they resolve them (if yes, does it take a long time?) or simply ignore you?

[Andrew]

This is now going to be tracked in this bug thread (beta build available), please add any further replies here: