Issue finding new files based on partial name

[dillonplunkett]

Hi, 

 

I'm having trouble getting Alfred to locate newly created files without typing almost the complete file name.

 

For example, I have an old text file called "work notes.txt". It is always first result in Alfred after typing "'wo".  If I duplicate that file--creating a new, almost identically named file "work motes.txt" in the same directory--and open the new file a few times, then the new file is the first result under "Documents" when searching for Spotlight for "wo". However, the new file won't show up at all in Alfred after typing only "'wo", even if I change the "Result Limit" to see 40 results (even though the old file in the same directory is the first result). I usually have to type at least 6 or 7 characters before the new file appears. 

 

I've tried rebuilding my OS X metadata and reloading Alfred's cache. I updated to High Sierra a few weeks ago, but I couldn't say whether this started then or longer ago.

 

Any ideas what might be going on?

 

Thanks!

Edited November 27, 2017 by dillonplunkett

[Andrew]

@dillonplunkett I've just tested this on our macOS High Sierra (fresh install) test machine, and get the expected results, with the latest file at the top:

 

 

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.

 

Could you try temporarily creating a new user profile, switching to that user, and testing the behaviour there?

 

Cheers,

Andrew

 

 

[dillonplunkett]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

I just confirmed that I have the same issue with a new user profile. (Just to clarify, as soon as I type enough of the file name to get the new file to appear, it correctly appears as the top result. The issue is only that it's not anywhere at all in the 40 results after 4 or 5 characters, even if Spotlight is finding it with just 1 or 2.)

[Andrew]

@dillonplunkett could you pop an email to our info@ address so I can get some more info, and I have a workflow I'd like you to try.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Andrew]

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