Jump to content

Extend search scope only when using a keyword


Recommended Posts

I find myself searching ~/Library/Application Support and /Library/Application Support quite often so I thought it'd be handy to have an Alfred Workflow to help out with that. I'd like to type a keyword (eg: "appsupport") and have Alfred return results from the aforementioned folders based on whatever query follows it. This seemed fairly simple, but my attempt doesn't appear to work. It just returns results from my contacts, and then from my fallbacks. I wondered if that might be because I haven't added either of the Application Support folders to Alfred's default search scope (I don't want to see results from them by default), but adding them didn't make a difference. The only other thing I could think of was that OS X itself may not be indexing those folders (if so, I'm not sure how to go about changing that behaviour). Any help would be appreciated :-)

Edited by Subject22
Link to comment

I find myself searching ~/Library/Application Support and /Library/Application Support quite often so I thought it'd be handy to have an Alfred Workflow to help out with that. I'd like to type a keyword (eg: "appsupport") and have Alfred return results from the aforementioned folders based on whatever query follows it. This seemed fairly simple, but my attempt doesn't appear to work. It just returns results from my contacts. I wondered if that might be because I haven't added either of the Application Support folders to Alfred's default search scope (I don't want to see results from them by default), but adding them didn't make a difference. The only other thing I could think of was that OS X may not be indexing those folders itself (if so, I'm not sure how to go about changing that behaviour). Any help would be appreciated :-)

 

It's working for me. What are you typing in Alfred mate? I get both folders by typing app.

 

Also do this if you haven't:

 

Screen%20Shot%202013-04-04%20at%207.19.0

Link to comment

I tried turning on unintelligent searching, but it didn't make a difference, and I'd also rather not use it (if possible).

 

Typing the keyword works:

 

Test%201.png

 

Typing a query does not:

 

Test%202.png

 

 

EDIT: Made the screenshots a little less huge. Figured out how to do inline images :D

Edited by Subject22
Link to comment

I tried turning on unintelligent searching, but it didn't make a difference, and I'd also rather not use it (if possible).

 

Typing the keyword works:

 

Test%201.png

 

So you get nothing typing application support? And, is that finder window from your workflow or done by other means?

Link to comment

Aha. I think I've misunderstood a couple of things. Typing appsupport application support into Alfred does indeed bring up both Application Support folders. What I really want is for the workflow to return results from within both of those folders simultaneously. Is that possible?

 

I brought the Finder window up manually, so that you could see what some valid results might be.

Link to comment

Aha. I think I've misunderstood a couple of things. Typing appsupport application support into Alfred does indeed bring up both Application Support folders.

 

All right! Now where makin' progress.

 

What I really want is for the workflow to return results from within both of those folders simultaneously. Is that possible?

 

You want both windows in alfred side by side correct or in finder? Because if it you don't mind if it's in finder hit "Control" to reveal in finder and then just do the same for the other.

Edited by Ddyracer
Link to comment

Yeah, I want search results from both of those folders to show up side-by-side in Alfred. Essentially it'd be like a normal file search (eg: 'somefolder or 'somefile), but the search scope would be limited to just those two folders, and nothing else (i.e.: typing appsupport somefolder or appsupport somefile would give results only from ~/Library/Application Support or from /Library/Application Support)

Link to comment

Yeah, I want search results from both of those folders to show up side-by-side in Alfred. Essentially it'd be like a normal file search (eg: 'somefolder or 'somefile), but the search scope would be limited to just those two folders, and nothing else (i.e.: typing appsupport somefolder or appsupport somefile would give results only from ~/Library/Application Support or from /Library/Application Support)

 

Yeah not possible currently except maybe with a workflow.

Link to comment

I thought I'd done that in my first post: "I thought it'd be handy to have an Alfred Workflow to help out with that." But this is a silly thing to disagree over. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough the first time around :-)

 

No, no. What i'm saying is i wish you had said you wanted that whole window side by side thing from the start, that wasn't in your first post. Peace.

Link to comment

Hi there,

 

You likely need to just include system files in the file config. I've thrown together a quick file filter to get you started:

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6749767/Alfred/Workflows/Search%20App%20Support.alfredworkflow

 

Also, I'd recommend against using the Features > Default Results > "Search all file types..." as that makes Alfred's default results really messy. Instead, prefix normal file searches with [spacebar].

 

Cheers,

Andrew

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...