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Dropbox search failure


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I used the most latest version of Dropbox, Alfred, and MacOS. The Dropbox folder is located at "/Users/xxx/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox".

 

Spotlight can find everything in Dropbox, but Alfred cannot see anything in Dropbox. 

 

I have tried every solution I can find in this forum (e.g., reset to Applications and Home, clean application catch, rebuild macOS Metadata). None of those worked. 

 

I tried the "File search troubleshooting" to find a file in Dropbox. Below are the error reports. How can I solve the problem? The only reason I use Alfred is the searching function and I put all my files into Dropbox. 

 

Starting Diagnostics...

File: 'Career'
Path: '/Users/xxx/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox'

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check file cache database...

File cache integrity is ok

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check if file is readable...

Alfred has permissions to read this file.

Unix Permissions: 493
Underlying Type: NSFileTypeDirectory
Extended Attributes: (
    "com.dropbox.attrs",
    "com.dropbox.fp_hydration_policy"
)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check if volume '/' is indexed by macOS...

Indexing is enabled on this drive

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check direct file metadata...

Direct metadata available

Display Name: Career
 Other Names: 
Content Type: public.folder
   Last Used: 2022-11-16 22:05:12 +0000

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check mdls file metadata...

macOS metadata missing essential items

kMDItemFSContentChangeDate = 2022-11-16 22:05:12 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate      = 2019-01-26 05:57:51 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode       = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags       = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon     = 0
kMDItemFSInvisible         = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery      = 0
kMDItemFSLabel             = 0
kMDItemFSName              = "Career"
kMDItemFSNodeCount         = 3
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID      = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID       = 502
kMDItemFSSize              = 3
kMDItemFSTypeCode          = ""

-----------------------------------------------------------

Troubleshooting failed
 

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@Benjamin2023 Welcome to the forum :)

 

I also use Dropbox with the new location, and the issue you're seeing is unrelated to that. The metadata is the index information macOS provides to any app that requires it. Here's an example of a file stored in Dropbox in the new CloudStorage and what its metadata should look like:

 

Quote

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check mdls file metadata...

Metadata contains required items

_kMDItemDisplayNameWithExtensions  = "How many days since.alfredworkflow"
com_apple_metadata_modtime         = 634040606
kMDItemContentCreationDate         = 2021-02-03 10:23:26 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking = 2021-02-03 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate     = 2021-02-03 10:23:26 +0000
kMDItemContentType                 = "com.runningwithcrayons.alfred.workflow"
kMDItemContentTypeTree             = (
    "com.runningwithcrayons.alfred.workflow",
    "public.zip-archive",
    "com.pkware.zip-archive",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.archive"
)
kMDItemDateAdded                   = 2023-02-08 15:42:14 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName                 = "How many days since.alfredworkflow"
kMDItemDocumentIdentifier          = 11712
kMDItemFileItemID                  = "__fp/OTNmNzVkM2MtNDZiNC00NDM5LWJlM2ItNTRmMWIzYWYxYTVl/__fp/fs/docID(11712)"
kMDItemFilename                    = "How many days since.alfredworkflow"
kMDItemFileProviderID              = "com.getdropbox.dropbox.fileprovider"
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate         = 2021-02-03 10:23:26 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate              = 2021-02-03 10:23:26 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode               = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags               = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon             = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible                 = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden         = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery              = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                     = 0
kMDItemFSName                      = "How many days since.alfredworkflow"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                 = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID              = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID               = 501
kMDItemFSSize                      = 1182
kMDItemFSTypeCode                  = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking     = 2021-02-03 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemIsDownloading               = 0
kMDItemIsShared                    = 0
kMDItemIsUploaded                  = 1
kMDItemIsUploading                 = 0
kMDItemKind                        = "Alfred Workflow"
kMDItemLogicalSize                 = 1182
kMDItemPhysicalSize                = 4096
kMDItemUserOwned                   = 0

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

This gives you a sense of quite how much information is contained within that metadata, which is what Alfred uses to return relevant results. Spotlight just spews all file types regardless of what they are, whereas Alfred performs a more specific search. This is where the information contained in the ContentTypeTree is useful.

 

At this point, your best bet would be to first rebuild your Mac's index by following step 5 here:

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/indexing/

 

Once the index is rebuilt, drag the same file into the File Troubleshooter and see whether the information is complete. 

 

After rebuilding your Mac's index, it's possible that Alfred will indicate in the "Check MDQuery file search..." header that you need to adjust the search scope, so take a look at that notice as well.

 

Let me know how you get on :)

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