How can I search Applications recursively

[dhjdhj]

A lot of apps now seem to place themselves in folders that they put inside Applications. Those apps aren't findable since (as far as I can tell) Alfred doesn't search Applications recursively.

 

I thought this used to work but perhaps I'm mistaken. Anyway, I couldn't find any way to enable recursive search.

 

Is this doable?

[jdfwarrior]

A lot of apps now seem to place themselves in folders that they put inside Applications. Those apps aren't findable since (as far as I can tell) Alfred doesn't search Applications recursively.

 

I thought this used to work but perhaps I'm mistaken. Anyway, I couldn't find any way to enable recursive search.

 

Is this doable?

 

Alfred should search these folders without issue. MAMP is good example of the type of application you are talking about. After installation I can easily find MAMP (or any office applications) from searches within Alfred. Perhaps there is something wonky with the metadata for these items.

 

Have you tried reindexing and then clearing your application cache? Both of these actions are available with Alfred's Advanced preferences.

[dhjdhj]

That worked, thank you. But I'm wondering why it was necessary to do this?

[jdfwarrior]

That worked, thank you. But I'm wondering why it was necessary to do this?

 

Could have been something corrupted in the metadata or something that was making it act wonky.

[dhjdhj]

Whose metadata?

 

For example, spotlight had no problem finding the application even though Alfred couldn't find it.

[dhjdhj]

OK --- I've discovered that this problem is happening because aliases are not being found --- spotlight is not finding them either ---- and a cursory google search would indicate that spotlight can't find them --- that's a pain.

 

Any workarounds?

[Andrew]

OK --- I've discovered that this problem is happening because aliases are not being found --- spotlight is not finding them either ---- and a cursory google search would indicate that spotlight can't find them --- that's a pain.

 

Any workarounds?

 

If you add the original folder (for example the cellar folder for homebrew) to Alfred's Features > Default Results > Search Scope, then Alfred will recursively find the source apps, so the symlinks don't matter.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[dhjdhj]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing....I guess I was looking for a better way --- the trouble with that approach is you have to a) discover that you can't find an app then go figure out where it really lives and c) add the original folder. As more and more programs do this kind of installation, it becomes a messy solution.

 

Curious as to why Alfred can't see and resolve aliases in the Applications folder

[Andrew]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing....I guess I was looking for a better way --- the trouble with that approach is you have to a) discover that you can't find an app then go figure out where it really lives and c) add the original folder. As more and more programs do this kind of installation, it becomes a messy solution.

 

Curious as to why Alfred can't see and resolve aliases in the Applications folder

 

This is more of a shortcoming in the way the OS X metadata server works. Alfred uses this to find files and applications (before caching them). No source metadata is stored in the symlinks, so OS X effectively ignores them in the metadata searches when looking for specific file types. This prevents issues such as infinite recursion, and also significantly improves efficiency.

 

If I ever add an indexing engine to Alfred (unlikely at this point as Alfred enjoys being extremely lightweight), then I'd look into ways of resolving and including symlinks.

[dhjdhj]

ok - thanks for the clarification