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Issues with pdf documents


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I have noticed, that alfred is unable to find some pdf documents. This is not a spotlight-related issue, since I've let it rebuild the index and spotlight, in fact, finds those documents. All the extra options, like "find" or "open" don't get any results. ~/Desktop and ~/Downloads are in search scope. Search for "Documents" is enabled in "Default Results". This may be an issue with tags in pdf documents, because alfred is able to find other pdf documents in the same folder, but, as I said, those are not a problem for spotlight. 

 

I run alfred v2.2 with powerpack on the latest Mavericks. If you contact me, I could send you those documents per email. Sorry, but I can't leave them in public access, since those are scientific publications, normally behind a paywall, so there could be trouble. 

 

 

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I have noticed, that alfred is unable to find some pdf documents. This is not a spotlight-related issue, since I've let it rebuild the index and spotlight, in fact, finds those documents. All the extra options, like "find" or "open" don't get any results. ~/Desktop and ~/Downloads are in search scope. Search for "Documents" is enabled in "Default Results". This may be an issue with tags in pdf documents, because alfred is able to find other pdf documents in the same folder, but, as I said, those are not a problem for spotlight. 

 

I run alfred v2.2 with powerpack on the latest Mavericks. If you contact me, I could send you those documents per email. Sorry, but I can't leave them in public access, since those are scientific publications, normally behind a paywall, so there could be trouble. 

 

When files aren't being found, this is going to be an OS X metadata indexing issue. Could you drop one of the files not being found into this application and show me the output:

 

http://cachefly.alfredapp.com/tools/AlfredMetadataTool_v1.0.zip

 

This may give us a clue as to why the file isn't being found.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[moving to the help sub-forum]

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Here is the output: 

/Users/sergej/Downloads/903290109_ftp.pdf

Internal File Metadata
======================

 Display Name: 903290109_ftp.pdf
    Alt Names: 
    File Type: com.adobe.pdf
     Comments: 
     Keywords: 
    Last Used: 

Raw mdls File Metadata
======================

kMDItemContentCreationDate     = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemContentType             = "com.adobe.pdf"
kMDItemContentTypeTree         = (
    "com.adobe.pdf",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.composite-content",
    "public.content"
)
kMDItemCreator                 = "Acrobat 5.0 Paper Capture Plug-in for Windows "
kMDItemDateAdded               = 2014-04-23 13:06:39 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName             = "903290109_ftp.pdf"
kMDItemEncodingApplications    = (
    "PDFlib PLOP 2.0.0p6 (SunOS)/Acrobat 4.05 Import Plug-in for Windows"
)
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate     = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate          = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode           = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags           = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon         = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible             = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden     = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery          = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                 = 0
kMDItemFSName                  = "903290109_ftp.pdf"
kMDItemFSNodeCount             = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID          = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID           = 501
kMDItemFSSize                  = 1542022
kMDItemFSTypeCode              = ""
kMDItemKind                    = "Portable Document Format (PDF)"
kMDItemLogicalSize             = 1542022
kMDItemNumberOfPages           = 14
kMDItemPageHeight              = 792.2395
kMDItemPageWidth               = 594.7196
kMDItemPhysicalSize            = 1544192
kMDItemSecurityMethod          = "None"
kMDItemTitle                   = "Mapping of octopamine-immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system of the lobster"
kMDItemVersion                 = "1.3"

I am searching for "mapping", but alfred just can't find the document. Spotlight does. 

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Here is the output: 

/Users/sergej/Downloads/903290109_ftp.pdf

Internal File Metadata
======================

 Display Name: 903290109_ftp.pdf
    Alt Names: 
    File Type: com.adobe.pdf
     Comments: 
     Keywords: 
    Last Used: 

Raw mdls File Metadata
======================

kMDItemContentCreationDate     = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemContentType             = "com.adobe.pdf"
kMDItemContentTypeTree         = (
    "com.adobe.pdf",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.composite-content",
    "public.content"
)
kMDItemCreator                 = "Acrobat 5.0 Paper Capture Plug-in for Windows "
kMDItemDateAdded               = 2014-04-23 13:06:39 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName             = "903290109_ftp.pdf"
kMDItemEncodingApplications    = (
    "PDFlib PLOP 2.0.0p6 (SunOS)/Acrobat 4.05 Import Plug-in for Windows"
)
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate     = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate          = 2014-04-23 11:28:17 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode           = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags           = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon         = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible             = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden     = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery          = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                 = 0
kMDItemFSName                  = "903290109_ftp.pdf"
kMDItemFSNodeCount             = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID          = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID           = 501
kMDItemFSSize                  = 1542022
kMDItemFSTypeCode              = ""
kMDItemKind                    = "Portable Document Format (PDF)"
kMDItemLogicalSize             = 1542022
kMDItemNumberOfPages           = 14
kMDItemPageHeight              = 792.2395
kMDItemPageWidth               = 594.7196
kMDItemPhysicalSize            = 1544192
kMDItemSecurityMethod          = "None"
kMDItemTitle                   = "Mapping of octopamine-immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system of the lobster"
kMDItemVersion                 = "1.3"

I am searching for "mapping", but alfred just can't find the document. Spotlight does. 

 

Alfred doesn't search the kMDItemTitle by default, instead, the filename and display name. You could try using the 'in' keyword which searches inside the document, for example, show Alfred and type:

 

in mapping

 

...or alternatively, create a custom file filter which searches specifically for kMDItemTitle. Let me know if you need help with that :)

 

Cheers,

Andrew

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...or alternatively, create a custom file filter which searches specifically for kMDItemTitle. Let me know if you need help with that :)

 

 

Well, I guess, I need some help with that - don't even know, how to start :) Any thoughts to enable it as default search options in the next version of Alfred? Maybe as an option?

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Well, I guess, I need some help with that - don't even know, how to start :) Any thoughts to enable it as default search options in the next version of Alfred? Maybe as an option?

 

No problems, here is a file filter for PDFs which will only show PDF files matching name or title:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6749767/Alfred/Workflows/Search%20for%20PDFs.alfredworkflow

 

You can use this by showing Alfred and using the pdf keyword for example:

 

pdf mapping

 

It's unlikely that this will make it into Alfred's default results as he is designed to work most efficiently with less types setup in the default results, then use filters and workflows for specific usage such as this.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

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When I try to import the workflow, I get the following text:

Incompatible Workflow

This workflow was created with a newer version of Alfred. Update Alfred to the latest version (or pre-release) to use this workflow. 

 

Ah sorry, you can either wait a few days for Alfred 2.3 to be released, or select 'pre-releases' at the bottom of Alfred's Update prefs :)

 

Cheers,

Andrew

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