Certain files not being found in Alfred after updating to OSX 10.10.3

[dechimp]

I upgraded to OS X 10.10.3 and now Alfred cannot find my markdown files.  I seemed to try everything in this guide http://support.alfredapp.com/kb:indexing, but maybe there's something I missed.  Here's what all I tried.

 

1) OS X Spotlight Preferences > Privacy.  No folders were listed.  I added the folder and removed it.

2) OS X Spotlight Preferences > Search Results. All boxes are checked

3) Alfred Search scope is set to the right folder.  I removed and re-added the folder.

4) File permissions:  I set all the files in the folder (and the folder itself) to Chmod 777.

5) I rebuilt the OS X spotlight index ("Rebuild OSX Metadata").  It took over an hour, but I let it complete fully.  Spotlight actually sees the files just fine but Alfred doesn't.

6) File Types:  I removed and re-added the markdown file type in Alfred (Features > Default Results > Advanced)

7) I refreshed the Alfred cache ("reload")

 

If I type "find" or use the shortcut ( ' ), the file shows up, but just typing the filename doesn't pull up anything.  Here is an interesting hint - when I enable "Unintelligent (Search all file types)" in Features > Default Results, the markdown files show up!  Not sure what is happening, though...

 

Alfred v2.6 (374)

OSX 10.10.3

 

Thanks.

Edited April 13, 2015 by dechimp

[Andrew]

 

I upgraded to OS X 10.10.3 and now Alfred cannot find my markdown files.  I seemed to try everything in this guide http://support.alfredapp.com/kb:indexing, but maybe there's something I missed.  Here's what all I tried.

 

1) OS X Spotlight Preferences > Privacy.  No folders were listed.  I added the folder and removed it.

2) OS X Spotlight Preferences > Search Results. All boxes are checked

3) Alfred Search scope is set to the right folder.  I removed and re-added the folder.

4) File permissions:  I set all the files in the folder (and the folder itself) to Chmod 777.

5) I rebuilt the OS X spotlight index ("Rebuild OSX Metadata").  It took over an hour, but I let it complete fully.  Spotlight actually sees the files just fine but Alfred doesn't.

6) File Types:  I removed and re-added the markdown file type in Alfred (Features > Default Results > Advanced)

7) I refreshed the Alfred cache ("reload")

 

If I type "find" or use the shortcut ( ' ), the file shows up, but just typing the filename doesn't pull up anything.  Here is an interesting hint - when I enable "Unintelligent (Search all file types)" in Features > Default Results, the markdown files show up!  Not sure what is happening, though...

 

Alfred v2.6 (374)

OSX 10.10.3

 

Thanks.

 

 

By default, Alfred searches a subset of files to keep things clean, and md isn't one of those types. If you'd like to include that file type in Alfred's default results, you can click on the Features > Default Results >  Advanced button and drag the md file into the user-defined types there.

 

I always recommend to have less stuff in your default results and separate file search to the [spacebar] prefix which keeps the default results focused, clean and fast.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[dechimp]

I do have the Markdown filetype added. I wrote that in #6.

 

If you don't believe me, though, see the screenshot below.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0axlxmn02ghifh9/Screenshot%202015-04-15%2014.27.56.png?dl=0

 

I think I know the problem now, but I dont know how to fix it yet.... 

 

When I dragged a .md file into the User-defined filetypes, it appeared to add markdown support, but only .markdown files seem to work, not .md files. 

[Andrew]

That should be ok, but there are subtle differences in the associations if you look at my screenshot...

 

 

Could you please drop one of the markdown and one of the md files into this metadata tool and let me know the output?

 

http://cachefly.alfredapp.com/tools/AlfredMetadataTool_v1.1.zip

 

(Also, have you tried dragging both .markdown and .md files in to that list to see if you get two different entries?)

[dechimp]

If I drag .markdown and .md files into the User-defined filetypes, I'm getting the same output, letter-for-letter, and it only retains one entry (that is, I'm not seeing two markdown filetypes on the list).  

 

The metadata output is below, but I think I'm starting to stray from the idea that this issue is filetype related.  See my next reply.

/Users/dechimp/Downloads/foo.md

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

 Display Name: foo.md
    Alt Names: 
    File Type: net.daringfireball.markdown
     Comments: 
     Keywords: 
    Last Used: 

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

kMDItemContentCreationDate     = 2015-02-27 00:10:42 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2015-02-27 00:10:42 +0000
kMDItemContentType             = "net.daringfireball.markdown"
kMDItemContentTypeTree         = (
    "net.daringfireball.markdown",
    "public.plain-text",
    "public.text",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.content"
)
kMDItemDateAdded               = 2015-04-16 12:59:00 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName             = "foo.md"
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate     = 2015-02-27 00:10:42 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate          = 2015-02-27 00:10:42 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode           = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags           = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon         = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible             = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden     = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery          = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                 = 0
kMDItemFSName                  = "foo.md"
kMDItemFSNodeCount             = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID          = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID           = 502
kMDItemFSSize                  = 0
kMDItemFSTypeCode              = ""
kMDItemKind                    = "Markdown document"
kMDItemLogicalSize             = 0
kMDItemPhysicalSize            = 0

[dechimp]

I noticed that any new .md files I add to this directory are showing up fine in Alfred.  It's just the files that I created before updating Yosemite that are not appearing.  

 

If I take a not-working-md-file and make a copy of it in the same location, the new copy will show up in Alfred but the old file doesnt.  Both files show as having the same owner and the same file permissions (they are both 774).

 

So I ran both files through your metadata tool and then vimdiff.  What I found is that the pre-OSX10.10.3-update files are not showing as markdown files but as something strange ("dyn.ah62d4rv4ge8043a").  Even weirder is that dragging those files to Alfred's file list will populate the list with "net.daringfireball.markdown".  

 

Here is the metadata diff if you want to see it:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cgg5zirqcl7p4su/Screenshot%202015-04-16%2007.03.05.png?dl=0

 

Of course, I see a workaround solution of just making a copy of all my files and using the new copy and deleting the old.  I would rather get to the bottom of the issue but at least now I can get back to my normal workflow.

 

I've already tried reindexing OSX metadata, but the file's metadata itself just remains as it is.

Edited April 16, 2015 by dechimp

[Andrew]

I've already tried reindexing OSX metadata, but the file's metadata itself just remains as it is.

 

When you reindexed the metadata, did you select to delete the .Spotlight-V100 folder? If not, this may be enough to flush out those issues (I'm surprised a reindex didn't fix these).

[dechimp]

I dont think I opted to delete that.  I'll report back in an hour

[dechimp]

Looks like that did the trick.  Sorry I didn't figure that out sooner. Thank you, Alfred's Dad.