I setup a directory with a variety of movie types as you can see from the picture above.
Then I went into the advanced search function. There is no option to search by extension or by file group - both would be much easier to use as search criteria than File Type. Types on the other hand can change with software installations or software file associations (making any saved searches potentially worthless). Also, file Types are very non-descript and poor at telling you exactly what extensions are included in the type.
To expose the problem I sorted the original file list by type and then attempted to setup each type with in the advanced search function.
What you notice as you're setting up your search is that you cannot find all the types in the file list on the search type drop-down (KMP Matroska File, MP4 File, VLC Media File - (.flv)).
.mkv listed in the file list as KMP Matroska is actually listed as MKV File if you go into the File Type Setup function and search for the .mkv extension.
.mp4 MP4 File KMP - MP??? $ (??? $ (4 Aud))io/Video File
.flv VLC Media File KMP -Video File (spacing is correct)
When you attempt to find the File Type that was uncovered when you search via the File Types setup you find that:
.mkv listed as MKV File still does not exist in the advanced search drop down but what you can find is MKVFile without the space
.mp4 can be found as KMP - MP??? $ (??? $ (4 Aud))io/Video File but shows MP4 File in the updated search results
.flv shown as VLC Media File and setup as KMP -Video File is found in the drop-down list but does not return the file with the .flv extension
The other issue is that of the 4 types I was able to setup in the advanced search it does not even return the Movie Clip type matches.
.mpg Movie Clip KMP - MPEG Movie File
You can find KMP - MPEG Movie File in the drop-down selection and it does properly return the .mpg file but listed as a File Type of Movie Clip
As you can see from above I was able to locate 6 out of 7 files but this is way overcomplicated and dysfunctional.
I reported this as a problem back in November 2010 and I was asked to post it in here. It took me some time but here it is.
I don't know what happened in the original post with the MP4 file type value...I tried to re-include it here but it seems like it's being evaluated as a mathematical statement or something and I cannot seem to include it.
I didn't even think that "extension" was part of the name field and when I couldn't find extension in the drop-down I went to what seemed to be the next best choice. It still doesn't fix the problem with the File Type field showing different underlying values depending on where you look at it within DO (the advanced search, the lister or the file type setup) giving potentially 3 different underlying values for one file. Ultimately maybe File Type should be removed from search since it is unpredictable, potentially being reset by some program resetting it's ownership of a file extension. I'm not sure what the thought was behind the creation of the File Type.
All in all it would be nice if there was a way to easily set the group attribute by extension (using an update clause) and ultimately use it for searching, the File Type Update section is rather cubersome for setting up File Groups. The problem is that you add a new type by installing a new program you have to remember to go back and update the group (at least the way it works now). Of course using a saved search with extensions presents the same problem you have to remember to update the search instead of the group.
Is there somewhere that you can actually key in a "select statement" rather than using the advanced search form?
It seems like your complaints are more to do with the Windows file type system than anything Opus has any real control over.
If you just want to search by extension(s) then all or at least most places where wildcards can be typed in Opus will accept strings like *.(mp4|wmv|mpg)
If you don't want to type such wildcards by hand you can use filetype groups and grp:movies or similar as a wildcard in many places. If you don't like them then you can define a filter and save it so you can use it again just by selecting it from the drop down. Or make a button which uses it automatically... or several other methods.
Using a program FileTypeMan and Windows Explorer I attempted to map DO's fields to Windows. The confusion for me comes from the use or misuse of names. What DO calls File Type in NirSoft is listed as Description. Windows Explorer shows way more descriptive fields, ID, Classifications, etc that neither FileTypeMan or DO can expose but none are the Group that is in DO's File Type Setup. So I am presuming that the "Group" in DO is something that is being maintained by DO. Those several extensions that I've been using I set the Group equal to "Movie". Using FileTypeMan or Windows Explorer and even a search through the registry I can't find the "Movie" value...what I do see is what they list as a Perceived Type which is set to Video which might be a better alternative for File Type.
I guess my complaint is that something is going on with the Type field as I eluded to in my previous post. You have the Types that don't appear or appear in a slightly different form than what is displayed in the File Type Setup - for whatever reason these two should be the same set of results and yet are not meaning the data is coming from two different places. Not that I am convinced that the Type field is very valuable in any sense at least for searching. Secondly, you have the Group field in the DO File Type Setup that doesn't appear to do anything or go anywhere and is apparently internal to DO which could be useful especially if there was some way to programmatically set it but I don't know that it would be possible as newly added extensions would require some process to always be checking if they had been set since the process is not part of Windows itself. Lastly, the Perceived Type field from windows may do a better job of correlating various extensions but only 196 out of 1330 currently have the Perceived Type set to video, text, system, image, document, compressed, audio making it almost as useless as DO's Group field especially since looking at one screenful of unassigned extensions I can see an audio file that should be set.
File Type Groups are an Opus thing and allow you to add context menus, mouse-button actions, info-tips etc. to several Windows file types at once. (The alternative would be having to edit all of those types individually, which is a pain.) File Type Groups don't exist to make searching easier (although they can to an extent, see below); they exist to make configuration easier. If you go to Settings -> File Types you'll find them near the top of the list.
Opus never shows File Type Groups in the Type column because it shows the actual type of the file in question. It wouldn't make sense to show the group instead of the more specific type. (Maybe another column could show the group, but I'm not sure that'd be very useful. I think it may be possible for a type to be in several groups, too.)
Maybe Opus should let you search for File Type Groups using the Find window. That seems like a reasonable feature request if you want to send it to GPSoftware. (Actually, you can use the groups in Find but it's a little hidden: Using a string like grp:movies as a wildcard will match filenames with extensions in the movies group.)
I think we're talking past each other. I understand the File Type Settings...and you've confirmed my suspicion on file "groups" which are setup in the File Type Settings.
I question the use of the Types in the search function because in the case of movie types you have many that are very cryptic and in some cases there are Types that don't even show up in the search at all (as I illustrated previously) leaving the user unknowingly missing some files they would expect to appear.
So what value does it have unless you happen to have a one-to-one correlation?
These Types are set by software installations and can cross many extensions or just one but they aren't consistent between what you see when you go into the File Type Setup, choose for example .mov and then click edit...you will see the description but it won't necessarily match what you find when you go into the search function <--- this is the confusion each object is being populated from a different source. File Type Setup might show "KMP - MOV" and in search might show "MOV Video" a total mismatch between the two (this is just a made up example).
If the GROUP was not a manual setup then I would see great value in having it available for search. I'm a bit miffed as to what they saw the GROUP assignments being valuable for??? So I guess I think I'm missing something that is a feature but I don't see it. Although your option of using grp: is one that I wouldn't have known and possible of value if the GROUPS are set.
Thanks for you help and attention. I'm really not trying to be difficult but I still see an anomaly here and I will present it to them. Being aware of it is good enough for me as I know to watch out but for others it may be critical should they manipulate a file incorrectly.
I'm unable to reproduce what you're seeing in the root post. If I search for Type = Movie Clip it finds files which match that type (on my system and videos folder it's some MPG, MPEG and M2V files).
Maybe there is a mismatch if the file types have been modified in some way by a 3rd party program. If you run my FileTypeDiag tool against .mpg on your system I'll take a look at the output and see if anything suggests why there's a mismatch. (It may take me a few days as I'm super-busy at the moment.)
I guess it also depends also on what Opus looks at in order to populate that filetype list in each of the interfaces he says he sees a discrepancy - which from his description, looks like the filetype editor and the find dialog/results of a find. I don't get the same sort of discrepancy with various different filetypes here for instance either... FWIW. The only thing (besides the type of filetype mismatch Leo is positing) I can think of that might cause weird results is if the filetype settings have changed and Opus or the system hasn't been restarted, and theres a combo of something cached/stale vs current info being read from the registry.
There certainly could be various filetype definitions out there in the registry to show up in the lists in the first place - just without the extensions assigned to them anymore. For instance, if you install multiple archive apps, I think you'll still find older app specific filetype definitions in the registry - just with the extensions actively assigned to whichever one you last told Windows the associate the files with... Telling PowerArchiver to take over ZIP files doesn't "remove" the filetype definition for WinRAR archive from the registry though.
@cityguy:
Well, considering that at least two other people do NOT see the same sort of filetype<->extension association discrepancy - there's your response as to the usefulness of having it as an available category/spec to search on . I don't think you're being difficult at all... I just think you're seeing an Atypical behavior with a feature in the product which makes you question WTH such a thing is good for - but again, your results aren't what every user sees - and whatever is happening seems sure to be the result of some kind of strange systemic issue that Opus appears to be susceptible to getting goofed up by.
About the Opus specific File Type Groups... and it's "usefulness". Well, for your specific use-case of "searching" I wouldn't necessarily say it's the obvious thing to use (I would just use FILTERS like Jon suggested for manually defined group of files to "search" for). But it's absolutely useful in other parts of Opus... to be honest - SPECIFICALLY because the Windows filetypes system is so vulnerable to other third party apps causing grief with a file manager like Opus (in case you have Opus defined to do something with files based on filetype) a user-defined grouping of files can be a voice of reason in a wilderness of crazy. No matter what the systemic filetype association mess looks like (particularly if - like me, you frequently try out other apps/alternatives) Opus File Type Groups let you treat files consistently regardless of system settings. Maybe not such an obvious boon for search operations - but I have tons of context and drop menu customizations set based on File Type Groups... for anything from media files to various archive and disc image formats.
. I don't think you're being difficult at all... I just think you're seeing an Atypical behavior with a feature in the product which makes you question WTH such a thing is good for - but again, your results aren't what every user sees - and whatever is happening seems sure to be the result of some kind of strange systemic issue that Opus appears to be susceptible to getting goofed up by.