Hi, I'm new here. I've looked through the user manual, searched on Google and searched on this site, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question. Is there any way to permanently set search targets in Directory Opus? I always search the same drives (5 local drives and 12 networked drives), but every time I open a search window it just wants to search the current folder. This happens whether I open a dedicated search window or just the standard search window (Ctrl-F or F3). It simply defaults to the current folder as the search target.
Worse yet, when I go to the Select Folder to Search screen, I can't just put a check mark next to Computer, I have to select all 15-17 drives individually every time I open a search window. On top of that, if I have a search window open and I use the Open Containing Folder on any of the search results, it again removes all the drives from the list and defaults to the current folder. Even if I hit the back button to go back to the results screen to do another search, it just keeps the current folder as the target for the next search. All this is quite irritating, so I'm wondering if there's any way to permanently set the drives/folders I want to search?
If you edit the Tools -> Find Files menu item, it should run this:
Set UTILITY=Find,Toggle
Change the command to something like this:
[b]Find IN C:\ D:\ E:[/b]
(listing all the drives you want at the end). Those will then be set as the search locations when you open the Find Panel using that menu item of the Ctrl-F hotkey that's assigned to it.
The menu item will no longer close the Find panel if it's already open, but you can make it do that if you want (with a slightly more complex command).
Thank you for the reply, but when I go to the Tools menu, there's nothing on there named Find Files. There's a Find Panel on the Tools menu, but clicking that just opens the normal search box at the bottom of the window. I don't see any options or anything that will allow me to do what you suggested. I also looked through the Preferences menu and can't find any item named Find Files or Tools.
It might say "Find Panel" instead of "Find Files" if you are using a toolbar from an earlier version of Opus (e.g. imported from Opus 9 or maybe 10).
Aside from the slight name difference, the rest is the same. Edit it and you'll see it runs a similar command; set it to the one above and it should do what you want.
I'm not sure why you're sending me to the Editing the Toolbar section of the manual. That just let's me rearrange the layout, etc. When I go to Customize and then the Toolbars tab, there's nothing there named Find Files.
Ok, but that still doesn't tell me HOW to get the screen where I can edit the function of the find window. The manual says to go into Customize mode and then double click on the button to bring up the command editor window. This works fine for icons, but I'm trying to modify the find behavior. I have the find window open a the bottom of the screen, but there's nothing to double click to bring up the command editor.
Can someone just tell me how to get to the command editor window where I can edit the find behavior?
Thank you, that's what I was looking for. Unfortunately the command you suggested doesn't seem to work.
I changed the command Set UTILITY=Find,Toggle to Find IN C:\ D:\ E:\ but there's no difference in behavior. If I open the search window from a lister, it still defaults to searching only the current folder. If I open a separate search lister then it defaults to col://Find Results as the search target. I also tried a few other variants, but none of them seem to make any difference.
Find IN C:;D:;E:
Find IN C: D: E:
Find IN E:
Find IN E:
Tried all those variations, none of them work. Also tried restarting Directory Opus, still no change.
Oh ok, so it does work if I go to Tools and then the Find Panel, but that's the ONLY way it will work. So now I always have to initiate all my searches directly from that menu or it won't work. I'm guessing there's no actual way to do what I want it to do, which so to "lock" the folders/drives that are being searched no matter how I'm initiating the search. There's a little "Lock Folder" icon (a tiny padlock image) in the find utility panel, which logically should "lock" whatever folders I have selected for searching, but it actually does something completely different. I find it mind boggling that a piece of software as advanced and complex as Directory Opus can't do simple things like this (or the issue with the mouse back/forward behavior I posted in my other thread).
How else are you initiating the search? There aren't an infinite number of ways to do it. Whatever method you are using to open the find panel involves running a command, and that command can be edited.
Usually I just right click on the Directory Opus taskbar icon and then under the Tasks heading I have a Lister Layout saved called File Search. This takes me to a Find Results window with the search utility panel open at the bottom. If I go to Settings => Lister Layouts I can see the saved File Search layout as well as 2 other layouts I saved. But if I go into customize mode and I try to do the same thing you suggested earlier, I can't dsee any of my layouts under Settings => Lister Layouts. All it shows mis the standard menu options. How would I modify the behavior of the saved FIle Search lister?
If Tools -> Find Panel now works as you want, Ctrl-F probably does also. Does it? If so, why do you want this Layout called File Search. What else does that do that Tools -> Find Panel doesn't?
Ctrl-F or F3 doesn't work, it still uses the old behavior. The only time it works is if I go to Tools => Find Panel. I use a dual pane lister for managing my files and I use a separate single pane lister for searches. When I load the File Search layout, it already has the Find Panel open at the bottom and it just defaults back to col://Find Results every time. I guess I'll have to re-save the File Search layout with the Find Panel closed and then go to Tools => Find Panel each time to make it work. It's still not very convenient, but faster than having to select all those drive letters every time.
It's kind of disappointing that after spending this much time trying to get this working, all I ended up with was a half baked solution that doesn't actually solve the problem. Oh well, thanks anyway to everyone who helped.
Probably more a question for Jon or Leo, but doesn't that imply that Ctrl-F and F3 must be assigned to something other than the menu entry Tools => Find Panel? If so, why can't one or both of them or some other key be assigned to Tools => Find Panel?
Right, but umbala said that Tools -> Find Panel, whatever it is, "works" while Ctrl-F and F3 don't. I read into that that he's satisfied with the behavior of Tools -> Find Panel, but wishes that Ctrl-F and/or F3 did the same thing. If that's true, shouldn't he be able to assign one of those keys to Tools -> Find Panel?