A beginner's dilemma...

[PAL_Thai]

I have recently downloaded 'Everything' version 1.4.1.1024 (x86) to my laptop in the hope of creating a listing of files that contain the word "java" in their filename. I was amazed at the possibilities that Everything has and that fact is my problem at this time -- too many choices to make my hope of a simple listing of files that contain the word "java" in their filename.

Being a senior gent of 80 years has not equipped me with the necessary skills to provide Everything with the correct syntax to obtain the results I've noted above. I am therefore seeking the assistance of some experienced and kind souls so that I can the feel of Everything's power.

Trusting that I will meet up with the experts who can get me started on the correct footing, I truly welcome your assistance.

Regards,
PAL in Thailand

[void]

Searching for java will match a lot of files ending with .java

Please try limiting your results with an certain extension.

For example, if the files you are searching are images, search for:

*.jpg java

*.jpg will match only files with the jpg extension.



If the files you are searching are word documents, search for:

*.docx java

What type of file are you looking for? (image/video/document etc..)



Consider the filter bar (View -> Filters)
Select Audio/Picture/Video and search for: java
Note: Selecting Document will not help as *.java is consider a document.

[NotNull]

Searching for 'Java' will indeed show lots of filenames.
That list can be shortened by specifying more properties of the file(s) you are looking for, like specifying dates, sizes or extensions.
Everything has many Search Functions for that purpose, but that can take a while to get familiar with.

Luckily there is another way: Advanced Search (Menu => Search => Advanced Search ).
The name is somewhat misleading; Search Assistant or Search Builder would better describe what it is about:
an interactive way to "describe" what you are looking for.
Just fill in the fields you know (or expect) and ignore the other fields.
Hovering the mouse above these fields will show a brief explanation with useful information.


Good luck and don't hesitate to ask further questions if in doubt.

[PAL_Thai]

Dear Friends,

Many thanks for the introduction to "Everything". I gather there IS light at the end of my present tunnel which is simply to produce a listing of ALL the files+extensions plus their locations on the HDD that have the word "java" in their filenames. From what I saw via a Microsoft search attempt, the extension names seem to be myriad in quantity. I wish to share the listing I am hoping that "Everything" can generate with Java experts to get their opinion about the need to have so many files related to the performance of Java on my computers.

For starters, I have printed out the replies to my original post and will keep that in hand as I attempt to use the correct "Everything" search command that will produce the listing I have described above.

In the event that I have herein provided sufficient information/details for the forum participants to propose sample syntax commands that would solve my dilemma would be an extra bonus for me! Looking forward forward to further news from the Forum members, I am certainly pleased with the information already provided.

[void]

Please try the following search:

*java*.*

* = match any character any number of times.
This search will avoid matching java in the extension.

[PAL_Thai]

Dear Friends,

I have given *java*.* a try and was rewarded with a listing of files having the word "java" as part of their filenames.

Comparing to the MS Search function results, I was surprised that "Everything" had considerably fewer files listed than
MS Search. Most probably due to duplicates or some other factor. Later, this evening, I'll compare the two results more
closely via printouts.

Basically, I am quite pleased at what "Everything" can do and plan to experiment further.

I believe that we can call this post solved thanks to the forum members who took the time to guide me along.

Many thanks indeed!

Regards,
PAL in Thailand

[ChrisGreaves]

*java*.*

This search will avoid matching java in the extension.

Hi void; a minor technical point (my understanding) but why does this search "avoid matching java in the extension"?
I note that you did not write "exclude matching java in the extension".

It seems, to me, that the search string would match a file "MyJavaDrink.java".

I think that your suggestions are leaning towards taking the search focus away from the extension and narrowing the search to the name of the file.

Thanks, Chris

[void]

*java*.* can still match files with a .java extension.

I was thinking along the lines of reducing the large number of unwanted .java results.
It doesn't really exclude them.

If you really wanted to exclude .java files, include the following in your search:

!*.java



Everything 1.5 makes it easier with stem:java or ww:stem:java

Everything 1.4 has:
regex:\bjava\b.*\.[^.]*$

regex: = enable regular expressions.
\b = match a word boundary
.* = match any character any number of times
\. = match a literal .
[^.]* = match any character (except .) any number of times.
$ = match the end of the filename.

[ChrisGreaves]

I was thinking along the lines of reducing the large number of unwanted .java results.
It doesn't really exclude them.

Thank you.
Chris