Directory Opus Manual

Find Files

• General:
  • Redesigned UI.
  • Removed Simple/Advanced tab control, replacing it with "Advanced Mode" checkbox in the panel's header.
  • Replaced "Reset" button with a menu in the header.
  • You can now save your own defaults and reset to them, as well as the factory defaults.
  • Within the Exclude field, click the cog button for options to exclude hidden and system folders.
  • "Suppress UAC prompts" option: If there's an access denied error when trying to look in a file or folder, it will be skipped rather than prompting for elevation.
  • If a search finishes without finding any results, a message will say so at the top of the file display.
  • 'Ignore diacritics' options added.
  • Fields like Name, Description, Contains/Text, Tags, Target, etc. now have the full set of matching options (case / partial / any word / ignore diacritics / wildcards / regex).
  • "Indexed search" field lets you specify an indexed search query, and then feed the results through the rest of the Find parameters.
    • Lets you narrow down which files are considered, using a fast indexed search, and then apply more advanced criteria to filter them down even more.
    • Works with Windows Search, Everything, and Global Everything.
  • The "Save as Stored Query" command now works in a collection generated using the Find dialog.
    • The Find Panel's configuration will be stored as part of the collection.
    • Creates a file collection which automatically re-runs the Find each time you navigate to it, and/or on refresh.
  • Stored Queries now work with Everything and Opus Find.
    • Stored queries that use Opus Find can also supply a text filter (see below) definition by prefixing it with a & character, or Evaluator code by prefixing with =.
  • "Show Results" now lets you send results to a new tab on the left or right (not just source or destination).
  • "Automatically shrink" option can now be found by right-clicking the Utility Panel's Shrink button (next to the close button).
  • "Find Results" now has its own folder format, distinct from the more general "Collection" format.
• Presets:
  • You can now configure the Find Panel and save everything as a named preset.
  • Presets can be loaded into the Find Panel, and also used with the Find command.
  • In the lister, the default Tools menu has a Find Presets sub-menu that lists any saved presets. Selecting one immediately runs the saved search without having to open the Find Panel.
  • The Tools menu's Presets sub-menu also includes a couple of examples using hardcoded filters to search below the current directory:
    • Find Empty Folders – Finds completely empty folders.
    • Find Zero-Byte Folders – Finds folders which only contain empty files or other empty folders.
• Exclude folders:
  • New "Exclude" field lets you exclude files and folders. Excludes Recycle Bin and System Volume Information folders by default. Supports multiple paths, wildcards and regex. Syntax options:
    • regex:xxxx - Regular expression must match to exclude an item.
    • wild:xxxx - Standard wildcard must match to exclude an item.

      (Wildcards are auto-detected without the wild: prefix if using *?| characters. Other wildcard characters which are valid path characters require an explicit wild: prefix to be interpreted as such.)

    • C:\Temp - Fully qualified path; matches path itself and contents.
    • C:\Temp\* - Fully qualified path, with wildcard; matches contents only.
    • Name - Non-wild, non fully qualified; matches itself and contents. Turns into: *\Name(|\*)
    • Name\* - Non-wild name with trailing *; matches contents only. Turns into: *\Name\*
    • Name* - Wild name; matches itself and contents. Turns into: *\Name*
• Simple mode:
  • Size units (KB/MB/GB) can be selected.
  • Text (contents search) field has "Assume UTF8" option.
  • Enhancements to "any word" matching:
    • Words prefixed with + must match (in any order).
    • Words prefixed with - must not match.
    • Words without + or - may match, and at least one must match if any are specified.
    • If one or more file extensions are specified, all folders will be excluded, and files must match one of the extensions (in addition to any other words specified).
    • Partial file extensions are supported. ".jp" will also match ".jpg".
    • Partial extension matching can be suppressed by using an explicit wildcard: "*.jp" will only match ".jp" and not ".jpg".
    • All other words containing wildcards will be treated as if partial matching is on, whether it actually is or not.
    • Example: With partial off, "dog c?t" - "dog" will only match "dog" (because no wildcard chars), but "c?t" will match both "cat" and "city".
    • Remember that the rules above only work with "any word" mode. They can't be used when the mode isn't on.
    • These rules also work in the Filter Bar when it is "any word" mode.
• Advanced mode:
  • Added "Name Stem" filter clause. Matches against filenames without their extensions.
  • Added "Folder Content" filter clause. Lets you search for folders containing files that match the specified criteria.
  • Filters can now be edited in text form, as well as through the GUI builder:
    • You can switch back and forth between modes at any time (provided the text is valid).
    • Text filter definitions can be used in standalone buttons, instead of having to save the filter to the global list and refer to it by name.
    • Text filters can also be generated or modified by script code, allowing scripts to change individual parameters within a filter.
    • Text filters are also easier to share with other people (e.g. on the support forum).
  • Text filters can also run Evaluator code:
    • Bypasses the filter system completely and invokes the Evaluator on each file.
    • Prefix the filter definition with =.
    • If Evaluator code is in the text filter control, it can't be switched out of text mode. Evaluator code can't be converted to a traditional filter definition.
    • Code can uses the same variables (e.g. name, picwidth, etc.) as Evaluator Columns (see elsewhere in the release notes).
    • Code should return true a match, and false to skip the file.
    • Example 1: =ext(name) == ".jpg" && picwidth >= 1920
    • Can handle subfolder recursion as well. The subfolder variable will be true when the evaluator is querying whether a folder should be entered. Return true to enter or false to skip. By default all subfolders are searched.
    • Example 2: =subfolder ? (left(name, 1) == "a") : (ext(name) == ".jpg") – Find JPG files under folders whose names begin with "a".
• Commands:
  • Find FILTERDEF – Allows passing a filter definition in text form. Also allows Evaluator code. See "advanced mode", above.
  • Find HERE – Specifies that the Find operation should work from the current folder.
  • Find UAC=yes – Turn on searching inside folders that require elevation to look inside.
  • Find PRESET="My Preset" – Runs the specified preset immediately.
  • Find PRESET="My Preset" NOAUTORUN – Opens the Find panel with the preset loaded.
  • Find PRESET=!list – Generates a list of Find presets. Used by the default Tools > Find Presets menu. Can also specify "faves", "nofaves" or "nogroups".
  • Set Utility=Find PRESET="My Preset" – Alternative way to open the Find panel with a preset.
  • Set UTILITY=Find,Toggle – Old command now toggles the Find panel regardless of its Simple or Advanced state. When re-opening, panel opens in the mode which was last closed.
  • Set UTILITY=FindSimple,Toggle – Explicitly toggle the Find panel in Simple mode.
  • Set UTILITY=FindAdvanced,Toggle – Explicitly toggle the Find panel in Advanced mode.
  • Go NEW=FindPanel – Similarly, opens the new window's Find panel in the last used Simple or Advanced mode.
  • Go NEW=FindSimple – Explicitly opens a new window with the Find panel in Simple mode.
  • Go NEW=FindAdvanced – Explicitly opens a new window with the Find panel in Advanced mode.
  • Find SHOWRESULTS=tab,left – Send results to new tab on the left (or right).
  • Other new Find command arguments: EXCLUDEHIDDEN, EXCLUDESYSTEM, IGNOREDIACRITICS, REGEXP, CASE, CONTREGEXP, CONTIGNOREDIACRITICS, CONTNOPARTIAL, CONTUTF8, QUERYENGINE.
  • DOpusRT.exe /col /engine=everything setquery... – See External Manipulation of File Collections in the main manual.

Next: Duplicate Files Finder