Usage
- 3.1. To Perform a Basic Search
- 3.2. To Add Search Options
- 3.3. To Stop a Search
- 3.4. To Open a Displayed File
- 3.5. To Delete a Displayed File
- 3.6. To Save the Search Results
3.1. To Perform a Basic Search
To perform a basic search for a file on the system, perform the following steps:
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Enter the search text in the Name contains field. The search text can be a filename or partial filename, with or without wildcards, as shown in the following table:
Name Contains Text Example Result Full or partial filename myfile.txt Search for Files searches for all files that contain the text myfile.txt in the filename. Partial filename combined with wildcards (*, [, ]) *.[ch] Search for Files searches for all files that have extension .c or .h. In the Look in folder field, select the folder or device from which you want Search for Files to begin the search.
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Click to perform the search.
Search for Files searches in the directory that you specify and the subdirectories of the directory. Search for Files displays the results of the search in the Search results list box. If Search for Files does not find any files that match the search criteria, the application displays the message "No files found" in the Search results list box.
By default, Search for Files will perform a quick search using the locate command followed by a more thorough second search using the find command. The locate command is faster because it uses a database of information about files. If this database is more than a week old, Search for Files could warn you that the search results may be out of date and give you the option of disabling the quick search. To update the database, run the command updatedb as the root user.
3.2. To Add Search Options
You can add additional options to search for a file on the system. To add search options, perform the following steps:
- Click on the Select more options text.
- Click on the Available options drop-down list.
- Select the search option that you want to apply.
- Click .
- Specify the required search information for the search option, as described in Table 1.
- Repeat the above steps for each search option that you want to apply.
To remove a search option from the current search, click on the button next to the option.
To disable the search options from the current search, click on the Select more options text.
| Option Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains the text | Search for files of type plain text that contain the specified text. |
| Date modified less than | Search for files that are modified less than the period specified in days. |
| Date modified more than | Search for files that are modified longer than the period specified in days. |
| Size at least | Search for files that are equal to or larger than the size specified in kilobytes. |
| Size at most | Search for files that are smaller than or equal to the size specified in kilobytes. |
| File is empty | Search for empty files. |
| Owned by user | Search for files that are owned by the user specified. Type the name of the user in the text box provided. |
| Owned by group | Search for files that are owned by the group specified. Type the name of the group in the text box provided. |
| Owner is unrecognized | Search for files that are owned by a user or group that is unknown to the system. |
| Name does not contain | Search for filenames that do not contain the string that you enter. Enter a full filename or a partial filename with wildcards in the field provided. Use * to indicate a sequence of characters. Use ? to indicate a single character. The search is case sensitive. |
| Name matches regular expression | Search for files that contain the specified regular expression in their directory path or filename. Type the regular expression in the text box provided. |
| Show hidden and backup files | Include hidden and backup files in the search. |
| Follow symbolic links | Follow symbolic links when searching for files. |
| Exclude other filesystems | Search in directories that are in the same filesystem as the start directory. |
3.4. To Open a Displayed File
To open a file displayed in the Search results list box, perform one of the following steps:
- Right-click on the file, then choose .
- Double-click on the file.
To open the folder that contains a file displayed in the Search results list box, right-click on the file, then choose .