Faster reading and data snapshot

[Ysl]

Hi

I must have miss something but I cannot make it work...

I activated the cache result in the find option, with "show search result in search tab"

clicked on a tab (drive H), made a search over 98.000 files then make one search again on same drive but I still have to wait as it was before...91,235 seconds

I'm not sure I've undesrtood how to make search caching work...

Thanks for your help

Ysl

[admin]

Code: Select all

Where and when does it happen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cached data are not held in memory but written to tab_*.dat files 
down in the Panes subfolder. They are written whenever a non-
cached search tab is backgrounded, and read whenever a search tab 
is foregrounded (selected). In other words, caching only happens 
on tab selection, whereas pressing F3 or any other way to run a 
search will always trigger a live search.

What is cached
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only the item names are cached. All other data (size, file dates, 
attributes, etc.) are freshly polled. This polling takes time, and 
the efficiency of the cache highly depends on the nature of the 
search:
- The worst case is a search without any filters (e.g. find all 
  items in all subfolders), where reading the cache and processing 
  the data is likely to be even slower than a fresh live search.
- The best case is a search over a large area with relatively few 
  results -- this is where the cache really shines.

So, the cache starts working for you when you re-open the cached tab.

[Ysl]

Well sorry but I still don't understand (I'm french speaking)

Here is my setup :



First tab is Drive H but if I open any other tab, the search will still be done on drive H (because Location is set to H:) Anyway, Drive H: is where I always search....

So when I click find, where is the cached search result file stored ?

And where to click to do a search on those cached search results ?

Thanks again

Ysl

[admin]

Well sorry but I still don't understand (I'm french speaking)

Here is my setup :



First tab is Drive H but if I open any other tab, the search will still be done on drive H (because Location is set to H:) Anyway, Drive H: is where I always search....

So when I click find, where is the cached search result file stored ?

And where to click to do a search on those cached search results ?

Thanks again

Ysl

The results are written to cache (= the tab's data file on disk called tab*.dat) when the tab is backgrounded, that is either when you select another tab, or when you close the app. When you then re-select the tab it will read its contents from the cache instead of starting a fresh search.

You can not "do a search on those cached search results", you can just show the cached search results.

BTW, looking at your screenshot I think there should be a max width for VF display on tab headers...

[j_c_hallgren]

BTW, looking at your screenshot I think there should be a max width for VF display on tab headers...

As an option of some sort, maybe, but presume some may wish to see it all even if it makes tab very wide...

[Ysl]

In fact, I completely misunderstood what search result caching was...

What I've hoped for is a way to save the entire drive files and folder names in a cached area (a txt file or whatever) so that when I search again, the search (if option checked) will be done in the .txt file and not the real drive.

This of course will give me "old" results but will save me so much time (92.235 sec each search !) and of course, I still would have a way to do a real "live" search...

Is this something already possible or in the future ?

I hope I explained it clearly !

Thanks !

Ysl

[avsfan]

In fact, I completely misunderstood what search result caching was...

What I've hoped for is a way to save the entire drive files and folder names in a cached area (a txt file or whatever) so that when I search again, the search (if option checked) will be done in the .txt file and not the real drive.

This of course will give me "old" results but will save me so much time (92.235 sec each search !) and of course, I still would have a way to do a real "live" search...

If I know roughly where a file is, or want to limit the scope of my search, I love the searching functions of XY. However, if I don't know where the file is, one tool that I really like is called "Everything Search Engine." It's fast (i.e. practically instantaneous), flexible, and free.

You can check it out at http://www.voidtools.com/ and see what you think. I bound it to Win-Shift-F, so when I need to find a file, I just hit that key combination, type a few chars of the name, and it's right there.

It's great, but more often I use XY for my searches. One of the reasons is all the things I can do with the files after they're found (i.e. preview, etc), that Everything doesn't have, so XY definitely wins in those areas. In fact, in cases where I don't know where the file is, I sometimes use Everything to find it (or them), and the open that location in XY to get the functionality I want!

I hope this helps!

andy

[j_c_hallgren]

one tool that I really like is called "Everything Search Engine." It's fast (i.e. practically instantaneous), flexible, and free.

You can check it out at http://www.voidtools.com/ and see what you think.

Just a note about this tool: As I recall, it requires NTFS on the drive and some of us still use FAT32 so it wouldn't work for us.

[serendipity]

In fact, I completely misunderstood what search result caching was...

What I've hoped for is a way to save the entire drive files and folder names in a cached area (a txt file or whatever) so that when I search again, the search (if option checked) will be done in the .txt file and not the real drive.

This of course will give me "old" results but will save me so much time (92.235 sec each search !) and of course, I still would have a way to do a real "live" search...

Is this something already possible or in the future ?

I hope I explained it clearly !

Thanks !

Ysl

Code: Select all

+ Search Templates Dialog: Search Templates now support caching, i.e. you can save search results in a template file (in <xydata>\FindTemplates), and load them back into the list at any point in future via the Search Templates dialog.

You can save your search to a template and this does similar to what you want, i.e. it stores all the filenames in an ini file. Next time XY simply lists the files from this ini file.

[admin]

In fact, I completely misunderstood what search result caching was...

What I've hoped for is a way to save the entire drive files and folder names in a cached area (a txt file or whatever) so that when I search again, the search (if option checked) will be done in the .txt file and not the real drive.

This of course will give me "old" results but will save me so much time (92.235 sec each search !) and of course, I still would have a way to do a real "live" search...

Is this something already possible or in the future ?

I hope I explained it clearly !

Thanks !

Ysl

Code: Select all

+ Search Templates Dialog: Search Templates now support caching, i.e. you can save search results in a template file (in <xydata>\FindTemplates), and load them back into the list at any point in future via the Search Templates dialog.

You can save your search to a template and this does similar to what you want, i.e. it stores all the filenames in an ini file. Next time XY simply lists the files from this ini file.

True, but of course not quite the same as an indexed search (which is I think what Ysl is looking) because you cannot search _on_ those results stored in the template, but they _are_ the results. And if you store a whole drive in a template file it won't make you happy. That's not the idea of it and will be slower than a fresh search.

BTW, if anybody's interested: I could optionally store the basic file data as well (size, dates, attr) in the template. Reading the cache would be even faster and data-wise you would see a snapshot of the time when the cache was written! Might be interesting...

[j_c_hallgren]

BTW, if anybody's interested: I could optionally store the basic file data as well (size, dates, attr) in the template. Reading the cache would be even faster and data-wise you would see a snapshot of the time when the cache was written! Might be interesting...

Actually, that's what I was thinking the cache would contain! Yes, the data could quickly beome obsolete, but it would provide the equivalant to having printed the search results and then working from paper notes, but without the use of hardcopy.

We know the results may not be up-to-the minute but in many cases, they may well be good enough to work with for the task you're doing.

[serendipity]

BTW, if anybody's interested: I could optionally store the basic file data as well (size, dates, attr) in the template. Reading the cache would be even faster and data-wise you would see a snapshot of the time when the cache was written! Might be interesting...

I would be interested in this. Faster reading and data snapshot sound good to me.

[jacky]

BTW, if anybody's interested: I could optionally store the basic file data as well (size, dates, attr) in the template. Reading the cache would be even faster and data-wise you would see a snapshot of the time when the cache was written! Might be interesting...

I would be interested in this. Faster reading and data snapshot sound good to me.

Only problem with this might be the refreshing. It might sound like a good idea, but how would one refreshes the data (i.e. dates, size, attr of listed items) without having to run the search again?

[serendipity]

BTW, if anybody's interested: I could optionally store the basic file data as well (size, dates, attr) in the template. Reading the cache would be even faster and data-wise you would see a snapshot of the time when the cache was written! Might be interesting...

I would be interested in this. Faster reading and data snapshot sound good to me.

Only problem with this might be the refreshing. It might sound like a good idea, but how would one refreshes the data (i.e. dates, size, attr of listed items) without having to run the search again?

Hmmm, i realized as much. So this will be like report function actually, just that it will be displayed in the search tab. It might still be useful to compare the Old Vs New folder data (esp. in DP mode), like say for syncing or backup or like Don said, Data-wise snapshot.

[admin]

BTW, if anybody's interested: I could optionally store the basic file data as well (size, dates, attr) in the template. Reading the cache would be even faster and data-wise you would see a snapshot of the time when the cache was written! Might be interesting...

I would be interested in this. Faster reading and data snapshot sound good to me.

Only problem with this might be the refreshing. It might sound like a good idea, but how would one refreshes the data (i.e. dates, size, attr of listed items) without having to run the search again?

Yes, yes, thrilling. Actually technically no problem at all for me (I'm the cache master now). Question is the GUI. How about this: On a search results tab, F3 will just refresh the displayed data, and Shift+F3 will redo the search? Well, no, not good, F3 should stay what it is. But a new command "Update Search Results" (?) with default KS Alt+F3?