FindText is a utility program that searches your files for specific text. It can search your 1000 Mb harddisk for that one file you’re looking for.
A couple of years ago I wrote FindText because the program I used before didn’t work on my Quadra anymore. At this time there are of course new programs which work on the Quadra and Centris models but they are slow and don’t run native on PowerMacs, or they do not work in the background or they don’t let you open the found files. And if they do it all, they are rather expensive. Before releasing my program as shareware I gave it a more friendly user-interface and I polished it up. I use it to search my C source and header files for specific pieces of code or declarations.
But there are a lot of other uses for FindText. You can search your whole harddisk for that one word-processing document containing a specific name, subject, date, …
In stead of manually opening all your documents and looking for a specific address let FindText do it for you (you probably will forget to open the document you are looking for because it is in a folder where it doesn’t belong and you don’t expect it to be there). It saves you a lot of time and boring work.
FindText is build around some powerful features only available when you are using System 7. In other words, FindText is System 7 dependant. If you are not running System 7 or later you have to upgrade before using FindText (contact your Apple dealer).
FindText 1.3 runs native on both the PowerPc and on the 68020-030-040 Macs.
Some background information:
Simply stated, Macintosh files have two parts: a datafork and a resourcefork. Using FindText, you can specify where it has to look in the file: the data fork, the resource fork or both. Most of the time you will use it to search the datafork. Datafiles (word-processing documents, databases, spreadsheets, … ) usually only have a datafork and if they have both, the datafork is the one that needs your attention. If the terms data- and resource fork confuse you, don’t worry: search in the datafork. For the others (power users, programmers, …): you know what we are talking about.
The search routine is rather simple but fast and appropriate in most every day use. The only option you can set is whether it has to distinguish between upper and lower case characters.
FindText can work in the background so you can let it do it’s work while you are doing more interesting stuff then watching the progressbar move.
How to use FindText ?
FindText needs the search text and the place where it has to look for that text. There are two ways to start FindText: the normal one or by using the more elegant “Drag and Drop” technique.
1. The normal way (by double clicking on the FindText icon).
When FindText starts it shows you, after a short introduction (the splashscreen), its main window which is divided into 3 sections. The one at the top of the screen and on colour Macs with a grey background is the control panel. The second (and largest) section is the place where the found files, if any, will appear. The last section at the bottom of the window shows more information about the selected file: the date when the file was created and last modified, its creator (the program that created the file), its size and the folder that holds the file.
First you have to specify the search text. This has to be done in the Search for: text box. It works as a small word processor: you can select the text with the mouse, you can paste, copy, cut from and to other applications, …
Attention: You can also enter a “return” character in the textbox. E.g. if you entered the searchtext “Quadra” followed by a return, FindText will look for any occurrence of “Quadra” followed by a return. If you don’t want to look for that “return”, don’t enter it.
Second FindText has to know were it has to look for the file(s) containing your text.
Click the Select… button or choose Select… from the Search menu. A dialog box will be presented. You can select a complete volume (a floppy disk, a harddisk, a CD-ROM, …), a folder or a single file to operate on. In this version of FindText you can only select one location, in a future version you will have the opportunity to select 2 or more different locations (e.g. 2 harddisk). With the Drag and Drop feature you already have this possibility more or less (see further).
The “Select” dialog box seems familiar with the standard “Open” dialog box from other applications. There is one important difference: you have to be able to select a volume or folder, not only a file. Therefore a Select button was added at the bottom. If you select a folder or volume in the list and click the Open button, the folder or volume will not be selected but opened and you will go one level deeper in the hierarchy of your disk: the files in that folder or volume will be displayed. To select the volume or folder instead, click the Select button. This button displays the file, folder or volume that will be selected when you click on it.
Now FindText is ready to go to work. Click the Find button or choose Find from the Search menu. A progressbar will inform you about the search-process. You can stop, pause or resume the process. While FindText is doing its work you can continue to work with another program.
When FindText found some files they will be displayed together with some information: the file-type, how many times the search text was found in the datafork and / or in the resourcefork.
To open a found file, select the file in the list and press the “Enter” key or double click on the filename. The file will be opened with the application that created it if that is present on one of your mounted volumes. FindText will go automatically to the background and that application will take over control. If you want to locate the file with the Finder (i.e. opening the folder-window containing that file) double click while holding the Option key. In this case the Finder will take over from FindText. Your file will be selected.
If you want to select several files in one and the same folder “at once”, do the following:
In FindText Option - double click on the first file. Now you will jump to the Finder and the first file is selected. Go back to FindText (click in the FindText window if it is visible or choose the FindText application in the Application menu). Option - double click on the second file. You can see that both the first and second file are selected.
2. Drag and Drop feature.
In the Finder, select the volumes, folders an files you want to be processed, hold the mouse button down and drag them over the FindText application icon. When you see the FindText icon change release the mouse button.
You can use drag and drop also when FindText is already open and running.
Note: you can only select folders or files in the same folder.
In the main window you will see the message “Drag & Drop Specified”. Next to it, a button with an arrow pointing down appears. Clicking on it reveals a list of the “dropped” files.
For more information on how to continue the search process, read the previous section: “1. The normal way (by double clicking on the FindText icon)”.
3. Printing
You can print the list of found files. Select Print… from the File menu.
Warning: If your copy is not registered, FindText will only print the first 3 filenames.
4. The preferences
Choose Preferences… from the File menu.
Remember Window Positions:
When checked, FindText will remember where its windows were when you quit the program. The next time you open FindText, the windows will show up where you left them the previous time.
Startup Iconized:
When checked FindText will startup with the small “desktop space saving” icon-window instead of its main window.
Show Splashscreen:
When checked FindText will show a welcome screen when you start it. When you want the program to startup faster, uncheck this option.
Notify:
When checked FindText will beep when it finished the search. When FindText operates in the background, it will also display an alert.
Search in (datafork, resourcefork, both):
Click the item you want.
Ignore Case:
When checked, FindText will see no difference between lower and upper case characters.
Search Nested Folders:
When checked FindText will also look in deeper folders.
Accept RETURN in search text:
For everyday use or if this confuses you, let this option disabled.
When checked you can enter RETURN-characters in your searchtext.
If you enter e.g. "Qaudra" followed by a RETURN, FindText will not search for "Quadra" but for "Quadra" followed by a RETURN in your files.
Many users were confused if they, by accident, entered a RETURN-character at the end of the search-text and, by consequence, most of the time FindText didn't find that text.
If this option is disabled, you can't enter RETURN-characters in your searchtext.
Remark : entering a RETURN-character = hitting the RETURN-key.
Warning: The preferences will only be saved when your copy of FindText is registered.
Special features.
File Filter Options (Search menu).
The filter function is new in FindText 1.3.
Choose File Filter Options... from the Search menu or type Command-L to show the filter-dialog. Only files that match the criteria selected in this dialog box will be searched. This feature will save you a lot off time if you have to search a large harddisk or folder. With the filter option you can select what kind of files to search and which may be skipped.
Be sure to select Use Filter (lower left corner) to use the filtering feature.
In the main window a white F in a black box shows you that the filter is in use. If the F is black in a white box, the filter will not be used. Clicking on that box shows the filter-dialog. If the filter is in use a checkmark will also appear in the Search-menu next to File Filter Options... .
The File Type and Creator can only be four characters long (Eg. for MS-Word files the file-type is WDBN and the creator is MSWD, the file-type for normal text-files is TEXT).
To know the type or creator of the programs /files you have, you can use eg. FileTyper (shareware by Daniel Azuma).
The date has to be entered as you specified in the Date & Time control panel. Only the common American (m-d-y) and European (d-m-y) format are supported.
You can use the pop-up menus to change a condition.
If you select AND in "Between the conditions, use", then all the conditions have to match. If you select OR then the file will be searched if at least one condition match. If you want to use a condition select the checkbox next to it. If you use the filter, make sure you select at least one condition.
The illustration above is a an example for searching only plain text-files (type TEXT) smaller then 200 Kb and created after 1-1-95. Eg. FindText will not search in a 750 Kb text-file.
The settings in the File Filter Options dialog will be saved.
Iconize (File menu).
Whenever you don’t need FindText but you want to have it at your fingertips you can iconize it. The FindText window will hide and a small icon-window will show up.
To show the FindText window again, choose DeIconize from the File menu or click in the small icon-window.
Note: You can also Iconize by clicking on the Iconize button.
Find Special (Search menu).
This menu item has a submenu with 3 items: Find in Datafork, Find in Resourcefork, Find in Both. If you set the Search In option to e.g. Datafork in the Preferences dialog box and you want to search in both forks without changing the preferences you can select Find in Both.
Search in Listed Files (Search menu).
If you selected this option (a checkmark will appear in the menu) FindText will search for your text only in the files already listed. This feature is a powerful one: you can first look for the files that contain e.g. “tea”, then you select Search in Listed Files followed by a new search for e.g. “coffee”. Now the files listed will be files that contain both “tea” and “coffee”. The files that contain “tea” but not “coffee” will be removed. This is the same as a search for all the files that contain “tea” AND “coffee”.
Note: You can select this item only if there are already files listed.
The option will automatically be switched off if you select a new search location (via “Select…” or via Drag & Drop).
Add Found Files to List (Search menu).
If you selected this option (a check mark will appear in the menu) FindText will add the new found files to the list without clearing it first. With this option you can simulate the search for all the files that contain e.g. “tea” OR “coffee”. First search for all the files that contain “tea”, then select the option Add Found Files to List and do a new search for “coffee”. Now the files listed will be files that contain both “tea” or “coffee”.
FindText will select the first file of the added files.
Note: If a file contained both “tea” and “coffee”, that filename will be shown twice in the list.
Note: The option will *not* be switched off if you select a new search (via Select… or via Drag & Drop).
About ShareWare…
FindText is not free. FindText is distributed as shareware. If you like this program and you want to continue using it you have to pay the small amount of $20 (for a single copie). By registrating the program you receive a registration code to get rid of the annoying messages and limitations.
The shareware concept has a lot of advantages. You can evaluate the software before deciding to purchase it. Shareware uses cheap distribution channels to keep costs down. This philosophy results in a product which costs usually far less than a similar commercially distributed program.
Shareware will stay alive as long as the authors get rewarded for their efforts.
By paying the shareware fee you are not only paying for this particular program, you are also investing in the release of more future shareware programs.
Remember: the legal use of software will make you feel better !
Price:
The basic fee for the first copy of FindText is US$ 20 (BEF 650).
For two or more copies, you pay US$ 15 (BEF 500) for each copy (you pay for the number of users who can run FindText simultaneous).
E.g.: If you order 3 copies of FindText you have to send me US$ 45 (3 x $15).
If you order a site license (US$ 150 or BEF 5000) you may use as many copies as you want in your organization.
Please, do not copy registrated copies except for your own backup purposes.
Permission is granted to copy unregistered copies of FindText without charge (in fact, you are encouraged to do it). The accompanying files have to stay with the program. FindText may be published on bulletin boards and similar services (CD-ROMs) provided no charge over and above the usual cost of distributing is made. If you include FindText on your CD-ROM, all I ask is to consider sending me one. If FindText is to be distributed on a for profit basis, written permission must be obtained from the author in advance of such a distribution. The distribution of registered copies of FindText is forbidden under all circumstances.
You may not modify FindText or the documents that came with it in any way.
Payment:
You can register in two different ways:
1) via the author, me (cash, Eurocheque in BEF, check / only via postal mail) :
read the included "How to register via the author" file for instructions.
2) via Kagi, the easiest way (cash, check in USD, creditcard, ... / postal mail, email, fax) : read the included "How to register via Kagi" file for details.
LIMITED WARRANTY AND LIABILITY:
THIS SOFTWARE COMES 'AS IS'. I CAN NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS OF DATA CAUSED BY THIS PRODUCT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, WHATEVER THE NATURE OF THE DAMAGE.
