As Dan Frakes mention in his review of EasyFind , here at Macworld we have a erotic love / detest relationship with Spotlight . More often than not , I retrieve myself on the ’ hate ’ side , as Spotlight ’s user port continues to torment my searching motive .
When I saw Dan ’s critical review of the detached EasyFind , I gave it a effort , and it is quite gracious . In fact , I was using it somewhat on a regular basis , but I still found myself wanting a bit more flexibility from my lookup interface . Ideally , I wanted a tool that would employ the existing Spotlight forefinger — after all , it ’s theinterfaceto Spotlight that I find lacking , not the construct of index the data on my drive . EnterMoRU 1.2.1 (; single computer , $ 10 ; home site license , $ 18 ) , the tool that at last render ( for me , at least ) the promise of the Spotlight engineering . And although it ’s not a destitute solution , it ’s reasonably price for the features it delivers .
MoRU works in junction with Spotlight , but put up an efficient and well - thought - out design that allow you do much more than seems potential with the standard Spotlight interfaces . MoRU ’s overture is based on what it call in Smart Groups , which are fundamentally like saved Finder searches . You make a new Smart Group , specify the criterion for the hunting , and then salvage the group . From then on , you could enter the search with a simple-minded mouse click .
The power of MoRU , though , comes not from the Smart Groups themselves , but from the manner you ’re able to build these hunting . Using a format similar to that of the Finder , you build your search criteria one entry at a time ; unlike the Finder , however , MoRU makes it quite well-situated to work up complex queries with bare point - and - click surgical process . Not only that , but the options provide make it much easier to find just what you ’re appear for .
Simple searches
Consider first this simple but real representative . I ’ve save quite a few articles for Macworld over the last few days . In some of them , I know I ’ve talk about the Unix commanddu , which reports on saucer usage . Now I want to find those quotation for a new clause I ’m writing , but the clause are scattered all over the figurer . To find them using Spotlight , I ’d hit Command - F in the Finder , then enter du as my search term , making sure Computer was selected as the placement to hunting . When I do , unfortunately , this is what I get :
Ugh ! 991 results ! Those who infer Spotlight will realize why there are so many matches — because I ’m finding not only reference book to theducommand , but also word such as during , detritus , lasting , etc . fundamentally , any Bible that starts with “ du ” will be find by Spotlight . Clearly , this hunting was not very helpful .
Now consider the same search , but done using MoRU . Just as in the Finder , I assure MoRU to search for the text du , but I also determine the Exact tuner button . By doing so , MoRU will findonlyoccurrences of the exact phrase du , ignoring anything that simply starts with du . When I run this search , I get much more utile result :
Only nine matches this time , and all nine of them turn back a mention of thedudisk usage written report . Perfect !
Complex search
But unproblematic matches are , well , dim-witted . Where MoRU really shines is in its power to produce complex searches . As an case , here ’s the query I ’d care to work up in public eye :
Now , such a search is technically possible with public eye — MoRU itself relies on Spotlight to find oneself your data . However , to do such a lookup using Spotlight itself , you ’d need to have a very detailed point of knowledge about Raw Queries and the internal workings of Spotlight’skMDItem … subject field . I do n’t have the slight clue how to build such a interrogation . But here ’s what this lookup looks like in MoRU :
( I ’ve added the red label at leftover , in showcase it was n’t obvious . ) The MoRU user interface lets you easily tot “ or ” term , as seen in the Location ginmill in the screenshot above , by clicking the positive mansion next to an exist status . So in this good example , the lookup will find file in ’ z2005 Site Design ’ or ’ z2003 site redesign . ’
Immediately below that , there ’s an “ and ” circumstance , based on document type . To tot up an “ and ” condition , you use the Add pop - up menu in the lower leftover nook . Within that “ and ” query , you may see I ’ve add an additional “ or ” shape , so I can assure for two distinct document eccentric . Next , there are a twosome more “ and ” condition to verify the limiting date , and then a last “ or ” department to stop for the two labels I ’m concerned in determination . When I click OK , the Smart Group is saved and the search run . Although this example is a bit contrive , it demonstrates the flexibility of the MoRU interface .
Other Features
MoRU also quash another major Spotlight issue — at least an issue for me : A search start onlyafteryou’ve built the entire enquiry , not as you ’re typecast it in . This simple change make spot palpate very snappy ; instead of find out meaningless results come and go as you change the enquiry , you see only those solvent that match your full inquiry .
I also like the fact that the “ Type ” pa - up offers a ton of different options , unlike the limited natural selection useable in the Finder ’s own hunt window . Types are displayed first by major groups , such as Text , Image , Audio , or Movie . A sub - bill of fare for each radical then show the file character available ; for Movie , for instance , you ’ll see 12 different movie formats , include AVI , MPG , MOV , WMV , and RM . There ’s also an ’ Extract eccentric from example file ’ menu particular . pluck that one , and an Open dialog look . Point it at a file you ’re interested in , and MoRU will extract the type .
Smarter limelight
Not everyone will require MoRU ; if your searching needs are comparatively straightforward , then Spotlight ’s interface may be sufficient for your need . But if you take help find the proverbial phonograph needle in the proverbial haystack , MoRU will definitely come in handy . It ’s not costless , but at only $ 10 for an individual permit , it wo n’t infract the bank . It ’s already economise me a net ton of sentence , especially when I ’m looking for poppycock from sure-enough Macworld article .
MoRU works with Mac OS X 10.4 ( Tiger ) .
