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Last Post
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Apr 23, 2006 8:40 PM
by: Bryce Hardy
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Posts:
12
Registered:
May 24, 2005
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Smart Folder Based On Spotlight Comments
Posted:
Apr 22, 2006 6:07 PM
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I'm trying to set up a smart folder to contain all files that I've made a given Spotlight comment for. When I start to set up a New Smart Folder and choose the Comment drop down and input the comment that I've tagged several files with (by using Command-I on the given files) it doesn't seem to take. Is this supposed to work? If not, what does the "Comment" drop down list item refer to in the New Smart Folder dialogue? Thanks for any clues about this.
iMac G5
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
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Posts:
5,765
From:
Southern Calif
Registered:
Oct 12, 2001
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Re: Smart Folder Based On Spotlight Comments
Posted:
Apr 23, 2006 12:16 PM
in response to: Bryce Hardy
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Helpful
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Unfortunately this seems yet another case where one set of programmers in the Spotlight project were not talking to another set of programmers. When I selected "Comment:Contains http" I got one hit, which had nothing whatsoever to do with the many files I have that have their source URL in the Spotlight Comment field. I quickly discovered that it was because Comment actually issues this query:
(kMDItemComment = 'http*'cd) && (kMDItemContentType != com.apple.mail.emlx) && (kMDItemContentType != public.vcard)
When I used a metadata reader to examine one of my files that had the URL in the Spotlight Comment field I discovered that the comment is actually entered in this metadata field:
kMDItemFinderComment = "http://image.versiontracker.com"
So the metadata programmers have the tag as "kMDItemFinderComment" while the programmers for the search criteria assumed it was "kMDItemComment"--so the search won't work.
What I did was select Raw Query, and then entered this:
kMDItemFinderComment = "http://*"
The asterisk * is a wild card standing for "anything at all following http://"--this promptly found 23 files in my current Downloads folder. Using this as the Raw Query and selecting Computer to search:
kMDItemFinderComment = width*
Immediately found 7, 665 images on my three internal drives that have their dimensions given in the Comment box.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder
PS--I just sent this to Tiger Feedback.
G4 Dual 800; iBookG4; iPod
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
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Posts:
12
Registered:
May 24, 2005
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Re: Smart Folder Based On Spotlight Comments
Posted:
Apr 23, 2006 12:25 PM
in response to: Francine Schwie...
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Thanks for taking a shot at this one Francine. I guess I'll have to wait until the next version of Spotlight and/or Smart Folders for this to be possible, since your work-around is way beyond me... 
iMac G5
Mac OS X (10.4.3)
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Posts:
5,765
From:
Southern Calif
Registered:
Oct 12, 2001
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Re: Smart Folder Based On Spotlight Comments
Posted:
Apr 23, 2006 12:38 PM
in response to: Bryce Hardy
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Helpful
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If you can set up a smart folder you can do this! Honest!
1. Open a Finder window
2. Hit Command-F to bring up the Search window
3. Click the drop down menu for the criterion, and select Other
4. Scroll down the list to the Rs and select Raw Query and click OK
5. Copy and paste this into the Raw Query box, with a space after the = sign:
kMDItemFinderComment =
6. Type the first word of what you have in your comment, followed by the asterisk. You can even type a word in the middle of the comment, preceded by an asterisk and followed by one to find all comments containing that word.
That's it. Click the Save button and you've got your Smart Folder.
G4 Dual 800; iBookG4; iPod
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
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Posts:
12
Registered:
May 24, 2005
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Re: Smart Folder Based On Spotlight Comments
Posted:
Apr 23, 2006 6:16 PM
in response to: Francine Schwie...
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OK, I gave it a try and followed your directions, but it still doesn't find the images. So I have some pictures of my friend Gino; I've entered spotlight comments (Command-I etc.) into these image files. So when I followed your instructions I have:
kMDItemFinderComment = gino*
in the field after the "Raw Query" drop down (which I "added to my favorites.")But it didn't find any of the pictures. I must be doing something wrong, but I don't see what. Thanks though for all your time on this. This would be a really easy and efficient way to organize and browse one's files; I hope they manage to fix it so it works.
iMac G5
Mac OS X (10.4.3)
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Posts:
12
Registered:
May 24, 2005
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Re: Smart Folder Based On Spotlight Comments
Posted:
Apr 23, 2006 8:40 PM
in response to: Bryce Hardy
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I've just uncovered a nice consolation to all this: Just bring up the spotlight search window (not just the menu bar drop down) and enter the spotlight comment to search; then you can basically use the results pane as an impromtu smart folder. If the files are images, as is the case in my original problem, you can even see a slideshow at the click of a button. I must admit it's pretty sweet. Well anyway thanks again Francine for your assistance.
iMac G5
Mac OS X (10.4.3)
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