How do I prevent Spotlight from categorizing 'JAR' files as 'Application'

There are several things in the current version of Spotlight that are either broken or just plain wrong. It looks like you have found another. When I look at the metadata for a jar file I see that its type is, well, a java jar file, and its content tree declares it to be a com.sun.java-archive. Finder gets this right: if you do GetInfo on such a jar file its kind is shown as "Java JAR file"--as it should be.

When I made a saved search, using the Kind drop-down menu to get the pre-defined Application, and then looked to see what criteria Spotlight was using to define "application" (and yes, the search included jar files in its results), I discovered Spotlight was NOT using the simple, straightforward "kMDItemKind=Application" as one would expect. Instead it is using something I had never heard of to define an Application, to wit "_kMDItemGroupId = 8"--furthermore, I believe characterizing applications that way has been deprecated. Be that as it may, it doesn't work to find the things you want, and exclude the things you don't.

There is no way for a user to fix this. The only thing you can do is not let Spotlight define the kind. Thus, if you bring up a search window do not use the Kind drop-down menu to select Application. Instead select Other from the menu and then type Application. You then get only things whose type declaration is Application, and you don't get jar files or widgets.

The other option is to exclude jar files by typing

NOT jar

in the search for box (you'll still get widgets though). You can also add that boolean restriction if you are using the menu bar Spotlight search.
Francine


Francine
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