Searching Unique Folders within a wildcard folder

[GhostHunterJim]

I need to locate all unique occurrences of a specific folder within a path that contains wildcards (*) and only show the folder where it exists.

For example, I'm a web developer and I want to backup multiple projects from one drive to another. Each project or a sub folder of a project may contain a node_modules (node.js packages) folder. In the interest of reducing the time to backup everything, I need to search for each occurrence and only show the folder or path where it exists excluding files and folders within the node_modules folder.

I can get close using the following search parameters but it's listing all files and folders within the node_modules folder.

[NotNull]

using the following search parameters

You forgot something


The child: function might do what you want.

child:cmd.exe

shows all folders that contain a file/folder directly beneath it with cmd.exe in the name

exact:child:cmd.exe

does the same, but for a file/folder with the exact name "cmd.exe"

[GhostHunterJim]

Sorry about that. Here's the search parameters I'm using

E:\project-backups\*\node_modules

Thank you for the suggested functions. Where would I put the child or exact child function in the search query? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like using these functions would include files in the search results. Is there a way to exclude files? I only need folders. Here's another example of what I'm looking for:

E:\Projects\project1\node_modules
E:\Projects\project2\node_modules
E:\Projects\project3\node_modules
E:\Projects\wordpress_project1\public\wp_content\themes\custom_theme\node_modules
E:\Projects\wordpress_project1\public\wp_content\plugins\custom_plugin\node_modules

[NotNull]

Ok, I assumed you wanted the parent folder of these node_modules folders.


Attempt #2 ... Does the following search produce the results you expect?

Code: Select all

"E:\project-backups\"  exact:folder:node_modules

(the "" are not needed if the real path doesn't contain a space)

[GhostHunterJim]

Attempt #2 produces 0 objects which was expected since it doesn't include a wildcard for the project folder name or subfolder wherever the "node_modules" folder exists.

Most of the time the node_modules folder will reside in the root of each project folder however in situations for WordPress custom theme or plugin projects, each theme folder or plugin folder may have a node_modules folder. Another way of explaining this would be: "show me all projects containing the node_modules folder regardless of level depth. It could be 1 level or n levels. n representing more than one level. Also do not show the files or folders in each node_modules folder.

[NotNull]

Attempt #2 produces 0 objects which was expected

Not expected by me ... should return results.

Another way of explaining this would be: "show me all projects containing the node_modules folder regardless of level depth

Ah, the fog is lifting. That wasn't clear from your original question.

You need Everything 1.5 for that.
Using the (many) extra search possibilities of this version, you can search for the following:

Code: Select all

parent:"c:\your projects folder\"   exact:descendant-folder:"node_modules" 

With the following results:

2022-05-18 11_57_19-parent__t__node_folders__ exact_descendant-folder__node_modules_ - Everything.png (28.35 KiB) Viewed 4510 times

[void]

E:\Projects\project1\node_modules
E:\Projects\project2\node_modules
E:\Projects\project3\node_modules
E:\Projects\wordpress_project1\public\wp_content\themes\custom_theme\node_modules
E:\Projects\wordpress_project1\public\wp_content\plugins\custom_plugin\node_modules

Are these the desired results?
If not, could you please give an example of the expected results.

NotNull's search:
"E:\Projects\" exact:folder:node_modules
should match the above files.

Please make sure no search options are checked under the Search menu (Uncheck Match Case, uncheck Match diacritics, uncheck Regex)

[GhostHunterJim]

Ah, I have version 1.4.1.1005 Thank you. I was wondering about that too somewhat. When clicking on the "Check for Updates" link, the dialog that pops up tells me that "Everything is up-to-date".


Update: I installed v1.5a and when running it doesn't do anything. To clarify, I get the interface, and in the status bar below, there's no indication that a query is running. Just says 0 objects, even when I enter something in the search bar. 1.4.1 starts building a list as soon as I launch it. I looked through the links on the 1.5a posts and didn't see any mention of this but I'm sure there's something I'm missing.

[void]

Update: I installed v1.5a and when running it doesn't do anything. To clarify, I get the interface, and in the status bar below, there's no indication that a query is running. Just says 0 objects, even when I enter something in the search bar.

This can occur if you select manual configuration in the installer.

Please make sure Everything 1.5 is installed correctly and running as a standard user:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the General tab on the left.
• Check Store settings and data in %APPDATA%\Everything
• Uncheck Run as administrator.
• Check Everything Service. (Please make sure this is tick-checked and not square-checked)
• Click OK.
• Exit Everything (right click the Everything tray icon and click Exit).
• Restart Everything.

To add your NTFS volumes to your Everything index:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the NTFS tab.
• For each NTFS volume listed:
  • Check Include in database.
• Click OK.

[GhostHunterJim]

Update: I installed v1.5a and when running it doesn't do anything. To clarify, I get the interface, and in the status bar below, there's no indication that a query is running. Just says 0 objects, even when I enter something in the search bar.

This can occur if you select manual configuration in the installer.

Please make sure Everything 1.5 is installed correctly and running as a standard user:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the General tab on the left.
• Check Store settings and data in %APPDATA%\Everything
• Uncheck Run as administrator.
• Check Everything Service. (Please make sure this is tick-checked and not square-checked)
• Click OK.
• Exit Everything (right click the Everything tray icon and click Exit).
• Restart Everything.

To add your NTFS volumes to your Everything index:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the NTFS tab.
• For each NTFS volume listed:
  • Check Include in database.
• Click OK.

I reinstalled v1.5a and made sure these settings were set as you suggested. Still doesn't work like v1.4.1 did where it would start scanning as soon as the app was launched. Also nothing happens when entering search parameters in the search bar. As another test, I opened the advanced search window and tried to scan. Still no signs of life.

[NotNull]

Solutions for most common causes that prevent showing results:
- Make sure that under Menu:Search *only* Everything is selected (so no Match .., Ignore .. , etc).
- Make sure Hide results when the search is empty is disabled (Menu:Tools > Options > General > Results)
- Close the Folders sidebar
- Double-click anything that is shown on the Everything statusbar



If that didn't help:
When you open the Statistics window (Menu:Tools > Debug > Statistics ), what values are shown for:

Database
- Folder Count
- File Count
- NTFS index count

NTFS Index
- Path:C: <== assuming your Windows is installed on the C:-drive
- Folder Count
- File Count

[void]

I reinstalled v1.5a and made sure these settings were set as you suggested. Still doesn't work like v1.4.1 did where it would start scanning as soon as the app was launched. Also nothing happens when entering search parameters in the search bar. As another test, I opened the advanced search window and tried to scan. Still no signs of life.

Could you please send some debug output?

• In Everything 1.5, from the Tools menu, under the Debug submenu, click Start Debug Logging.
• From the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Indexes tab on the left.
• Click Force Rebuild.
• From the Tools menu, under the Debug submenu, click Stop Debug Logging.
  ---this will open your Everything Debug Log.txt---
• Could you please send this file to support@voidtools.com

[GhostHunterJim]

Solutions for most common causes that prevent showing results:
- Make sure that under Menu:Search *only* Everything is selected (so no Match .., Ignore .. , etc).
- Make sure Hide results when the search is empty is disabled (Menu:Tools > Options > General > Results)
- Close the Folders sidebar
- Double-click anything that is shown on the Everything statusbar



If that didn't help:
When you open the Statistics window (Menu:Tools > Debug > Statistics ), what values are shown for:

Database
- Folder Count
- File Count
- NTFS index count

NTFS Index
- Path:C: <== assuming your Windows is installed on the C:-drive
- Folder Count
- File Count

Sorry for the delay in getting back.

After following the above. Here is the debug stats:

Database
Location: C:\Users\Jim\AppData\Local\Everything\Everything-1.5a.db
Indexed file properties: Name, Path, Size, Date Modified
Indexed folder properties: Name, Path, Size, Date Modified
Fast sorts: Name, Path, Size, Date Modified
Folder count: 0
File count: 0
Total item count: 0
FAT index count: 0
NTFS index count: 0
ReFS index count: 0
Network drive index count: 0
Folder index count: 0
File list index count: 0
Network index count: 0
Total index count: 0
Folder data size: 0 bytes
File data size: 0 bytes
Total data size: 0 bytes
Folder index size: 0 bytes
File index size: 0 bytes
Total index size: 0 bytes
Total size: 0 bytes
Folders created: 0
Folders modified: 0
Folders deleted: 0
Folders moved: 0
Files created: 0
Files modified: 0
Files deleted: 0
Files moved: 0

Journal
Enabled: Yes
ID: 01d86c8f7d915c63
Size: 0 bytes
Max size: 1,048,576 bytes
First item ID:
Next item ID: 1
Item count: 0

Build
Count: 1
Total duration: 00:00
Minimum duration: 0.000617 seconds
Maximum duration: 0.000617 seconds
Average duration: 0.000617 seconds
Last duration: 0.000617 seconds
Last build date: 5/20/2022 5:20 PM
Last rebuild reason: Unable to open database file.

Update
Count: 16
Total duration: 00:00
Minimum duration: 0.000000 seconds
Maximum duration: 0.000018 seconds
Average duration: 0.000002 seconds
Last duration: 0.000000 seconds
Last update date: 6/3/2022 3:34 PM

Load
Count: 2
Total duration: 00:00
Minimum duration: 0.001302 seconds
Maximum duration: 0.005558 seconds
Average duration: 0.003430 seconds
Last duration: 0.005558 seconds
Last load date: 6/3/2022 3:34 PM

Save
Count: 4
Total duration: 00:00
Minimum duration: 0.000753 seconds
Maximum duration: 0.001644 seconds
Average duration: 0.001249 seconds
Last duration: 0.000753 seconds
Last save date: 6/3/2022 3:34 PM
Next scheduled save date: 6/4/2022 4:00 AM
Total bytes written: 0

Query
Count: 10
Total duration: 00:00
Minimum duration: 0.000003 seconds
Maximum duration: 0.000079 seconds
Average duration: 0.000029 seconds
Last duration: 0.000003 seconds
Last query date: 6/3/2022 3:37 PM
Total result count: 0
Minimum result count: 0
Maximum result count: 0
Average result count: 0
Last result count: 0

Sort
Count: 0
Total duration:
Minimum duration:
Maximum duration:
Average duration:
Last duration:
Last sort date:

[void]

Thank you for the statistics.

The statistics show the database is empty.



Please make sure Everything is installed correctly and running as a standard user:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the General tab on the left.
• Check Store settings and data in %APPDATA%\Everything.
• Uncheck Run as administrator.
• Check Everything Service. (Please make sure this is tick-checked and not square-checked)
• Click OK.
• Exit Everything (right click the Everything tray icon and click Exit).
• Restart Everything.

Please make sure your NTFS volumes are included in your index:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the NTFS tab.
• For each NTFS volume listed:
  • Check Include in database.
• Click OK.

Could you please send some debug output:

• In Everything 1.5, from the Tools menu, under the Debug submenu, click Start Debug Logging.
• From the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Indexes tab.
• Click Force Rebuild.
• Click OK.
  ---wait for Everything to finish rebuilding---
• From the Tools menu, under the Debug submenu, click Stop Debug Logging.
  ---this will open your Everything Debug Log.txt---
• Please send this file to: support@voidtools.com