Find text in the file list¶
Use Edit → Find… (Cmd+F / Ctrl+F) to list matching filenames and tag values, then select the files behind those results. Find leaves the file list's contents in place. To reduce the visible list, use Filter instead.
The search runs on the currently listed, visible files, including their pending field values. A filename means its leaf name with extension, not its whole folder path. Technical information fields are not part of this tag-value search; use the filter's information placeholders for those.
Find a title and select its file¶
- Load copied practice files, wait for any active filter to finish, and choose Edit → Find….
- Enter
Pier, leave Strategy at Contains, and leave Case sensitive off. - Choose Find or press Enter in the search input.
- Look for the result whose Field is TITLE and whose Match is
North Pier. - Click that row. The corresponding audio file becomes selected in the main window. Close Find when ready to edit it.
Find is a non-modal window: the main workspace can remain available while results are shown. A result selects a file; it is not an editable tag value or a replacement instruction. Check the main selection before applying a batch action.
Choose a matching strategy¶
Ordinary strategies treat the criteria as literal text. A dot or bracket has special meaning only when Regular expression is chosen. The default is Contains, with case ignored.
| Strategy | Criteria | Value being searched | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contains | Pier |
North Pier |
Match |
| Matches word | Pier |
North Pier |
Match |
| Matches content | Pier |
North Pier |
No match |
| Begins with | North |
North Pier |
Match |
| Ends with | Pier |
North Pier |
Match |
| Regular expression | ^North\s+Pier$ |
North Pier |
Match |
| Matches word | Pier |
North Pier-West |
Match |
| Matches word | Pier |
North Pier_West |
No match |
Matches word requires boundaries around the whole criteria. Letters,
numbers and underscore count as word characters for this strategy; a
hyphen separates words. Matches content requires equality with one
complete field value or filename. For a filename, the extension is part
of that value, so North Pier is not the complete content of
04 - North Pier.flac.
Enable Case sensitive when Pier must differ from pier. Spaces at
the start/end of the criteria are literal search characters; an entirely
empty criteria reports Enter text to find rather than listing every file.
Read match counts correctly¶
One file can have several result rows. A filename, TITLE and COMMENT can all match the same criteria. One matching field value creates one row, even if that value contains the searched text several times.
For example, use Contains with boats, ignoring case, on this practice
selection:
| Filename | TITLE | COMMENT |
|---|---|---|
03 - Paper Boats.flac |
Paper Boats |
(absent) |
04 - North Pier.flac |
North Pier |
Notes about boats |
Expect 3 matches in 2 files: the first filename, its TITLE, and the second file's COMMENT. Select all results selects the two distinct files, not three copies of a file. A second ARTIST value can likewise supply its own result independently of the field's first value.
Sort and navigate results¶
Click the Filename, Field or Match column header to sort those result rows. Clicking the active header again reverses that sort. Result sorting does not reorder the main file list or change tag values.
Click a row, or focus it and press Enter/Space, to select its file in the main list. Up/Down moves through result rows and selects their files. The current result control provides individual-row navigation or Select all results; it does not provide a separate Command/Ctrl-click range selection of arbitrary result rows. For a subset, close Find and adjust the selected files in the main list.
The table displays at most the first 2,000 matching rows. The status reports the full count, and Select all results considers all matching files, including ones represented only by unshown rows. Refine the query when every match must be inspected before acting.
Refresh an outdated result set¶
The result table is a snapshot from the last Find operation. Edit tags, change a filter or remove files, then run Find again to refresh it. Clicking a result whose file is no longer visible reports that it is no longer listed. Select all results also excludes files that are no longer in the current visible list.
Selecting results changes the main selection. Configured tag-panel defaults can stage values for a multi-file selection; inspect pending changes before saving them. Running a search is not itself a metadata-replacement operation.
Regular expressions use the Find dialect¶
Find uses JavaScript Unicode regular expressions, controlled by its Case
sensitive checkbox. Enter the raw pattern without the apostrophe quoting
used inside a $regexp(...) format string. An invalid expression is shown
as an error and clears the result table for that run.
Do not assume every advanced pattern from an action or filter is accepted.
For example, unscoped (?i) is invalid here; use the checkbox instead.
Find does not add the shared core's multiline/dot-all defaults. The
regex reference provides
actual case-control and invalid-pattern examples. Find has no replacement
box: use an action or converter when matching should lead to an edit.
Reuse or remove criteria¶
The input's drop-down history remembers used criteria through the normal helper-list mechanism. The ► helper has Remove from history and Remove all from history… for this input. Removing history does not remove tags or files. Physical Control+Space opens the focused helper; Shift+Delete removes the current remembered value.
Reopening an already open Find window selects its input for a new query. After closing and opening a new window, check the strategy and case option: the new dialog starts with Contains and case sensitivity off. A remembered criteria string does not carry those options with it.
Gotchas¶
- Check whether a filter has hidden files that should participate in the search. Find searches this view, not every file elsewhere in the library.
- The result's Field names metadata; the file list's configurable column labels do not rename those fields.
- Several matching rows can refer to one file, while one field can contain several separately searched values. Read both the match and file counts.
- Close Find before relying on workspace keyboard shortcuts whose routing changes while a dialog is open.