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Spotlight is an as-you-type, system-wide desktop search feature found in Mac OS X v10.4. Using a metadata search engine, Spotlight is designed to locate a wide variety of items on the computer, including documents, pictures, music, applications, System Preference panes, as well as specific words in documents and PDFs. It allows the user to narrow down searches with creation dates, modification dates, sizes, types and other attributes.
Spotlight builds a database of metadata keywords in files on the user's hard drive when a user logs in for the first time, as well as when devices such as external hard drives are connected to a system. This initial cataloguing may take some time, but the database is updated continuously in the background as files are modified. The cataloguing process also takes place when the system discovers that files on an external drive have been modified on a system not running 10.4, and the system will re-catalogue the volume from scratch.
Spotlight features a developer API (application program interface) that allows the creation of plug-ins, meaning that developers can add Spotlight search capabilities to their own programs, as well as enable Spotlight to index their own proprietary data file formats.
Features
Spotlight features the following functionality:
- Instant indexing of new and modified files. The index is automatically updated instantly after each file-change.
- Substring search. Words that start with the search term will be matched (prefix matching).
- Boolean searches. Default searches AND operands. Use '|' for OR queries. Place '-' before an operand to perform a NOT query.
Spotlight keywords
"kind"
The "kind" keyword may be used as a stand alone search (e.g. "kind:pdf") or as a modifier for a key word or phrase (e.g. "Steve Jobs kind:email")- Applications: kind:application, kind:applications, kind:app
- Contacts: kind:contact, kind:contacts
- Folders: kind:folder, kind:folders
- Email: kind:email, kind:emails, kind:mail message, kind:mail messages
- iCal Events: kind:event, kind:events
- iCal To Dos: kind:todo, kind:todos, kind:to do, kind:to dos
- Images: kind:image, kind:images
- Movies: kind:movie, kind:movies
- Music: kind:music
- Audio: kind:audio
- PDF: kind:pdf, kind:pdfs
- Preferences: kind:system preferences, kind:preferences
- Bookmarks: kind:bookmark, kind:bookmarks
- Fonts: kind:font, kind:fonts
- Presentations: kind:presentations, kind:presentation
"date"
The "date" keyword may be used as a stand alone search (e.g. "date:today") or as modifer for a key word or phrase (e.g. "Steve Jobs date:today").- date:this month
- date:this week
- date:this year
- date:today
- date:yesterday
- date:tomorrow
- date:next month
- date:next week
- date:next year
See also
External links
- Apple Spotlight Tips
- Apple's Spotlight Query Expression Syntax Guide
- Apple's Spotlight website
- Boolean search in Spotlight
- Mac OS X Technology Guide to Spotlight (book)
- Spotlight Plug-ins
- Spotlight Technology Brief (PDF file)
- SpotMeta (Spotlight Extension)
- Working with Spotlight
Desktop search engines | Mac OS X
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"Spotlight (software)"