"si:" with quotation marks does not find entire phrases?

[Biff]

Using phrases with "si:" or "system-index:" in quotation marks like "xxx yyyyy rtrrrrr" does not seem to work. It finds files containng the same words (e.g. xxx, yyyyy). What else could one do to find an exact phrase?

It seems the use of "si;" and "system-index:" is different? Using "system-index:" takes some time, minutes or so, to show the files in the result list (without search, just after inserting "system-index:). "si:" is usable instantly. And the same searches with both ones obviously show the same results. Is that correct? So the result using both really is identical?

[therube]

For the latter, have to assume it is simply a caching issue.

For the former, (MS's) Advanced Query Syntax says "" should be an "exact phrase", where () would be "in any order".
And from best I can tell, si: is acting as if () (& not that I'm really familiar with si:).

[Biff]

Aha, aha, OK, then everything is clear. Many thanks!

[Biff]

Ah, an addition (without having received a notification e-mail).

For the former, (MS's) Advanced Query Syntax says "" should be an "exact phrase", where () would be "in any order".

OK, what (the former) obviously does not work here. And the latter doesn't as well. E.g.
si:(xxxx yyyy)
does not find
xxxx yyyy
or
yyyy xxxx
or
xxxx
or
yyyy

This
system-index:(director Spielberg made the)
and this
system-index:"director Spielberg made the"
does not find anything.

I guess, it lasts too long until, after inserting "system-index:", Everything is ready for searching, it is not accessible during that time, is greyed out, "No response" (maybe for 5-10 minutes). So only "si:" might be useful here. But on the other hand, when the Win index is read in in the result list the (next) search goes quicker (as long as one does not remove system-index: from the search field.

Thank you very much for checking / trying.

[therube]

(I suppose you'll always want to filter, first, to lessen load when searching. And I really know nothing of si:, so wait for others more knowledgeable...)

[Biff]

OK, yes, I will do. Thank you.

[void]

si: and system-index: are exactly the same function.



Please keep in mind the Everything search syntax:

space = AND
| = OR
< > = grouping
" " = escape operators.



Please try si*:

The * at the end of the function name (before the : ) will treat the rest of the search as literal text.

Examples:

Code: Select all

si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si*:"director Spielberg made the"

If you don't want to use the * version (si*:) you will need to escape operators:

si:"(director Spielberg made the)"

Everything quotes (") escape the spaces.

si:"&quot:director Spielberg made the&quot:"

Everything quotes (") escape the spaces and &quot: is converted to a literal quote.

[Biff]

si: and system-index: are exactly the same function.

OK, but why do they behave differently, respectively cause different behaviours then (after inserting them - using system-index: needs 5-10 minutes to wait for Everything until it is accessible again, si: is usable instandly)?

This does not find anything:

si:director Spielberg made the
si:director Spielberg AND made AND the
si:director <Spielberg made the>

find 95 files:
si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si:"(director Spielberg made the)"

find the correct two files:
si*:"director Spielberg made the"
si:"&quot:director Spielberg made the&quot:"

finds nothing (that's good):
si*:"director Spielberg madethe"

What si*: expression / search (or whatever) finds "director" and "Spielberg" (and maybe other words being added) just being somewhere in the same file / text? So both words (or even more) have to be somewhere in the same text to show the file. It's these ones(?):
si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si:"(director Spielberg made the)"

Could one create a bookmark or something else that would add this
si*:""
with the cursor positioned between the two quotes:
"|"
and
si*:(|)
like this?

[void]

OK, but why do they behave differently, respectively cause different behaviours then (after inserting them - using system-index: needs 5-10 minutes to wait for Everything until it is accessible again, si: is usable instandly)?

They should both behave the same.
If you can reproduce the issue, please capture a debug log and send a bug report:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, under the Debug submenu, click Start Debug Logging.
• Reproduce the issue.
• From the Tools menu, under the Debug submenu, click Stop Debug Logging.
• ---This will open your %TEMP%\Everything Debug Log.txt in Notepad.
• Please upload this file in a bug report.

This does not find anything:

si:director Spielberg made the
si:director Spielberg AND made AND the
si:director <Spielberg made the>

These are the expected results.

If you are expecting matches, you will need to apply the si: function to each search term or group:

si:director si:Spielberg si:made si:the
-or-
si:<director Spielberg made the>

What si*: expression / search (or whatever) finds "director" and "Spielberg" (and maybe other words being added) just being somewhere in the same file / text? So both words (or even more) have to be somewhere in the same text to show the file. It's these ones(?):
si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si:"(director Spielberg made the)"

si:director si:Spielberg si:made si:the
-or-
si:<director Spielberg made the>

Could one create a bookmark or something else that would add this
si*:""
with the cursor positioned between the two quotes:
"|"
and
si*:(|)
like this?

Everything doesn't have an option to set the search box cursor position.
I will consider a command to do this.
Thank you for the suggestion.

[Biff]

Please upload this file in a bug report.

Done.

What si*: expression / search (or whatever) finds "director" and "Spielberg" (and maybe other words being added) just being somewhere in the same file / text? So both words (or even more) have to be somewhere in the same text to show the file. It's these ones(?):
si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si:"(director Spielberg made the)"

si:director si:Spielberg si:made si:the
-or-
si:<director Spielberg made the>

OK, these two lines above find each file containing these 5 words somewhere in the file. It seems these line exactly did the same:
si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si:"(director Spielberg made the)"
But they do not? Or are these two more variants?

si:director si:Spielberg si:made si:the
-or-
si:<director Spielberg made the>

They find 95 files.

Opening an Everything window, inserting one of these lines to the search field the search lasts some minutes or so. When I replace one of the lines with the other one the 95 files are shown immediately, respectively the result from the last line is kept.

Everything doesn't have an option to set the search box cursor position.
I will consider a command to do this.

Thank you very much!

[Biff]

It seems these find words somewhere in the file as well:
system-index*:director Spielberg made the
si*:director Spielberg made the

Or am I wrong? Would there be an drawback using them instead of the other ones (finding the same)? Would be a bit easier to enter manually.

[void]

Please upload this file in a bug report.

Done.

Thank you.
Could you please do the same for a si: query, just to compare..

From the logs, system-index: takes ~10 minutes to find all results with an empty search.
A blocking action is performed on the Everything db, Everything will hang until the search completes.

si*:(director Spielberg made the)
si:"(director Spielberg made the)"
But they do not? Or are these two more variants?

They are the same.
Please note: si*: treats the rest of the search as literal text.
You cannot use any more Everything operators after si*:

Or am I wrong? Would there be an drawback using them instead of the other ones (finding the same)? Would be a bit easier to enter manually.

si*: is the easiest to work with.
Pros: Simple to type.
Cons: Can't use any more Everything operators AFTER the si*: search, they have to be done BEFORE the si*: search.
Cons: It might be hard to remember the * in the si*: variant.

[Biff]

Thank you.
Could you please do the same for a si: query, just to compare..

Yes, of course, done. Sorry, it appears my observation was not correct, it seems: when I open a search window and insert system-index: or si: the behavior is like described ("No response", long waiting time). When I now copy and replace system-index: with si: or si: with system-index: the result (obviously all of the indexed elements indexed by the Win search up to now) does not change, respectively it is there instantly. When I manually enter si: or system-index: it causes the same behavior ("No response", long waiting time).

A blocking action is performed on the Everything db, Everything will hang until the search completes.

OK, so that is not like it should be, I guess.

si*: is the easiest to work with.
Pros: Simple to type.
Cons: Can't use any more Everything operators AFTER the si*: search, they have to be done BEFORE the si*: search.
Cons: It might be hard to remember the * in the si*: variant.

Okey, many thanks!

[void]

I am going to make a change to how the system index query executes.

Currently, Everything just executes the query and waits for the response.
Normally, this is instant.
In your case, you are indexing millions of files and the query takes 10 minutes.

I will add improved cancel detection so Everything responds immediately.
However, Everything will still block (hang) if you perform an action while there is an active search.

What are you doing after you type in the search: system-index:
Are you clicking in the result list? pressing ENTER or TAB from the search box?

When Everything hangs, do you see a Cancel current query dialog? -It might be hidden for you?

[Biff]

I am going to make a change to how the system index query executes.

OK, many thanks!

Currently, Everything just executes the query and waits for the response.
Normally, this is instant.
In your case, you are indexing millions of files and the query takes 10 minutes.

I just entered manually "si*:" and pasted the search phrase and the result was shown instantly now (without that long hesitation before).

What are you doing after you type in the search: system-index:
Are you clicking in the result list? pressing ENTER or TAB from the search box?

Usually I do nothing more for the search, just leaving it after entering the last character or pasting the search content and waiting for the result. In the cases I tried the functions I clicked a few times in the search field and / or in the result area (as far as I can remember), because I wanted to see how Everything reacts). I can't remember to have used ENTER or TAB. I would not think so.

When Everything hangs, do you see a Cancel current query dialog? -It might be hidden for you?

I just wrote "si*:". After some seconds Everything wasn't accessible anymore, the first seconds it was. No, can't see any Cancel dialog. But "Keine Rückmeldung" = "No response".

[void]

Everything 1.5.0.1397a improves si:

Everything will now cancel the current si: search when performing a new si: search.

Everything should now feel more responsive when typing in an si: search.

[Biff]

Super, thank you very much!

Ah, the file names have changed of the exes in the zip. So I just remove the old Everything64.exe and put the new Everything.exe in the Everything folder? Or is there anything else to pay attention to?

It seems as if it has lasted one to two months (2.2 mio. items) until the Win index was complete and then it seems to start all over again (according to how it counts the indexed files). And it seems to run always, without interruption.

[void]

So I just remove the old Everything64.exe and put the new Everything.exe in the Everything folder?

Yes, delete the old Everything64.exe and copy the new Everything.exe

You might have to update any shortcuts to Everything.
Re-pin Everything to your taskbar etc..



I may revert this Everything64.exe -> Everything.exe rename, depending on issues with discord and other programs.
For now, I would like to go back to Everything.exe for a beta release soon.

[Biff]

Okay, just removing the !64! in the exe in the shortcuts and such, thank you.

So for the beta the name will be kept, for the stable it will maybe.

Okay, many thanks!

[w64bit]

For now, I would like to go back to Everything.exe for a beta release soon.

The next alpha will be when 1.5 will enter beta or when will exit beta?

[void]

I still have to update localization, then I will work on a beta release.

[void]

Could one create a bookmark or something else that would add this
si*:""

Everything 1.5.0.1397a adds a /set-search-caret-position search command to set the search box caret position.

To create a bookmark that sets the search to si*:"" and sets the caret between the two quotes:
Set the bookmark search to:

Code: Select all

si*:""
/set-search-caret-position <eval:<len:$search:>-1>

(edit: use alt + ENTER to add a newline -the newline is required)

[Biff]

Ah, that's super, thank you very much!

[tuska]

Could one create a bookmark or something else that would add this
si*:""

Everything 1.5.0.1397a adds a /set-search-caret-position search command to set the search box cursor position.

To create a bookmark that sets the search to si*:"" and sets the cursor between the two quotes:
Set the bookmark search to:

Code: Select all

si*:""
/set-search-caret-position <eval:<len:$search:>-1>

Please, how do you use this bookmark?
 

2025-09-06_Windows Search - si - with quotation marks.png (26.25 KiB) Viewed 10777 times

[void]

What happens when you open this bookmark from the Bookmark menu or keyboard shortcut?

Cursor = "caret" in this case.

Everything should focus the search box, set the search to:
si*:""
Move the caret between the double quotes ""
So when you start typing, text will go between the two double quotes.

[tuska]

I removed the line break (ALT+ENTER) in the bookmark (in the field “Search” > ‘Custom’) and now it works.
(This seems to be one of the few cases where a line break should NOT be inserted).

The keyboard shortcut also works.

The macro “siq”, which can be called up with siq:, obviously cannot be used here,
so I am removing it again.

Thanks for the prompt help!