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Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

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Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#21

Post by porridgeraisin »

apt-get wrote: post #8

fsearch is the best locate front-end for Linux, but sadly, I've got many gripes with it... crappy drag'n'drop, no daemonization to minimize to system tray, closing the app resets the clipboard for some reason (EXTREMELY annoying when you open it to copy a file path), the list is long. Not to mention that locate itself doesn't auto-update the index with fs changes. I miss Everything :(

Not to detract from your overall point, but the app is not resetting the clipboard. In X11 if you close any app, you lose anything you copy from it. This is because in X11 windows do message passing to emulate a clipboard. Your browser say and fsearch send messages to each other to send data in few KB chunks(yes there's an incremental transfer protocol where you have to support all kinds of irrelevant clients even if the last such client died before the turn of the century) So when one of the windows closes, it's gg. It's a pretty convoluted over-engineered idea when instead a single file ~/. clipboard would have sufficed.

For a more articulated rant from 20 years ago, see the rant file in https://github.com/porridgewithraisins/x11cp. Also shameless plug.

To fix this, use a clipboard manager. Also shameless plug https://github.com/porridgewithraisins/coffee-pesto :)

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#22

Post by CyberDildonics »

wander_homer wrote: post #13
CyberDildonics wrote: post #9

How does this search filesystems quickly on linux?

Author here. The app works in two steps: Step one is building an index of the file system. This is simply done by walking the filesystem. The resulting index is stored in RAM and a file. On the next app start the index ia loaded from that file, which is much quicker than walking the file system. Step two is using this in RAM index for searching. This scales really well with the number or CPU cores and on modern syste…

This is simply done by walking the filesystem.

This is the part I'm wondering about. Everything scans the filesystem very fast and there is no way it is just using 'stat' on every file then diving into the directories.

Are you just using stat from C to walk the filesystem or are you doing something else?

I've used sqlite to cache filesystem results and it is also extremely fast once everything is in there, but I think a lot of approaches should work once the file attributes are cached.

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#23

Post by soundarana »

jcul wrote: post #14

I was wondering what this adds over mlocate. It seems it's a GUI only / GUI first tool. The GitHub page recommends mlocate for a CLI version.

For example it updates after every character you type. Sometimes you don't know exactly what you are looking for or you are exploring.

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#24

Post by soundarana »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #22
wander_homer wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here. The app works in two steps: Step one is building an index of the file system. This is simply done by walking the filesystem. The resulting index is stored in RAM and a file. On the next app start the index ia loaded from that file, which is much quicker than walking the file system. Step two is using this in RAM index for searching. This scales really well with the number or CPU cores and on modern syste…

This is simply done by walking the filesystem. This is the part I'm wondering about. Everything scans the filesystem very fast and there is no way it is just using 'stat' on every file then diving into the directories. Are you just using stat from C to walk the filesystem or are you doing something else? I've used sqlite to cache filesystem results and it is also extremely fast once everything is in there, but I thin…

On NTFS Everything reads the MFT, which is sequential on disk.

Then on subsequent starts it reads the NFTS update journal to see what changed.

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#25

Post by aikinai »

For anyone looking for a Mac equivalent, there's GoToFile[0].

As far as I've seen, this is the only app for Mac that doesn't just reuse Spotlight search (which I find to be terrible). I looked for exactly this type of app for years before finding it, and when I did, it didn't seem real with the old-fashioned website and zero mentions on sites like HN. But I can assure that it works great and it's maintained. I just wish the author would promote it better so it gets more attention and isn't so hard to find.

[0] https://www.soma-zone.com/GoToFile/

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#26

Post by BOOSTERHIDROGEN »

porridgeraisin wrote: post #19
BOOSTERHIDROGEN wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the pattern syntax you use most often?

Just regular fuzzy finding is the most common. For example, to attach a file instead of faffing around clicking in the open dialog, I type into fluent search(a frontend to everything) and it enters it in the current context i.e the open dialog. It has a few other qualifiers, like big: huge: etc to search large files. Same way with time etc. Rarely when you need it you prefix with regex: and you get everything you nee…

Wait, I didn't know Everything can full search text ? is it like search preview in macOS ?

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#27

Post by pangey »

wander_homer wrote: post #13
CyberDildonics wrote: post #9

How does this search filesystems quickly on linux?

Author here. The app works in two steps: Step one is building an index of the file system. This is simply done by walking the filesystem. The resulting index is stored in RAM and a file. On the next app start the index ia loaded from that file, which is much quicker than walking the file system. Step two is using this in RAM index for searching. This scales really well with the number or CPU cores and on modern syste…

Is it possible to use eBPF for this task instead of inotify?

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#29

Post by drewtato »

BOOSTERHIDROGEN wrote: post #17
RachelF wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too - strangely, one of the reasons I stay on Windows is Everything ( https://www.voidtools.com/ ) - it is just so useful.

What is the pattern syntax you use most often?

The most important thing is to sort by date modified by default. Usually, the file you want is very new.

After that I mostly just use "pic:" or "path:".

Re: Fsearch, a fast file search utility for Unix-like systems

#30

Post by Beijinger »

"Performance. On Windows I really like to use Everything Search Engine. It provides instant results as you type for all your files and lots of useful features (regex, filters, bookmarks, ...). On Linux I couldn't find anything that's even remotely as fast and powerful."

https://www.lesbonscomptes.com/recoll/pages/index-recoll.htm...

"Recoll finds documents based on their contents as well as their file names."

"Recoll will index an MS-Word document stored as an attachment to an e-mail message inside a Thunderbird folder archived in a Zip file (and more… ). It will also help you search for it with a friendly and powerful interface, and let you open a copy of a PDF at the right page with two clicks. There is little that will remain hidden on your disk."

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