Can you recommend a desktop text search utility? (for WindowsXP, esp XaraXtreme Pro)

[shiphen]

Software:
- WindowsXP Pro
- msOffice 2003
- Xara Xtreme Pro/MindManager/FreeMind
...} all latest versions


Hi
Can anyone recommend a desktop text search utility for searching my local WindowsXP PC?

I need to do text searching across Xara Xtreme Pro 5 files, msOffice2003 files (e.g. Outlook, Excel, Word), Mindjet's MindManager, FreeMind, (plus HTML, PDF files... but this is not a deal breaker.)

For general text searching I have already tried:

- WindowXP's search
==> horrible. I have uninstalled it and use the previous version - which is very slow but more accurate.
Fails to do outlook files.

- GoogleDesktop
==> Initially I was impressed, but now keeps failing to spider things. Terrible at handling archivals of emails.

- Copernic Desktop (v3.2.1)
==> Takes literally *days* to spider/re-spider. Clunky & processor hungry.
Not good at handling archivals of emails.

All I need something as powerful as Google websearch, but that runs across my own PC - and ideally spiders Xara Xtreme files too.

For example exact phrase matching (e.g. by using double quotes around a phrase)
For example negative matching - i.e. excluding certain phrases

I am becoming increasingly desperate!

- Any thoughts?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe

[Soquili]

Hi Ship,

I have moved your thread to the Off Topic forum because it isn't related to Xara software.

I doubt if any program can perform a text search on your archives or Xara files.

Office 2003 uses Microsoft compression techniques and Xara files use ZLib compression techniques. To search for text within the compressed files a program needs to know how to uncompress the various compression techniques.

Unfortunately you removed the XP search program, which may have helped with your Outlook archives, but not with Xara files.

[shiphen]

WTF! That's a bit harsh calling this "off topic".

I was talking about searching for text within XARA documents (as well as other types of file, I admit). Frankly if there is no utility that will perform a text search across Xara files, then this is a significant weakiness, compared to other document formats such as PDF, and I will have to make sure that nothing important goes into any xara files.

Do you by any chance work for Xara?


Ship

[Soquili]

Ship, I do not work for Xara. None of the Talkgraphic moderators work for Xara.

You seem to take moving your post very personally.

It was not meant to cause you any personal harm or feelings of being persecuted.

It is simply the best forum for your question.

Many files that are compressed are not searchable. This is not considered a weakness.

[sledger]

Originally Posted by shiphen

Frankly if there is no utility that will perform a text search across Xara files, then this is a significant weakiness

Yes, it could be regarded as a weakness of the application trying to decode the .xar file.
In order for those search applications you list you find *text strings* in PDF they need to decode them on the fly. This is fine because they have internal routines to do this, PDF is a very commonly used and shared format.
The .xar format is not the same as PDF, it is only commonly used and shared amongst Xara Xtreme users. The .xar format is an ultra compact *vector graphic* format which needs to be decoded and read by the search application in order to discover any embedded text (which has not been converted to shapes therefore no longer is text).
The xar specification is freely available for all developers to allow them to create software to open end read .xar files.

I hope this helps with your understanding of the question asked and your appreciation of TalkGraphics members and moderators.

[stlewis]

Hmmm. Tried the file search in WIndows 7. That too can't pull a single word from a XAR file. I'm sure my old Norton Filemanager did work.

The other search tool to try would be DtSearch. But it too may be bound by the same compression problem.

[stlewis]

I ended up reinstalling Norton's filemanager on Windows 7 as the Windows search fails to find text reliably (eg if you are looking for a PHP string in web pages that you need to change it does not work!).

But I confirmed that even Norton's tool won't delve accurately into XAR files.