Why can't I search within a note?

[Chris Fell 4]

The search function (above the notebook list) searches all my notebooks at once. It then cannot take me to the found instances of my search string in each note. My notes are often very long, and the found items are marked with a very small and low-impact colour, so I have to then search manually for several minutes to find what the search is supposed to have found for me. I can't believe it works this way - am I doing something wrong?

[DTLow 5,736]

19 hours ago, Chris Fell said:

so I have to then search manually for several minutes to find what the search is supposed to have found for me. I can't believe it works this way - am I doing something wrong?

On my Mac, I also have the option of "Find Within Note" 

So, two separate steps

1. Search for notes
2. Search within note

For most searches, step 2 isn't required.  Text search items are highlighted and visible

[CalS 5,280]

12 hours ago, Chris Fell said:

am I doing something wrong?

Nope.  To search within the note you need to use Ctrl-F in Windows, or per @DTLow, command F on a Mac.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,937]

Hi Chris, and welcome to the forums! As others have indicated, "Find within note" can be invoked whether or not a particular note is in focus. My only thought in trying to understand why the global find (and "Find in notebook" as well) works the way it does would be that, once it has detected a set of notes that contain the search term, it could not automatically know in which of those notes you'd want to start looking. Maybe in the first one in the list, maybe not.

Also, I find that when I use that search field, whether to search an individual notebook or all notes, when I move from note to note in the list of found notes, as each note is selected it is automatically scrolled to display the first instance of the search term in it. I'm really not sure what more could be expected. But that's on Windows; it may work differently on other systems.

[Chris Fell 4]

Thanks very much for the replies guys. I was skeptical that posting to the forum would be useful, but you have proven me wrong.

Dave, your logic about the functionality makes sense, and the way it works is no doubt more powerful than what I was proposing. I just find/found it disconcerting to be reading a Note, then perform a search, only to have it switch off the note I'm reading because it has found instances of that string in other notes. I really don't care about the other notes, and I have to go and find my note again.

Further though, the way it marks the located instances is almost invisible to me. Unless there is a cluster, like in my example below, a feint yellow line above a word does not allow me to find the instance in a note with dozens of pages of text. I have to scroll very slowly and skim-read everything. To me that's not how a search should work. Sometimes I find it takes me at least nearby the instance, but often it doesn't, or the instance seems just above or below the visible part of the note, as though it doesn't quite know which part of the note I can see.

I have a Windows system by the way.

It would be great if the search function (1) marked the instances much more clearly, and (2) took me to them. Even better if it listed them in a column to the left, as MS Word does for example.

Anyway, I appreciate the help, thanks again.

Chris.

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,937]

11 hours ago, Chris Fell said:

Dave, your logic about the functionality makes sense, and the way it works is no doubt more powerful than what I was proposing. I just find/found it disconcerting to be reading a Note, then perform a search, only to have it switch off the note I'm reading because it has found instances of that string in other notes. I really don't care about the other notes, and I have to go and find my note again.

Further though, the way it marks the located instances is almost invisible to me. Unless there is a cluster, like in my example below, a feint yellow line above a word does not allow me to find the instance in a note with dozens of pages of text. I have to scroll very slowly and skim-read everything. To me that's not how a search should work. Sometimes I find it takes me at least nearby the instance, but often it doesn't, or the instance seems just above or below the visible part of the note, as though it doesn't quite know which part of the note I can see.

It sounds as if the Find-in-note function really would work better for you. It (obviously) stays within the note you're working/searching in. And it does highlight the instances found much better (although on my Win7 system, even the global find highlights them better than what you're seeing). Below are two screenshots, the first from a search within a note and the second from an all-notes search.

[Chris Fell 4]

Oh wow - there really is a Find-in-Note function! That's what I've been waiting for for years. I've tried CTRL-F many times, but always thought it didn't work, because I've never noticed the little search box that appears right at the bottom of the screen.

And it seems that function highlights using a much more visible colour - bright orange rather than pale yellow, so I think my problem is solved.

Thanks very much for your assistance Dave and others.

Chris.

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,937]

Glad to be of help! Just please don't ask about the number of things that I've missed that have been right in front of me!