(Archived) Cannot do full-text search — why?

[MikeH 16]

I'm using the latest Mac desktop client (5.0.5). When I search for text in my Evernote database, whether using the search bar or find-within-note, Evernote never finds fragments of text inside other words. It always, and only, returns matches that are at the beginning of a word. For example, if I am looking at a note that contains the word "Evernote" and I search for "note", it will not match the "note" within "Evernote". This happens whether I'm using plain search (no operators) or using wildcard search.

 

I haven't compared it to previous versions of Evernote, but I could have sworn that Evernote used to match within words as well. Am I doing something wrong? Did the behavior indeed change, or have I misremembered how it behaved before?  

 

Is there a way to do full-text search in Evernote 5?

Thanks for any help.

[MikeH 16]

Thanks for your reply.  You must be right.  I don't know why I thought it used to behave differently.  

 

I definitely wish it did full-text search.  I've started looking at EagleFiler and DevonThink for this reason.  Are there other similar software notetaking/clipping/database applications that people suggest looking at?

 

Thanks again,
Mike

[GrumpyMonkey 4,314]

I'm using the latest Mac desktop client (5.0.5). When I search for text in my Evernote database, whether using the search bar or find-within-note, Evernote never finds fragments of text inside other words. It always, and only, returns matches that are at the beginning of a word. For example, if I am looking at a note that contains the word "Evernote" and I search for "note", it will not match the "note" within "Evernote". This happens whether I'm using plain search (no operators) or using wildcard search.

 

I haven't compared it to previous versions of Evernote, but I could have sworn that Evernote used to match within words as well. Am I doing something wrong? Did the behavior indeed change, or have I misremembered how it behaved before?  

 

Is there a way to do full-text search in Evernote 5?

Thanks for any help.

Hi. As far as I know, Evernote has never had the ability to search from within words. Here are some comments I have made on this, and suggestions for workarounds using Spotlight (http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/31119-partial-word-search-search-for-string-within-a-string/?p=167993).

[GrumpyMonkey 4,314]

Thanks for your reply.  You must be right.  I don't know why I thought it used to behave differently.  

 

I definitely wish it did full-text search.  I've started looking at EagleFiler and DevonThink for this reason.  Are there other similar software notetaking/clipping/database applications that people suggest looking at?

 

Thanks again,

Mike

 

 

Hi Mike. There are so many alternatives to Evernote out there (depending on how you define Evernote's features), and so many possible combinations of solutions, it is difficult to know what to recommend for your use case without a lot more detail about you and what you are looking to do. 

 

(1)

You mentioned EagleFiler (http://c-command.com/eaglefiler/). It is pretty cool, but it is (as far as I know) only available on the Mac. I don't remember if it has partial text searches from any point in a text string, but I seem to remember that being the case. It is definitely worth taking out for a spin. 

 

(2)

You mentioned DevonThink (http://www.devontechnologies.com/products/devonthink/overview.html), which is another brilliant service. I am not terribly keen on it for my particular use case, and I have a very high standard for what I want to get out of iOS apps, especially if I am being asked to pay dearly for them, so I don't have this in my toolbox right now. I seem to remember it having partial word searches as well.

 

(3) 

VoodooPad (http://www.flyingmeat.com/voodoopad/) definitely has the ability to do partial searches, the developer is fantastic about engaging with customers, it has a compelling personal wiki model, and it is available on iOS as well. One thing to note, though, is that large databases (10,000 notes or so of significant length) will slow it down a bit -- the initial Dropbox sync might take a few days, and searches are a bit slow on iOS.

 

(4)

There are going to be pros and cons to using #1, #2, or #3, so take a look at them and see how they fit best into your workflow. Personally, my suggestion (I really don't know enough about your situation to say for sure what would be best for you) would be to use Evernote, and download a searching program to supplement it. I really like EasyFind (http://download.cnet.com/EasyFind/3000-2248_4-8707.html). It does all sorts of fun things, including partial word searches from any point. Basically, you get all of the benefits of Evernote along with a fantastic search. Perhaps the only weakness (or strength, depending on what you are looking to do) is that it does not generate a search index, so performs a brute force search each and every time. In my case, that is exactly what I want, but impatient people will not be satisfied with it.