Search for Stack - does it still work?

[jbenson2 2,147]

In my Evernote notes, I had the following tip:

 

To search for a Stack in Evernote

Stack:"Stack Name"

 

I have a stack that is named Tasks (with 2 notebooks that contain 3,700 notes), so I tried searching with

 

Stack:Tasks

 

But it only found notes that contained the word Tasks - in a variety of notebooks that were not in my Tasks stack.

Any idea what I am doing wrong? Or was the original tip incorrect?

 

 

Using Evernote Windows 5.9.1.8742 (276742) Public

[jbenson2 2,147]

The search tip I had for Stacks was wrong.

I contacted Evernote Support and got an answer this (Sunday) morning. 

 

Thanks for reaching out to Evernote support

 

I understand you would like to search for notes included in your notebook stack titled Tasks. Currently, there is not a search option for that specifically.

 

Here is a blog article on different search syntax to use in Evernote. I thought it might be of some use finding an alternative search option.

 

https://dev.evernote.com/doc/articles/search_grammar.php

[CalS 5,280]

I just created two notebooks, added a note to each, created a stack called test and stack:test seems to work in the search bar.  EN 5.9.2.8975 beta.  Weird.

 

[s2sailor 2,199]

Yes, weird.  I have a stack:Work that I've used for years and still continues to work on EN 5.9.2.8975 beta.

[jbenson2 2,147]

cshilling, your search example was:

stack:test cal

The search explanation says:

Viewing 1 note from test matching all of the following: contains words starting with cal.

 

Try it without the extra search word "cal" or add a common word that is in many of your other notebooks.

 

 

I have 3,700 notes in my Tasks stack, but nothing shows up with the search:

stack:Tasks

 

If I type:

stack:Tasks Maine

It shows 1,741 notes from many of my other notebooks that are not associated with Tasks.

 

Perhaps this was a withdrawn feature in the past and is being brought back in the beta software.

That could explain why I had it in my April 10, 2011 Evernote tips note.

For safety reasons, I stopped using Evernote beta versions a couple years ago. 

 

Using Evernote Windows 5.9.1.8742 (276742) Public

[s2sailor 2,199]

 

In my Evernote notes, I had the following tip:

 

To search for a Stack in Evernote

Stack:"Stack Name"

 

I have a stack that is named Tasks (with 2 notebooks that contain 3,700 notes), so I tried searching with

 

Stack:Tasks

 

But it only found notes that contained the word Tasks - in a variety of notebooks that were not in my Tasks stack.

Any idea what I am doing wrong? Or was the original tip incorrect?

 

 

Using Evernote Windows 5.9.1.8742 (276742) Public

 

If you click on the stack name in the notebook list in the left hand pane, what happens?

 

I see searching by stack mentioned in several archive forum posts and in a Jan '15 evernote blog that references https://dev.evernote.com/doc/articles/search_grammar.php, but the search grammer article (at least now) doesn't mention stack searching.  Sounds like it may have been there officially at one time but now maybe no longer supported ...

[CalS 5,280]

@jbenson, I get two notes when I simply select the stack.  When I use one of my existing stacks any word search only returns notes in the notebooks contained in the stack.  Don't know what to tell you, could be the beta...

 

Anyway, per S2Sailor, just click on the stack and see what the search bar says.  And be sure current context is checked, embarrassed to bring it up to an old pro. 

[jbenson2 2,147]

 

If you click on the stack name in the notebook list in the left hand pane, what happens?

 

 

Looks like you figured it out. It can be done with a few extra steps

99% of the time, I keep the Left Panel hidden (F10) and rely on the search field.

If I click on the Tasks stack, it shows 3,973 notes (which is the correct total of the 2 notebooks in the stack).

 

But...

the search term stack:Tasks finds every one of my 21,891 notes

the search term stack:Tasks Maine does not work correctly - 1,741 notes from all my notebooks

 

However...

Then if I change the magnifying glass in the search field from "Search All Notes" (my default) to "Search Current Content", the stack: search seems to work. And I can get the correct results if I use stack:Tasks or if I don't use it.

 

I'll send this back to Support to get their comments.

Thank you

[jbenson2 2,147]

@jbenson, I get two notes when I simply select the stack.  When I use one of my existing stacks any word search only returns notes in the notebooks contained in the stack.  Don't know what to tell you, could be the beta...

 

Anyway, per S2Sailor, just click on the stack and see what the search bar says.  And be sure current context is checked, embarrassed to bring it up to an old pro. 

 

Thanks for digging into this. Old? yes / Pro? nope.

I never use the "Current Context" mode because it is not visible and it is too easy to search with it on, and not find the info I want. So I stay in the "Search All Notes" mode 100% of the time.

[CalS 5,280]

You are welcome, glad you have an answer.

[s2sailor 2,199]

 

 

If you click on the stack name in the notebook list in the left hand pane, what happens?

 

 

Looks like you figured it out. It can be done with a few extra steps

99% of the time, I keep the Left Panel hidden (F10) and rely on the search field.

If I click on the Tasks stack, it shows 3,973 notes (which is the correct total of the 2 notebooks in the stack).

 

Glad you have it sorted out.  FWIW, I always leave search current content checked and since the Find in Evernote hotkey removes any search filters that were set and searchs all notes I have rarely found it to be a problem leaving that checked.

 

I'm still concerned by the response that support gave you and the fact we can't find any mention of stack search in the official documentation.  Would be interested to hear what support tells you.

[jbenson2 2,147]

Update from Evernote Support - they have confirmed the issue I described. Thank you to cshilling and s2sailor for their input.

 

I am very glad you reached back out. I apologize, as I did mislead you earlier.

 

I reached out to the second level of support and the syntax stack:titleofstack is legitimate. I have now learned something new.

 

As for the issue at hand, Evernote Windows is not recognizing the syntax correctly. You should be able to Search All Notes using this syntax and have your results correctly generated. This is an issue and one I am going to escalate to our development team for further review.

 

For now, the workaround is to, as you did, select Search Current Context and search that way. Then you should be receiving the search you attempted.

 

I would like to get an activity log from you to share with the development team. 

 

 

I sent them my activity report. I'll update when I get additional information.

[s2sailor 2,199]

I'm glad to hear that support reversed themselves and confirmed that stack search is legitimate.  I rely on that and would hate to see it removed.  Thanks for reporting back.

[jbenson2 2,147]

I'm glad to hear that support reversed themselves and confirmed that stack search is legitimate.  I rely on that and would hate to see it removed.  Thanks for reporting back.

 

Do you use the Evernote Mac version?

It appears they are saying the problem is with the Evernote Windows version. I put their Windows comment in bold font.

[jbenson2 2,147]

Support is sending my question further up the channel:

 

Thank you for sending your log file back to me.

I'm going to transfer this ticket to our Technical Support team who will be able to assist you further. Please know that they are working on your ticket and will reply after they've had the opportunity to review the information you've provided.

I appreciate your patience and understanding.

[s2sailor 2,199]

 

I'm glad to hear that support reversed themselves and confirmed that stack search is legitimate.  I rely on that and would hate to see it removed.  Thanks for reporting back.

 

Do you use the Evernote Mac version?

It appears they are saying the problem is with the Evernote Windows version. I put their Windows comment in bold font.

 

 

No, Windows desktop only.

[jbenson2 2,147]

I got some more feedback from support:

 

Thanks for your patience. I did some testing on various versions and was able to reproduce the stack searching issue on both the beta and the general release. The engineering team is currently working on this. We can now reproduce the issue on demand so we should have everything we need. I appreciate you working with us on this. Hopefully we will have this taken care of quickly. 

[dizzi101 0]

I am using Evernote 6.3 on the mac and the stack searching (stack:nameofstack) does not work. I tried with some existing stacks, and with the new simple stack i just made. I have a stack called 'book1' containing two notebooks (book2 and book3) with one note inside of each. Notebook book3 has a word 'rose' inside one note. 

if i type into search bar

stack:book1 rose

- nothing happens, zero results.

If i simply type

rose

- it returns the note from book3, plus any other notes with the word rose in them...

I should also point out that other types of searches, e.g. notebook:nameofnotebook etc work fine for me.

Any new insights? This is very frustrating as i'm sure it used to work in the past. I have a huge stack called WORK and i really want to search in notebookes inside it. Should i write to Evernote support?

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

On 11/4/2015 at 7:24 PM, jbenson2 said:

I got some more feedback from support:

Thanks for your patience. I did some testing on various versions and was able to reproduce the stack searching issue on both the beta and the general release. The engineering team is currently working on this. We can now reproduce the issue on demand so we should have everything we need.

@jbenson2:  Is this still an issue for you?

I just tested "stack:ACTIVE_STACK TEST" and it worked fine, as expected.  All Notes in all NBs in the stack that had the word "TEST" (regardless of case) were found.

I'm running EN Win 5.9.6 on Win7 Pro x64.

[jbenson2 2,147]

The problem still exists a couple months later

I am using the latest version of Evernote -  Version 5.9.6.9494 (277494) Public with Windows 10.

I have 3,883 notes in two notebooks under a stack named Tasks.

• Search #1: If I search for Stack:Tasks Evernote finds 37 notes from a variety of notebooks.

Search explanation is:
Viewing 37 notes from "All Notebooks" matching "All" of the following: contains the words starting with "Stack" "Tasks"

 

• Search #2: If I search for Stack:"Tasks" Evernote finds the same 37 notes from a variety of notebooks. The correct count should be 203 notes.

Search explanation is slightly different:
Viewing 37 notes from "All Notebooks" matching "All" of the following: contains words starting with "Stack" contains the words "Tasks"

 

• Search #3: If I search for Stack:Tasks Maine Evernote finds 3 notes from a variety of notebooks not in the stack.

Search explanation is:
Viewing 37 notes from "All Notebooks" matching "All" of the following: contains the words starting with "Stack" "Tasks" "Maine"

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

34 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

Search #1: If I search for Stack:Tasks Evernote finds 37 notes from a variety of notebooks.

JB, I think the issue maybe that your capitalizing "Stack".  When I use "Stack:ACTIVE_STACK", I also get the explanation of contains worDs.

But when I use all lower case "stack", as in "stack:ACTIVE_STACK", it works fine.  The search explanation says "Viewing 18 notes from ACTIVE_STACK"

[jbenson2 2,147]

Removing the capitalization makes it worse.

 

• Search #4: If I search for stack:Tasks Evernote finds 22,381 notes from a variety of notebooks. The correct answer should be 3,886 notes.

Search explanation is:
Viewing 22831 notes from "All Notebooks"

 

• Search #5: If I search for stack:Tasks Maine Evernote finds 1,901 notes from a variety of notebooks. The correct answer should be 203 notes.

Search explanation is:
Viewing 1901 notes from "All Notebooks" matching "All" of the following: contains words starting with "Maine"
 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

2 hours ago, jbenson2 said:

Removing the capitalization makes it worse.

JB, I'm sorry to hear that.  I just ran my test again in EN Win 5.9.6 on Win7 Pro x64, and it is still working fine.

Since it works for me, but not you, it has to either a corrupted install, or a difference in our environments.
I'm running Win7, and you're on Win10.  Could that cause the difference?  Do you have a Win7 PC you could test on?

One other test you might try, if you have not already:
Instead of typing in the Search box, click "All Notes", then click on the stack name in the Left Panel.
That shows me Viewing 18 notes from "ACTIVE_STACK", which is exactly correct.

[jbenson2 2,147]

On 11/4/2015 at 8:24 PM, jbenson2 said:

"Thanks for your patience. I did some testing on various versions and was able to reproduce the stack searching issue on both the beta and the general release. The engineering team is currently working on this. We can now reproduce the issue on demand so we should have everything we need. I appreciate you working with us on this. Hopefully we will have this taken care of quickly." 

1

1

This is the reply I got from Evernote Support a couple months ago. They are able to duplicate the problem. I hope they are not using corrupted installs.

My guess is they have not found a solution that works for all users.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

16 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

My guess is they have not found a solution that works for all users.

OK.  Good luck.  I hope you don't have to wait for long.