I noted today that DocFetcher doesn't remember the last used search scope.
It does remember the file types but not the last used search (by default all
search scopes are active)
Is it possible to remember the last used search scope?
ps: the software use not a lot of memory (a great reason to use docfetcher),
but it takes some time on my system to open the application (first use after
boot).
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Yes, it is possible to remember the last search scope, but it was omitted on
purpose. In my experience, most of the time unchecking folders in the search
scope is only done temporarily, for 1 or 2 searches. Most of the time you'd
want to search in all of your folders. I think it would be a bit annoying if I
had to undo my settings from previous searches every time I start the program.
And that's why DocFetcher resets the search scope on startup. (Of course I'm
open to discussion if you disagree.)
The slow startup time has something to do with the fact that DocFetcher was
written in Java. More precisely, all Java apps run inside a virtual machine,
the so-called Java Runtime Environment, and it takes some time to even start
that virtual machine. If DocFetcher had been written in C/C++, there would've
been no virtual machine and the startup time would've been a lot smaller. But
then DocFetcher would've had a lot more bugs, too ;-)
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Another reason why DocFetcher doesn't remember the last search scope: It's
easy to forget that you unchecked some of the subfolders the last time you ran
the program. When you restart it, the folder tree is collapsed and you can't
see that some subfolders are unchecked, so you won't realize that some
documents are not displayed in the results.
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... and usually I'm somewhat hesitant when it comes to adding options to the
program, because I don't want DocFetcher to end up like Google Desktop or
Copernic, where the GUI is cramped up with all kinds of stuff most people
never use. But, as I said, remembering the last search scope makes sense, if
there are people like you who need it.
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I think both the search scope and document types sub-windows could use a "select all" and "select none" option. These would give you good starting points if you want to select only one or two scopes, subfolders or file types. Now the only option is to uncheck a possibly long line of checkboxes.
About forgetting you unchecked subfolders in a collapsed tree: you could use a three-valued checkbox, that is checked or unchecked if all its subfolders are, and "intermediate", usually indicated with a filled box inside the checkbox, if not all subfolders have the same state. Only thing is there would be no way to signify including subfolders of X but not X itself, but this may not be a bad thing.
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I have been definitely missing the option "Remember the Search Scope" as long as I have been using DocFetcher. I even logged in now (which I do very rarely) to post this opinion. If you think that people may forget that not all is selected, you could make "Remember Search Scope between sessions" just an option for advanced users.
In my case the problem is that every time when I open DocFetcher, there are some scopes checked and some not but I always use only one search scope (different ones depending on the project). Therefore I have to uncheck several scopes every time I start DocFetcher :(
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I have the same issue Andres has. Every time I start DocFetcher I have to recheck the scopes and also the file types. No big deal, but...
Note: everytime I start the computer (windows 7) and then start DocFetcher it tells me the program is already running (which I supose is because the daemon starts with windows) and asks me if I want to start another instance.
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That's probably because you shut down Windows without closing DocFetcher. Note that DocFetcher can hide in the system tray, making it difficult to see that it's still running.
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I have been using DocFetcher for a long time, and it is amazing, love your work.
Since Covid-19 we have to work from home, and use the portable version of DocFetcher.
The indexes are accessed remotely on a server over a VPN for security.
The indexes are not stored locally on the client - as the sensitive data is in the index files.
Unfortuneatley DocFetcher keeps resetting to include all archive indexes on loading - which can take a long time.
It would be best if DocFetcher would remember to only load the smaller "This Year" and "Last Year" indexes, and only load the much larger "archive" indexes if necesary.
Could you please activate "SaveSearchScopeOnExit = true" ? or something like that?
Maybe a "DefaultSearchScopeOn Exit = true" ? in the settings config file, so the user can start with the smaller indexes first.
Thank You
Last edit: Paul 2020-08-19
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DocFetcher is not being developed anymore, but a commercial version called DocFetcher Pro is currently in the works and planned for 2021. A web interface is among the expected features, and is intended to address the various known problems with using the original DocFetcher in a multi-user environment.
If you subscribe to DocFetcher via the "Get Updates" button on the following page, you will be notified of the next DocFetcher release, which will be accompanied by the first DocFetcher Pro release: https://sourceforge.net/projects/docfetcher
As a workaround for the problem at hand, I suggest using two separate copies of portable DocFetcher, one for the newer indexes and one for the archive indexes.
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I am very happy to pay a once off, and for any updates after one year if I need features. That is very fair for the great work you guys do. But please don't do what Copernic did in about 2015 - it was a horrible shock.
After many years of debugging and working with Copernic developers, and suggesting features they went "corporate." The price went from $25 once off per desktop ( btw could use a shared network index with file sync for a few users) to $600 per year subscription for only 3 users. They bricked the desktops for the small home network user, and was a massive jump in cost.
Keep in mind that "Multi-user" does not neccesarily mean big business anymore - even these days a modest home router used by a family can have fast USB 3.1 NAS SSD over a 50Mbs DSL connection. That is faster than the big company Windows Servers of 10+ years ago. Things have changed, and this type of technology does not mean big $$$ anymore for home users.
It was a real shock when Copernic went corporate, so please be nice to the little guys.
For the "big companies" of 5+ people - go for it, make the dosh, and give Copernic a shock in return.
Thanks for all the help Nam, hope you stay nice : )
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I didn't know about this Copernic 2015 thing... Anyway, here's what's currently planned for the pricing model of DocFetcher Pro:
1) Single user (i.e., no server): Somewhere below $50 for a perpetual license. No subscription.
2) Search server: Again, only perpetual license, no subscription. The specific price depends on the maximum number of clients that can simultaneously connect to the server. Unlimited number of users may be costly, but there will be more affordable prices for smaller numbers of users. The exact relationship between number of users and price is currently still up in the air, but the cheapest version should be around $60 or so.
In both cases, the perpetual license is for the current major release plus 1 year or more of bugfixes and support. Upgrading to subsequent major releases would then require separate purchases.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I noted today that DocFetcher doesn't remember the last used search scope.
It does remember the file types but not the last used search (by default all
search scopes are active)
Is it possible to remember the last used search scope?
ps: the software use not a lot of memory (a great reason to use docfetcher),
but it takes some time on my system to open the application (first use after
boot).
Yes, it is possible to remember the last search scope, but it was omitted on
purpose. In my experience, most of the time unchecking folders in the search
scope is only done temporarily, for 1 or 2 searches. Most of the time you'd
want to search in all of your folders. I think it would be a bit annoying if I
had to undo my settings from previous searches every time I start the program.
And that's why DocFetcher resets the search scope on startup. (Of course I'm
open to discussion if you disagree.)
The slow startup time has something to do with the fact that DocFetcher was
written in Java. More precisely, all Java apps run inside a virtual machine,
the so-called Java Runtime Environment, and it takes some time to even start
that virtual machine. If DocFetcher had been written in C/C++, there would've
been no virtual machine and the startup time would've been a lot smaller. But
then DocFetcher would've had a lot more bugs, too ;-)
Another reason why DocFetcher doesn't remember the last search scope: It's
easy to forget that you unchecked some of the subfolders the last time you ran
the program. When you restart it, the folder tree is collapsed and you can't
see that some subfolders are unchecked, so you won't realize that some
documents are not displayed in the results.
In my case I've never done a search in all folders.
Now with every search I have to uncheck all other folders.
I have a directory where my doc files are (my letters).
I have html files ordered and so on.
Why don't you give users the option to keep last search scope?
If people do prefer to remember the last search scope they can check this.
You can also add a button to uncheck all / check all.
Okay, good point. I'll give this some more thought in the future.
Thank you qforce.
Thank you for your nice software :-)
... and usually I'm somewhat hesitant when it comes to adding options to the
program, because I don't want DocFetcher to end up like Google Desktop or
Copernic, where the GUI is cramped up with all kinds of stuff most people
never use. But, as I said, remembering the last search scope makes sense, if
there are people like you who need it.
thank you.
I agree that google desktop or copernic is cramped wit all kind of unnecessary
stuff.
I uninstalled them both after a few days.
The only software I use is Everything for file search (and total commander for
search within directory).
Then I use searchopia for content search (html) + pdf x-viewer for pdf content
search.
Sometimes FileLocator (=agent ransack pro version). I helped once the owner of
file locator resolving a problem and he gave me a license for this.
I think both the search scope and document types sub-windows could use a "select all" and "select none" option. These would give you good starting points if you want to select only one or two scopes, subfolders or file types. Now the only option is to uncheck a possibly long line of checkboxes.
About forgetting you unchecked subfolders in a collapsed tree: you could use a three-valued checkbox, that is checked or unchecked if all its subfolders are, and "intermediate", usually indicated with a filled box inside the checkbox, if not all subfolders have the same state. Only thing is there would be no way to signify including subfolders of X but not X itself, but this may not be a bad thing.
Well what do you know? It seems the deselect/select all were already there! :-D https://sourceforge.net/p/docfetcher/feature-requests/53/
Still, visual cues in the scope tree could be helpful and could make remembering the scope viable.
@Tubeliar: Remembering the search scope after program exit is definitely somewhere on my long, long todo list :-/
I have been definitely missing the option "Remember the Search Scope" as long as I have been using DocFetcher. I even logged in now (which I do very rarely) to post this opinion. If you think that people may forget that not all is selected, you could make "Remember Search Scope between sessions" just an option for advanced users.
In my case the problem is that every time when I open DocFetcher, there are some scopes checked and some not but I always use only one search scope (different ones depending on the project). Therefore I have to uncheck several scopes every time I start DocFetcher :(
As a workaround, you can use multiple instances of portable DocFetcher, each with its own indexes.
I have the same issue Andres has. Every time I start DocFetcher I have to recheck the scopes and also the file types. No big deal, but...
Note: everytime I start the computer (windows 7) and then start DocFetcher it tells me the program is already running (which I supose is because the daemon starts with windows) and asks me if I want to start another instance.
That's probably because you shut down Windows without closing DocFetcher. Note that DocFetcher can hide in the system tray, making it difficult to see that it's still running.
Yes, regarding to the problem with the new instance, It doesn´t happen when I manually close DocFetcher before shutting down the computer.
Hi Nam
I have been using DocFetcher for a long time, and it is amazing, love your work.
Since Covid-19 we have to work from home, and use the portable version of DocFetcher.
The indexes are accessed remotely on a server over a VPN for security.
The indexes are not stored locally on the client - as the sensitive data is in the index files.
Unfortuneatley DocFetcher keeps resetting to include all archive indexes on loading - which can take a long time.
It would be best if DocFetcher would remember to only load the smaller "This Year" and "Last Year" indexes, and only load the much larger "archive" indexes if necesary.
Could you please activate "SaveSearchScopeOnExit = true" ? or something like that?
Maybe a "DefaultSearchScopeOn Exit = true" ? in the settings config file, so the user can start with the smaller indexes first.
Thank You
Last edit: Paul 2020-08-19
@Paul:
DocFetcher is not being developed anymore, but a commercial version called DocFetcher Pro is currently in the works and planned for 2021. A web interface is among the expected features, and is intended to address the various known problems with using the original DocFetcher in a multi-user environment.
If you subscribe to DocFetcher via the "Get Updates" button on the following page, you will be notified of the next DocFetcher release, which will be accompanied by the first DocFetcher Pro release:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/docfetcher
As a workaround for the problem at hand, I suggest using two separate copies of portable DocFetcher, one for the newer indexes and one for the archive indexes.
Yes, I will try two separate copies.
The DocFetcher Pro sounds great - I think...
I am very happy to pay a once off, and for any updates after one year if I need features. That is very fair for the great work you guys do. But please don't do what Copernic did in about 2015 - it was a horrible shock.
After many years of debugging and working with Copernic developers, and suggesting features they went "corporate." The price went from $25 once off per desktop ( btw could use a shared network index with file sync for a few users) to $600 per year subscription for only 3 users. They bricked the desktops for the small home network user, and was a massive jump in cost.
Keep in mind that "Multi-user" does not neccesarily mean big business anymore - even these days a modest home router used by a family can have fast USB 3.1 NAS SSD over a 50Mbs DSL connection. That is faster than the big company Windows Servers of 10+ years ago. Things have changed, and this type of technology does not mean big $$$ anymore for home users.
It was a real shock when Copernic went corporate, so please be nice to the little guys.
For the "big companies" of 5+ people - go for it, make the dosh, and give Copernic a shock in return.
Thanks for all the help Nam, hope you stay nice : )
I didn't know about this Copernic 2015 thing... Anyway, here's what's currently planned for the pricing model of DocFetcher Pro:
1) Single user (i.e., no server): Somewhere below $50 for a perpetual license. No subscription.
2) Search server: Again, only perpetual license, no subscription. The specific price depends on the maximum number of clients that can simultaneously connect to the server. Unlimited number of users may be costly, but there will be more affordable prices for smaller numbers of users. The exact relationship between number of users and price is currently still up in the air, but the cheapest version should be around $60 or so.
In both cases, the perpetual license is for the current major release plus 1 year or more of bugfixes and support. Upgrading to subsequent major releases would then require separate purchases.
Thanks for the info Nam
Thats seems quite reasonable, I was getting worried.
So many things are on subscription these days, and if you dont cough up, you're shut out from your data.
For a fair example, these guys have a pricing system and conditions similiar to what you are suggesting.
Eg 5 User pack = $250 ( $50 per user )
I use it every day, and they even do major feature requests, which you can buy in the next release.
https://www.dualitysoft.com/order.html#prices
Stay safe and good luck for the 2021 release : )
Remembering the last state of the Search Scope pane has been implemented in DocFetcher Pro.