Portable Search Index?

General discussion related to "Everything".
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kkpatel87
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:45 pm

Portable Search Index?

Post by kkpatel87 »

Hi all,

Is it possible to install the portable version of Everything on a removable drive and index only files on that removable drive? The reason i ask is I have a fairly large library of technical specifications and i would like to make it portable.

A similar application is Dropout http://dropout.codeplex.com/releases/view/118354 but i like the interface of Everything much better. Thanks!
therube
Posts: 5056
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by therube »

If the drive is formatted NTFS, you can do that directly.
Just deselect the wanted drive letters you don't want indexed.

If not NTFS, you can use Folder Indexing & again deselect what you don't want.

No reason necessarily that Everything has to be on the removable drive.
It can be on your HDD.
Create a shortcut & use the -config switch to point to an appropriate config file (.ini).
elfor
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:08 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by elfor »

Something like that would be nice, maybe a true "homedrive" option or command line parameter.

So if i run "Everything.exe -homedrive" from my F: usb drive, only that F: drive is indexed.

Everything else, C: D: or whatever, is ignored, without having to deselect anything by hand!
NotNull
Posts: 5517
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 9:22 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by NotNull »

How about:

(assuming Everything.exe is somewhere on your USB disk)

Code: Select all

start /wait "" Everything.exe -create-file-list SpecsLibrary.efu \
Everything.exe -instance "TechSpecs" SpecsLibrary.efu

This will create a fresh FileList of the USB disk (*) (the "\" is the root of the current disk; you could also specify "\MyFolder" for example);
the "start /wait" makes sure the indexing is complete before going to the next phase:
Load the freshly createds filelist as a new Everything instance.


(*) The drive letter will probably be different from the last machine where you used this, so a rescan should be done anyway (or is there a way to make the path universal?
NotNull
Posts: 5517
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 9:22 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by NotNull »

... OR ...

* Place Everything.exe plus Everything.ini on said USB disk
* Configure for non-admin Folder Indexing and save
* Manually change the folders= this entry in the INI file to :

Code: Select all

folders="\\"
(or folders="\\path\\to\\MyFolder" )

You can now double-click the Everything.exe on the USB disk to get only the content of the USB disk with the right driveletter.


EDIT: Added a preconfigured INI file, so you can test.
As said, put Everything.exe and this INI file somewhere on your USB disk and start Everything.exe
Please make sure no other Everyhing is running; this is a simple non-instance testversion.
Attachments
Everything.ini.ZIP
(489 Bytes) Downloaded 432 times
elfor
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:08 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by elfor »

Confirmed, it works, you did it again...

I also added db_location=nul, used the -nodb command line parameter, and set the ini to read only.

Now that's portable! :)
NotNull
Posts: 5517
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 9:22 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by NotNull »

elfor wrote:Confirmed, it works, you did it again...

I also added db_location=nul, used the -nodb command line parameter, and set the ini to read only.

Now that's portable! :)
Nice! :-)

If you want to be sure that your prortable Everything doesn't interfere with a running "regular" Everything, use instances.
(otherwise it will connect to the already running regular database)

Something like this:

Code: Select all

Everything.exe -config Everything.ini -instance "This is cool!" -nodb
If you don't specify the ini-file, Everything will create one extra on exit using the name of the instance.
elfor
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:08 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by elfor »

This is now my final line:

Code: Select all

start Everything.exe -nodb -db nul -config Everything.ini -instance Portable
Notice the "start" at the beginning?

That's so the command window closes immediately, instead of staying open in the background until Everything.exe itself closes, pro tip!

I also added/disabled these two setting in the Everything.ini (which i write protect):

run_in_background=0
show_tray_icon=0

So you don't just minimize the program thinking you closed it, rookie mistake. :)
NotNull
Posts: 5517
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 9:22 pm

Re: Portable Search Index?

Post by NotNull »

Another tip:

Use START "" everything.....
START regards the first parameter, if included in "", as the window title.
So, if you want to START "C:\path with spaces\everything.exe", that is regarded as the title and not the command.

To prevent that, make a habit of always adding an empty "" (or "dummy" or "title" or whatever)
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