Chapter 9. Searching with Beagle¶
Contents
Beagle is a search tool that indexes your personal information space (normally your home directory) to find whatever you are looking for. Using Beagle, you can find documents, e-mails and attachments, Web history, IM/IRC conversations, address book contacts, calendar appointments, notes, source code, images, music and video files, archives and their contents, and applications.
9.1. Using Beagle¶
To use Beagle, click , enter your search terms in the field, then press Enter. The results are displayed in the Desktop Search dialog box.
You can use the results lists to open a file, forward it via e-mail, or display it in the file manager. Simply right-click an item in the results list and select the option you need. The options available for an item in the results list depend on the type of file. Selecting a file in the list displays a preview of the file and information such as the title, path, and date the file was last modified or accessed.
Use the menu to limit your search to files in a specific location, such as your address book or Web pages, or to display only a specific type of file in your results list. The menu lets you sort the items in your results list according to name, relevance, or the date the file was last modified.
You can also access Desktop Search by clicking +++.
9.2. Search Tips¶
You can use both uppercase and lowercase letters in search terms. Searches are not case-sensitive by default.
To perform a case-sensitive search, put double quotation marks (“) around the word you want to match exactly. For example, if you use “APPLE” in a search, apple will be ignored.
To search for optional terms, use OR (for example, apples OR oranges).
![[Important]](admon/important.png)
The OR is case-sensitive when used to indicate optional search terms.
To exclude search terms, use a minus sign (-) in front of the term you want to exclude. For example,
apples -orangeswill find results containing apples but not oranges.To search for an exact phrase or word, put quotation marks (“) around the phrase or word.
Common words such as
a,the, andisare ignored.The base form of a search term is used when searching. For example, a search for
drivingwill matchdrive,drives, anddriven.
9.3. Performing a Property Search¶
By default, the Beagle search tool looks for search terms in
the text of documents and in their metadata. To search for a word
in a particular property, use
property:query.
For example, author:john searches for files that
have john listed in the Author property.
Table 9.1. Supported Property Keywords¶
Property searches follow the rules mentioned in Section 9.2, “Search Tips”. You can use
property searches as an OR query or as an exclusion query, and
phrases can be used as query. For
example, the following line will search for all PDF or HTML
documents containing the word apple whose author property
contains john and whose title does not contain the word
oranges:
apple ext:pdf OR ext:html author:john
-title:oranges
9.4. Setting Search Preferences¶
Use the Search Preferences dialog box to set search preferences for Beagle.
Click +++
You can also click + in the Desktop Search dialog box.
Choose from the following options:
- Start search & indexing services automatically:
Select this option if you want the search daemon to start automatically when you log in to your session (this option is selected by default). If you want to use Beagle’s Search functionality, the daemon must be running.
- Index data while on battery power:
Select this option if you want your data to be indexed when your computer is operating on battery power. This option is particularly useful if you are using SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on a laptop and you want to stop indexing when your laptop is running on battery power.
- Automatically start searching after the user has stopped typing:
Select this option if you want Beagle to start searching as soon as you stop entering text in the field in the Desktop Search window. This option has no effect on the field in the main menu.
- Display the search window by pressing:
Choose the keystrokes that will display the Desktop Search window by specifying any combination of Ctrl, Alt, and a function key. F12 is the default keystroke.
Click .
9.5. Indexing Other Directories¶
By default, Beagle indexes your home directory only. If you do not want your home directory to be indexed, uncheck the option on the tab of the Search Preferences dialog box. If you want to index additional folders, follow these steps:
Click +++
You can also click + in the Desktop Search dialog box.
Click the tab.
Click in the section of the dialog box.
Select the directory you want to index, then click .
Make sure you have rights to the directories you add.
If you want to remove a directory from the list of indexed directories, select it in the list, then click .
Click .
9.6. Preventing Files and Directories from Being Indexed¶
Use the Search Preferences dialog box to specify resources that you do not want indexed. These resources can include directories, patterns, mail folders, or types of objects.
9.7. For More Information¶
For more information, refer to Beagle Home Page