Finding PDFs

bioinformation
I am another new user with a question. I am creating several collections, all of which have a number of pdf attachments. I know that the FAQs say that it is very difficult to find these files on the disk by using the normal file navigator. However, I wonder if they can be found by doing a search for *.pdf in the appropriate directory. I tried that and if failed, but I can not figure out why.
  • Bionatsci
    I checked with my own library and some pdfs were found by a search for *.pdf in the Vista search box, but the majority weren't. I then disabled use of the index (For Vista: "search tools" in the toolbar, search options, check "Don't use the index when searching the file system"). I performed the same search again and as far as I can tell it worked perfectly and caught everything.

    If you are using vista (or another OS which uses filesystem indexing for searches) this might be your problem. If this is the case use the fix above, wait a while and hope the pdfs get caught by the index, or (if you are willing to wait for hours while the indexer chugs away) reindex your system.
  • amacom73
    One can definitely do this, it works great, and I use it all the time.

    I'm using a mac and I've created a smart folder for all files of type=PDF in the Zotero storage directory. So it's a folder that has a constantly up to date listing of all my Zotero pdfs but without the crazy storage folder names. I've done similar things on vista, but I can't remember the details--it was on a colleague's computer. But indexing, AFAIK, shouldn't be required to do a search by file type as opposed to extension.

    One reason for your search not working could be that not all PDFs are downloaded with the .pdf file extension. Another problem might be that the search isn't drilling down into subdirectories.
  • bioinformation
    Thanks for the advice. I am using XP, not Vista. After reading these comments, I went back and tried the simple search again, pointing to just the disk with the Zotero files. This time it seems to have worked. I am not sure what was different compared to my original attempt, but at least I know that it can be done sometimes.

    Thanks.

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