Use the Find tool to search for objects that are located on your desktop or a particular drive. You can open the Find tool in the Object Desktop folder or click the Find button in the Object Navigator.
On the Find Object dialog, use the Name field to specify the object that you want to find. The default * finds all objects. To find a particular object, enter the complete name. To find more than one object with common file extensions or common characters in their filenames, use the asterisk or question mark as wildcards.
The asterisk represents any number of characters. For example, enter clock* to find all objects that have clock as the first five letters of their name.
The question mark represents a single character. For example, to find the files BOOKAJV.TXT and BOOKBJV.TXT, enter book?jv.txt.
The default search location is all drives. Use the Start Folder field or click the Locate button to specify a drive and directory. Click on the arrow to the right of the Start Folder field to view all the drives that are available for searching. You can choose a particular drive, all drives (fixed drives), or all network drives (if they exist).
To search all subfolders in a particular drive, enter only the drive letter and then mark the checkbox beside Search All Subfolders.
Using the Find Tool
Specifying the File Name
Specifying the Search Location
By default, the search results are displayed in a window. The window contains the actual objects that are found. If you delete an object in this window, you will delete the original object from your system.
To save the search results as shadows (copies) of the original objects, mark the checkbox beside Save Results. The results are saved in a new folder. Each time you use the Find command, the results are saved in a new folder.
To specify additional criteria, click the More button.
Use the Find Criteria window to specify criteria for file system objects. You can select an attribute, comparison type, and comparison value. You can also specify if you want to include or exclude objects that match the specified criteria.
To add new criteria, click the Add button. To criteria, highlight a statement and click the Change button. To remove a statement, highlight it and click the Delete button.
For example, to add a statement which finds all data files that were created before January 1, 1998:
1. In the Attribute field, select Creation Date from the drop-down list.
2. In the Comparison type field, select Is Before.
- The options for this field are automatically generated based on your selection in the Attribute field.
3. In the Comparison value field, use the selection arrows to enter the date 1 1 1998.
- The options for this field are automatically generated based on your selection in the Attribute field.
Saving Search Results
Specifying Additional Criteria
4. Click the I (include) radio button to indicate that files in the search must have
this criteria.
- Click the I radio button to include objects that match the specified criteria.
- Click the E radio button to exclude objects that match the specified criteria.
5. Click the Add button.
Click the Find button to start searching. If the search is unsuccessful, a message informs you that no objects matching the specified criteria were found.
To establish settings for the Find tool, open its Settings notebook. On the Source page, you can set up a particular folder or path as the default search path. Click one of the following radio buttons:
Use Object as Data Source.
Click this radio button and then drag a folder from the desktop to the icon displayed on the Source page. The dragged folder becomes the default location in the Start Folder field in the Find window and is added to the drop-down list.
Use Path as Data Source.
Click this radio button and then specify a path. The path becomes the default location in the Start Folder field in the Find window and is added to the drop-down list.