Find in File

[llewxam]

This app has been designed to help search for text within files, and has the following features:

• The phrase searched for can be case sensitive or not
• The file search can be recursive through subdirectories or not
• File masks for included or excluded file types are available

I posted this in another thread as it was when I last worked on it last June, and got a very helpful tip from Melba23 regarding how to make .docx and .xlsx files searchable (though I did it in a very different way ).  I now also use UEZ's File to Base64 String Code Generator to bundle the 7-Zip dll and exe in to the script for use on the new Office files, so the script is rather large.  The other major change from the earlier version I posted is that if the file being searched is over 32MB then the file is searched in chunks to avoid the horrible memory allocation errors I got during testing when _WinAPI_ReadFile tried reading a 3GB video file in one piece.  

If there are any file types that need special attention to open properly or other feature requests please let me know.

Ian

Updated code 3/9/15, previous version downloaded 89 times

Updated code 3/11/15, bug fix and added topmost option

Find In File.7z

Edited March 11, 2015 by llewxam

[l3ill]

Very Nice Man !!

Just what I was looking for to search for context sensitive references in a css file.

One question - Whats the percent reading in the bottom right corner for? it doesn't seem to jive with anything else that is going on...

Feature Request - "Open with" context menu or be able to drag and drop the file out on to another program icon to open with scite or editor etc. 

Other than that....

cya,

Bill

[UEZ]

Seems to working properly!

It would be cool to open the file also with double click.

 

Br,

UEZ

[llewxam]

Double-click to open can do. Context menu to open with might be easier said than done since not all editors etc have a standard syntax but drag should be doable, I think. I have done drag in, never drag out, but I like the idea so I'll play with that.

The percent at the lower right is percent complete scanning tbe current file. I know it is likely to almost always say 100% because most of us keep documents in one place and media files elsewhere. But during my testing I had some xlsx and other files on my desktop, and I had a folder on the desktop containing some huge video files. WinAPI_FileRead tried opening them in one big chunk, leading to a memory allocation error and a crash. That is why I set a maximum buffer size of 32MB and if the file is larger then it reads it in 32MB chunks, and that is why the percent in the lower-right is there - so it doesn't look like the app is frozen on a huge file read. On the next update I will have that be blank unless there is something other than 100% to show, because I agree that it looks pointless when just scanning document files and it always says 100%. I guess I forgot to fix that before posting.....

Ian

[orbs]

llewxam,

i tested your code with 5 file types: pdf, doc, xls, ppt, msg (attached).

all files contain only this text: Text in English

search phrase: English (not case sensitive)

the search phrase was found only in the doc, xls & ppt files - not in the pdf or msg

perhaps this test will aid you in improving your program - or perhaps i was doing something wrong?

other comments:

- why not use FileInstall for the 7z files?

- enable drop into the search location InputBox.

- when analyzing XML files you should strip tags (probably a simple RegExpReplace)

English.zip

[llewxam]

Thanks for posting your sample files, though I am not on the computer yet so haven't downloaded them for testing. I was finding phrases in PDF files but again, thanks for posting the files you used! BTW, I did not test on msg and am glad you did, will be valuable to add that.

I chose going with the 7-Zip files inline instead of FileInstall just because that now feels clunky to me - I would have to include them in an archive in the post here anyway, the executable would be about the same size, and that would be yet another folder with 2 7-Zip files in it! Going inline seems much better to me, but by all means change it on your end if you wish.

Drag/drop to input is already there with last nights changes, few more things before I post it.

As for your XML request, I have always loathed XML so don't understand why tags would need to go - why would the phrase you are searching for not be within one tag? If I just don't understand then please help me to, I'll definately help support XML by removing tags if the need is legit but every special case added will cause a small slowdown.

Thanks

Ian

[gius]

llewxam,
A really good work

it possible to even add
the opportunity to see the string or line where it was found the "phrase"?
Maybe with a button that opens an array in columns?

thanks

[llewxam]

hmmmmmm, something like that could be arranged, a little preview. I dig it.

Thanks

Ian

[gius]

I think it is important even read the "phrase" or "word" in that line or string exists,

for every line that exists in a file

For those who have many files

it is important to read the "thought" where is located the "phrase" to search.

But it's my idea...

Thanks

[llewxam]

Got some updates worked in:

• Drag path in to "Location to search in" input box, if a file is specified then the file name is removed so the whole folder is searched
• Open With button added
• Percent scanning each file no longer shows unless the file is over 32MB

 

Still to do:

• Double click to open
• Look in to certain PDF file failures (thanks orbs for posting the sample files, issue confirmed)
• Look in to opening MSG files
• Preview function

 

Not gonna happen:

• Drag file out of results ListView to open with app of choice, I could not find a way to do that

 

Ian

[UEZ]

A topmost style would be cool to drag and drop from a full screen browser to the GUI without reducing the windows size of the browser first.

[llewxam]

Agreed, I usually just take Explorer out of full screen to drag but I hear ya. Consider it added to the to-do list.

Thanks

Ian

[mpower]

This is very handy! Once suggestions is you could add some GUIAccelerators like {ENTER} within the search field for user friendliness

[orbs]

FYI,

this function works for msg files (although not for pdf) - tested on the uploaded samples at post #5:

Func FileHasText($sFile, $sPhrase)
    ; init
    Local $hFile, $sFileContents
    ; True if no text specified
    If $sPhrase = '' Then Return True
    ; search ANSI
    $hFile = FileOpen($sFile)
    $sFileContents = FileRead($hFile)
    FileClose($hFile)
    If StringInStr($sFileContents, $sPhrase) Then Return True
    ; search UTF16 Little Endian
    $hFile = FileOpen($sFile, 32)
    $sFileContents = FileRead($hFile)
    FileClose($hFile)
    If StringInStr($sFileContents, $sPhrase) Then Return True
    ; text not found
    Return False
EndFunc

except from the buffering, i'm not sure exactly how it differs from the OP function that uses _WinAPI_ReadFile (which has no encoding specification, as far as i can see).

this function reads the file in two encoding types - ANSI and UTF16 Little Endian. i tried the other encoding types available, none produced any better result.

tested on English text only. i'm now checking and adjusting for other languages.

if anyone can shed some light on how encoding is (or is not) relevant here, please do.

[llewxam]

Updated code to include a topmost button for when you do or do not want this to be on top of all other windows.  Mainly updated though due to a silly bug I realized out of nowhere - the way I was checking to see if a file or a folder was dragged in to the "Location to search in" box was preventing typing the location in, it would immediately get wiped out.  Ooooops........

As for adding Enter as a hotkey, I did that in an earlier test version but had to remove it because I am a keyboard shortcut nut and use Enter when selecting the folder I want to search in, which was prematurely running the search before I could enter file masks.

Ian

[llewxam]

FYI,

this function works for msg files (although not for pdf) - tested on the uploaded samples at post #5:

Func FileHasText($sFile, $sPhrase)
    ; init
    Local $hFile, $sFileContents
    ; True if no text specified
    If $sPhrase = '' Then Return True
    ; search ANSI
    $hFile = FileOpen($sFile)
    $sFileContents = FileRead($hFile)
    FileClose($hFile)
    If StringInStr($sFileContents, $sPhrase) Then Return True
    ; search UTF16 Little Endian
    $hFile = FileOpen($sFile, 32)
    $sFileContents = FileRead($hFile)
    FileClose($hFile)
    If StringInStr($sFileContents, $sPhrase) Then Return True
    ; text not found
    Return False
EndFunc

except from the buffering, i'm not sure exactly how it differs from the OP function that uses _WinAPI_ReadFile (which has no encoding specification, as far as i can see).

this function reads the file in two encoding types - ANSI and UTF16 Little Endian. i tried the other encoding types available, none produced any better result.

tested on English text only. i'm now checking and adjusting for other languages.

if anyone can shed some light on how encoding is (or is not) relevant here, please do.

huh, that is highly strange.  I'll poke around at that but don't see why that is any different.  I also opened your MSG file in Notepad and searched for "English" and it didn't show up, so I am quite confused as to why a FileRead would work.....

Thanks

Ian

[orbs]

I also opened your MSG file in Notepad and searched for "English" and it didn't show up, so I am quite confused as to why a FileRead would work.....

 

i guess this is where encoding is (somehow) in effect - although i did try to open it in NotePad++ and played around with available encoding types there. that did not find it either...