Re: Mathematica and desktop search
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg104567] Re: Mathematica and desktop search
- From: Mac <mwjdavidson at googlemail.com>
- Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 01:33:59 -0500 (EST)
- References: <hcjilq$jee$1@smc.vnet.net>
On Nov 1, 9:59 am, ntgl... at gmail.com wrote: > A recent computer failure has afforded me the opportunity to rethink the > tools I use. > > I have accumulated 1000s of notebooks over the years and have found the > Copernic search engine a good way to rediscover old work. However, the > Copernic search logic (in the free version, at least) is more limited than > I would like. > > I'm sure many mathgroup regulars have come up with good methods for > searching their libraries of notebooks. > Would you share your experience? > > Thanks, > Tom Gladd I use Windows XP. Finding the right notebook can be a problem for a number of reasons: 1) The content within each notebook is very dynamic and I often copy text and calculations between notebooks to address different problems. This makes it difficult using seach engines to formulate the query using the right key words 2) There are practical limits to how much can be put into a single notebook and work effectively, both in terms of functionaliy (e.g. a split sceen to view content at two different locations, methods/ keyboard shortcuts to jump around within the notebook) and often physical size of the notebook esp. if there are a lot of graphics. As a result I often start a new notebook to address work subthemes and this leads to a lot of notebooks on my disk addressing similar material. My main approach is to organise my notebooks in structured directories, each addressing different workthemes and using the Google seach bar with the Mathematica plugin which works reasonably well. Mac