How to search my FIlesystem by filename

[maxplanck735]

How can I search my Filesystem by filename? For example, I want to search for all files on the filesystem whose filename contains the text "qt". I tried using the "Places->Search", but it only searches my Desktop.

I tried going into Search Preferences-> Indexing and adding all of the toplevel folders from the filesystem (it won't let me simply add the filesystem), but after doing this the search function still won't search these folders.

Thanks, any help is much appreciated.

[timdsmith]

cd to the directory you want to start in....
Then

find . -name *qt*

[maxplanck735]

Is there any way to do this from the GUI? (I'm talking about doing it from Gnome, without having to go to the command line.)

Thanks for the reply.

I ran "sudo updatedb" at the command line and now the "Search" feature turns up files located in the filesystem, however it seems to only search the text contained inside of the files, and NOT the filenames...

[saqer]

Menu->find Files/Folders

[maxplanck735]

Where is "Menu" located?

[wneumann]

timdsmith's solution should have been "find . -name \*qt\*".

Running updatedb updates the locate database, after which "locate qt" finds files with qt in their name anywhere in your file system.

If you learn a little bit about the command line you'll find it hugely faster for most tasks.

[mwette]

If you want to find files that contain "qt" then use something like

$ find . -type f -exec grep qt {} \; -print
or
$ find . -name '*.c' -exec grep qt {} \; -print

[EDIT: oops, I misread the request. I read the request as wanting to find files that contain the text "qt"]

[timdsmith]

Originally Posted by wneumann

timdsmith's solution should have been "find . -name \*qt\*".

Running updatedb updates the locate database, after which "locate qt" finds files with qt in their name anywhere in your file system.

If you learn a little bit about the command line you'll find it hugely faster for most tasks.

Hmmm...I dunno...the command I typed seems to work fairly well...

~$ find . -name *qt*
./.qt
./.qt/.qt_plugins_3.3rc.lock
./.qt/qtrc
./.qt/.qtrc.lock
./.qt/qt_plugins_3.3rc

Yields the exact same results as find . -name \*qt\*

[mwette]

Originally Posted by timdsmith

Hmmm...I dunno...the command I typed seems to work fairly well...

~$ find . -name *qt*
./.qt
./.qt/.qt_plugins_3.3rc.lock
./.qt/qtrc
./.qt/.qtrc.lock
./.qt/qt_plugins_3.3rc

Yields the exact same results as find . -name \*qt\*

There is a risk with not quoting wildcards like '*' and '?'. If your current directory
contains a file that matches *qt* then you will not get the behavior you expect.
Try to add a file "xqty" and then run your find command. I don't think it will work.
But if you escape or single-quote the expression ('*qt*' or \*qt\*) it will always work.

[maxplanck735]

i know the command line is faster, but it will then take me a lot more time to sort through all the files containing "qt" from the command line than it would take me from the GUI.

Can anyone tell me how to search for files with names containing a given text string from the GUI?

Thanks for all the replies so far.

[maxplanck735]

Thanks for that info.

Does anyone know how to search for files containing a given text string from the GUI? (I'm talking about from the graphical interface, not from the command line.)

[timdsmith]

Originally Posted by maxplanck735

Thanks for that info.

Does anyone know how to search for files containing a given text string from the GUI? (I'm talking about from the graphical interface, not from the command line.)

Places > Computer > Filesystem....Click Go >> Search. That will give you a search bar.

[maxplanck735]

Does anyone know how to search for files containing a given text string from the GUI? (I'm talking about from the graphical interface, not from the command line.)

[maxplanck735]

I went to Places > Computer > Filesystem, but I don't see "Go" anywhere... I tried looking in the menu bar of the window, and right clicking on "Filesystem," still no luck...

[timdsmith]

Sorry...I changed my default behavior because it drives me nuts for it to open a new window for every folder I click on...By default, the search feature is under the "Places" menu when you get to filesystem. Then you have to change the location you want to search from.