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mattp11618056
mattp11618056
Participating Frequently
March 8, 2019
Answered

Searching from within indesign (or any adobe product) since upgrading to high sierra/mojave is broken

  • March 8, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 3164 views

At our office we have 2 macs using high sierra or mojave and another offsite also using high sierra. Since upgrading to high sierra the search function has not worked properly at all from within adobe suite. Searching using a single word works kind of, go to import an image, window opens, select image folder, type search term, search immediately switches to main graphics folder instead of images folder and begins searching there, manually click on images folder at top of window, search now switches to images folder and produces result. If we add a number to the search term the search breaks completely, returns nonsense results or nothing at all. Searching from the finder itself (outside of adobe) works fine however. This has only been since high sierra, I have been hunting for a solution for months but so far no joy. Basic, fundamental feature, almost unusable, and we are a graphics shop so having to resort to workarounds is a drag on our workflow. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

      This topic has been closed for replies.
      Correct answer DBLjan

      There was a bug report on the search not working in the OPEN dialog box (which in my testing now works). Colin Flashman referenced it above:

      Search field does not work in Open dialogue box – Adobe InDesign Feedback

      If you feel it's important you should post one about search in the the PLACE dialog box not working. And I will agree with you about that. The UserVoice website is where the engineers and product managers looks so it's the best place to post it.

      If you do so, report back here and others of us can confirm what you've found. The UserVoice website is designed for that.


      Since nobody seem to have read my post, it boils down to the MacOS quicksearch. I reported this bug after MacOS jumped from 11 to 12 to both Apple tech-support by telephone, and also on their bugreport-site. I also did this from 12 to 13, as I hoped they would have fixed it. I really cant recommend trying to convince Apple thats something wonky in their product – its useless if it isnt a rooting zeroday iOS thing. But maybe we have a Whale here, whos golfing with Steve Apple…that would be great.

      But I dont really blame Adobe for this – you can reproduce it from any App in MacOS, as well native apps and also 3rd-party.

      Our workflow heavily relies on searching a server for logos and images, and we have the same problems with the after-search-switch-to-folder-again-where-i-came-from. I tried to script around that like

      try{

      var pathToPredefinedFolder = Folder('/Volumes/OurServerName/logos/');

      app.place(pathToPredefinedFolder.openDlg ('Get some files', '', true)) //prompt, filter, multiselect

      }catch (e){}

      but maybe you could make "(…), click on images folder from shortcut favorites on left, (…)" obsolete. Also I tried to fire some system events after calling the dialog, which doesnt work.

      Also, i can reproduce the different results of using the finder-quicksearch and a quicksearch within e.g. Safari. It seems we have to live with this a while longer.

      3 replies

      T
      Test Screen Name
      Legend
      March 12, 2019

      My guess (wild guess as to Apple's motivations) is that novice users understand little about folders. We constantly hear from users who save files with no idea about folders and where they go, and of course eventually lose their files. (For example, many people are fine until they save their sixth file, and the oldest vanishes from Recent files; they demand to know what Adobe has done with their file and threaten class action). So they go Open and they don't see their file. So they hit SEARCH. What they expect is that search actually searches everywhere. And finds the file they are looking for. Which is the default - search this Mac. A deliberate change for the novices. People with so many files in folders that they need to search within them are a small minority of experienced users. So, working as designed. Just not working as you want.

        mattp11618056
        mattp11618056Author
        Participating Frequently
        March 12, 2019

        Ok... I don't buy that at all, and if true it's one of the dumbest things Ive ever read. The search is NOT working as intended, it is broken.

        T
        Test Screen Name
        Legend
        March 12, 2019

        And there seems to be an answer to my question, though you didn't answer: yes, this is a change by Apple, to all apps. Apple, in other words, thinks this is a better default for the novice user (and defaults are set for the novice user not the expert).

        mattp11618056
        mattp11618056Author
        Participating Frequently
        March 12, 2019

        Unclear how a broken search is a better default for a novice user.

        BobLevine
        Community Expert
        BobLevineCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 8, 2019

        What version of InDesign? Anything earlier than CC2018 is going to be a crapshoot.

          mattp11618056
          mattp11618056Author
          Participating Frequently
          March 8, 2019

          14.0.1. And this is for all adobe CC products, I am specifying indesign because it is what we use primarily but also photoshop and illustrator.

          D
          DBLjan
          Legend
          March 11, 2019

          That's why I was asking for a clearer explanation. He didn't say WHICH DIALOG he was in. He might have been in the Place dialog but he didn't say that. I assumed he was in the Open dialog which you can see at the top of my window.

          It's extremely rare that I need to place an InDesign file in another InDesign file. I'm always using search to OPEN an InDesign file.

          I think there might be a bug in finding an InDesign file in the PLACE dialog box. But the bug report you referenced is for the OPEN dialog box.


          Anyone noticed from MacOS 11.11 till now that the SearchCurrentFolder-finderpreference is broken? It works well for the OS-windows, but any application, native or 3rdparty, doesnt keep the currentfolder-pref and "jumps" to HDD.

          Is that still in Mojave, can anyone check? What I want to say: MacOS quicksearch is a thing of its own.

          Finder-Preference:

          Searching the server in a finder windows:

          Within e.g. Safari or InDesign: Searching the server…but landing on hdd.

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