One JSON text file consistently found a search term that another contained, but could never find. How do some documents get fully indexed, but others don’t, and can’t be searched?
Core Spotlight
Spotlight’s search window provides ‘AsYouTypeTopHit’ ranked search, including a measure of recency, 3 opaque scores, related search, and hits across multiple search domains. Here’s how it does that.
From the outset, Spotlight has included websites and other items in ranked search, and local files listed exhaustively using filters. As we work with ever more data, ranking is becoming more important in our search methods.
Spotlight’s search window is incremental and ranks search results across many domains. How this works in practice, and why it may not be ideal when searching for files.
Two apps using Core Spotlight, compared with respect to indexing of new entries, and searching. Quick tests to tell whether an app uses Core Spotlight, and what that brings.
Because Spotlight and Core Spotlight are so different, you can’t tackle problems with corespotlightd using tools and techniques that work for Spotlight.
The phrase repeated throughout WWDC was ‘semantic search’. How does fit in with Spotlight, and how could it benefit those who aren’t so enthused by advanced AI?
Some services can only be run when a MacBook Air or Pro is awake and running on mains (AC) power. Here’s a list, and what you can do to ensure their work still gets done.
How Spotlight works, Core and global Spotlight, importing failure, exclusions from indexing, re-indexing, excessive re-indexing, failure to find, iCloud Drive and network shares.
All you need to know about the main services in iCloud, the limits imposed on them by Apple, and how access to them can be controlled.
The Eclectic Light Company 