Spotlight Searching

mac000 · Nov 14, 2009, 08:06 PM

Hi- I need to have a question answered about searching in spotlight. Whnever I search for anythign, i find what I need but after I open the "app/filename" ... spotlight continues searching and it will continue to search until I "x-out" of the search field. Is this how spotlight works or can the search be turned off after selected a search result?

GGJstudios · Nov 14, 2009, 08:08 PM

Are you sure it's searching? It might be indexing, which is indicated by a dot in the middle of the Spotlight icon.

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Indexing:

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mkrishnan · Nov 14, 2009, 08:09 PM

It's how it works, at least if you do it in a finder or other window -- you can think about it this way: you have a Finder window (or iTunes or whatever). When you type in a spotlight query, you ask that window to display all matching results. As long as that window is open and there is text in its spotlight bar, then its job is still to display matching information.

How long are spotlight searches taking anyway? They're pretty fast -- it shouldn't be looking for the next half a minute or something.

If you do want it to just stop after you found the file in question, I guess you can use the spotlight widget in the menubar -- it more or less behaves that way.

mac000 · Nov 14, 2009, 09:27 PM

Thanks. I normally use spotlight from the menubar and until i hit "escape" in spotlight- it will continue to search even a minute after opening a file from the spotlight search result. So i do a search, select a file, go back to spotlight, hit escape, back to file. I haven't checked but will spotlight just continue to search if I dont "x-out?"

mkrishnan · Nov 14, 2009, 09:32 PM

Yeah, it does... still not understanding why this concerns you so?

mac000 · Nov 23, 2009, 10:34 AM

spotlight fixed itself somehow (reboot possibly?) what was happening was when spotlight searches there is a circular icon that swirls on the left hand side... well this swirl would just swirl and swirl and minutes after doing a search. I could hear the hard drive too... Now spotlight takes a few seconds to search and everything is back to normal

Nov 14, 2009, 08:06 PM	#1
mac000 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2005	Spotlight Searching Hi- I need to have a question answered about searching in spotlight. Whnever I search for anythign, i find what I need but after I open the "app/filename" ... spotlight continues searching and it will continue to search until I "x-out" of the search field. Is this how spotlight works or can the search be turned off after selected a search result?

Nov 14, 2009, 08:08 PM	#2
GGJstudios macrumors 601 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Texas!	Are you sure it's searching? It might be indexing, which is indicated by a dot in the middle of the Spotlight icon. Normal: Indexing: __________________ ǝlƃooʁШ ʎɹʇ ¿suoıʇsǝnb ǝɥʇ ʞsɐ noʎ ǝɹoɟǝq sɹǝʍsuɐ puıɟ oʇ ʇuɐʍ

Nov 14, 2009, 08:09 PM	#3
mkrishnan Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI, USA	It's how it works, at least if you do it in a finder or other window -- you can think about it this way: you have a Finder window (or iTunes or whatever). When you type in a spotlight query, you ask that window to display all matching results. As long as that window is open and there is text in its spotlight bar, then its job is still to display matching information. How long are spotlight searches taking anyway? They're pretty fast -- it shouldn't be looking for the next half a minute or something. If you do want it to just stop after you found the file in question, I guess you can use the spotlight widget in the menubar -- it more or less behaves that way. __________________ Mohan

Nov 14, 2009, 09:32 PM	#5
mkrishnan Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI, USA	Yeah, it does... still not understanding why this concerns you so? __________________ Mohan

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Nov 14, 2009, 09:27 PM	#4
mac000 Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2005	Thanks. I normally use spotlight from the menubar and until i hit "escape" in spotlight- it will continue to search even a minute after opening a file from the spotlight search result. So i do a search, select a file, go back to spotlight, hit escape, back to file. I haven't checked but will spotlight just continue to search if I dont "x-out?"

Nov 23, 2009, 10:34 AM	#6
mac000 Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2005	spotlight fixed itself somehow (reboot possibly?) what was happening was when spotlight searches there is a circular icon that swirls on the left hand side... well this swirl would just swirl and swirl and minutes after doing a search. I could hear the hard drive too... Now spotlight takes a few seconds to search and everything is back to normal