finding files for a given app

[babalew]

Is there a way to find all documents that will open with a given application? In my particular case I'm trying to find all EndNote files. My first attempt was to Spotlight all .enl files but at least one file was missed because it had no extension. Is there some other property I should look for? What ties a given file to its opening application? Is there a way to search for or examine that? Can Spotlight search for the old type or creator codes? Would "find" work better?


TIA,
eric

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there a way to find all documents that will open with a given application? In my particular case I'm trying to find all EndNote files. My first attempt was to Spotlight all .enl files but at least one file was missed because it had no extension. Is there some other property I should look for? What ties a given file to its opening application? Is there a way to search for or examine that? Can Spotlight search for the old type or creator codes? Would "find" work better?

If you know the extension, you can use Finder to search. Just enter your search in Finder, then click the + under the search field to add search criteria like this:

​

Without the extension, it's going to be tougher.

 

[fastmax]

Why not just do a Finder search by Kind? There is a Kind token right in the search box.

For instance the application Scrivener uses Scrivener Project as Kind for documents it creates. By searching for whatever Kind EndNote uses all files associated with it will be displayed.

You can even save the search as a Smart Folder that can be added to your sidebar for easy access to your EndNote files.

 

[babalew]

Why not just do a Finder search by Kind? There is a Kind token right in the search box.

For instance the application Scrivener uses Scrivener Project as Kind for documents it creates. By searching for whatever Kind EndNote uses all files associated with it will be displayed.

You can even save the search as a Smart Folder that can be added to your sidebar for easy access to your EndNote files.

Maybe. The .enl files report kind as "Document Type". Seems pretty non-specific but maybe it's good enough.

TNX
eric

 

[fastmax]

As long as Kind: Document Type is unique to EndNote files it should definitely work. Although maybe EndNote doesn't assign a Kind to its files and "Document Type" is just Apple's default for files that are unassigned. Let us know how it goes.

 

[babalew]

As long as Kind: Document Type is unique to EndNote files it should definitely work. Although maybe EndNote doesn't assign a Kind to its files and "Document Type" is just Apple's default for files that are unassigned. Let us know how it goes.

For the particular problem I'm working on, it seems to work well enough. Searching for "kind:documenttype" turned up a bunch more endnote files with only a small amount of bycatch. In this case I got lucky but I still wouldn't mind having a more reliable method.

 

[fastmax]

Since it looks like EndNote doesn't use a unique Kind try doing a Finder search for .enl files and select Filename contains from the menu options. Then change the token option from Filename to Everything. The search box will then display Any as the token.

This should show all .enl files even when the extension is not showing.