It's either fundamentally broken, or I just don't know how to properly use it, but searching for anything mail-related in Lion just doesn't work. Period.
Say I want to find a message in my inbox. In SL, I'd just type a word I knew was int he message. Say "dinner". And I'd get a list of every message with "dinner" somewhere in it. Usually it only took one or 2 words for me to get a small enough list that I could instantly find the message I had in mind.
In Lion, I do the same- type "dinner" in the search box. I get a drop down that only has one item: "Message contains "dinner"". I choose that, and the result list is blank. Even though I am 100% positive the message is in my inbox because it's the very top message and I can plainly see it.
I have figured out that I can start searching for emails by category- say date or person. If I precede my search with "to:" or "from:" I can start getting meaningful results- but this is slower and more inefficient than the old way. Besides, this seems to be limited to things like to, from, and subject. I cannot search for words within the body of the messages.
I know you will suggest voodoo magic like rebuilding the spotlight index, rebuilding the mailbox, rebuilding the envelope index files. I have tried them all. None of it works. I've even cleaned out the SQL database via the terminal. It all is useless, just as useless as that search window in Mail for me right now. This problem reaches beyond the mail search window as well. Spotlight cannot find any mail-related messages, even if I type my own name into the spotlight window it cannot find the address book entry for myself. Even though the OS knows the exact address book entry associated with this user account because accessing it via "Users & Groups" in the system preferences brings it right up.
The only remaining conclusion I have is that something is so fundamentally broken that it will take a reinstall to fix (not feasible for me at this time, and frankly- should not be required) or that everything is "working as intended" except it just works like utter crap, and this is someone's idea of properly implemented search functionality.
Or, I just don't know how to use it "the new Lion way". So please tell me, if I want to find a message that I know contains the words "voodoo magic" but not necessarily in the subject line, how do I locate it? Or I knew I sent or received an email relating to "macbooks" a while back but don't know who or when. What's the proper way to find that message?
I can tell you how I'd do it in SL- just click on the search window within mail, type "voodoo magic" or "macbooks" and the results would instantly appear. I could even do this from the spotlight search window (cmd+space). But not so in Lion.
Ruahrc
Say I want to find a message in my inbox. In SL, I'd just type a word I knew was int he message. Say "dinner". And I'd get a list of every message with "dinner" somewhere in it. Usually it only took one or 2 words for me to get a small enough list that I could instantly find the message I had in mind.
In Lion, I do the same- type "dinner" in the search box. I get a drop down that only has one item: "Message contains "dinner"". I choose that, and the result list is blank. Even though I am 100% positive the message is in my inbox because it's the very top message and I can plainly see it.
I have figured out that I can start searching for emails by category- say date or person. If I precede my search with "to:" or "from:" I can start getting meaningful results- but this is slower and more inefficient than the old way. Besides, this seems to be limited to things like to, from, and subject. I cannot search for words within the body of the messages.
I know you will suggest voodoo magic like rebuilding the spotlight index, rebuilding the mailbox, rebuilding the envelope index files. I have tried them all. None of it works. I've even cleaned out the SQL database via the terminal. It all is useless, just as useless as that search window in Mail for me right now. This problem reaches beyond the mail search window as well. Spotlight cannot find any mail-related messages, even if I type my own name into the spotlight window it cannot find the address book entry for myself. Even though the OS knows the exact address book entry associated with this user account because accessing it via "Users & Groups" in the system preferences brings it right up.
The only remaining conclusion I have is that something is so fundamentally broken that it will take a reinstall to fix (not feasible for me at this time, and frankly- should not be required) or that everything is "working as intended" except it just works like utter crap, and this is someone's idea of properly implemented search functionality.
Or, I just don't know how to use it "the new Lion way". So please tell me, if I want to find a message that I know contains the words "voodoo magic" but not necessarily in the subject line, how do I locate it? Or I knew I sent or received an email relating to "macbooks" a while back but don't know who or when. What's the proper way to find that message?
I can tell you how I'd do it in SL- just click on the search window within mail, type "voodoo magic" or "macbooks" and the results would instantly appear. I could even do this from the spotlight search window (cmd+space). But not so in Lion.
Ruahrc