Locate32 style mac program? find by db

[ozAdamz]

Hi I converted to being a mac head a few months ago and one of the things I miss is a windows program called locate32, the program makes a db of all the file names on your system then to find something you just type the name it searches the db and finds it in seconds. spotlight is crap I dont really know what it does, it seems it just searches and indexes specific locations?
This locate32 program was great, it only updates the db when you ask it to, so you can plug an external hdd in, index it then type a file name and it will find it in seconds. anything like this for mac?

I have found mac better for the stuff I do, adobe aps and linux programing/admin via terminal and transmit scp. Just a few things windows is better at or some things that I need to get used to. have not missed any software, plenty of mac versions of stuff.

 

[benwiggy]

locate32, the program makes a db of all the file names on your system then to find something you just type the name it searches the db and finds it in seconds. spotlight is crap I dont really know what it does, it seems it just searches and indexes specific locations?

Spotlight does exactly what locate32 does: it creates a database of everything, and then you type in a name, and it shows you the results.
However, by default, Spotlight doesn't show you system files. You can adjust the order of what it shows you in the System Preference.

If you use a Finder search window, then you can set the search criteria to anything you want, including the addition of system and invisible files.

 

[Weaselboy]

Like benwiggy said, Spotlight does index all the things you are after, but the system level files are by default hidden in a Finder search.

I have been using the app iFileX for these types of searches. I like the interface much better than Finder and it is much easier to configure the type of search you want.

 

[ElectricSheep]

MacOS X still includes a locate command which does precisely what locate32 does, however it is disabled by default. You can enabled it with:

sudo launchctl load -w System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locate.plist

It will take some time for locate to build its database. The database will be updated periodically to keep current. Alternatively, you can manually build the locate.db with the command:

sudo /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb

This does not requiring enabling the launchdaemon, but you will need to manually keep the database up-to-date.