Select the Quick text search check box and type a keyword (or keywords) in the edit box.
You can separate search terms using quotation marks and other operators. If quotes or wildcard characters are not applied, an * is automatically added before and after each search term. For more searching tips, see the Text searching tips heading in this help topic.
Press Enter.
The Media Manager tool searches your media files and displays the results in the Search Results pane on the right side of the window. Any file that contains your keywords in the file name or attributes is displayed (tags are not searched as keywords).
Your search terms are displayed in the yellow bar below the Search Results toolbar.
You can refine the search results by selecting tag check boxes or using the Advanced search controls.
Choose Match Any from the Match Any/Match All drop-down list if you want to display all media that matches any of your keyword, tag, or advanced search criteria. In the preceding example, the Search Results pane would display all files that contain the keyword "Bongo" OR the "Drum" tag OR the "Keyboard" tag.
Choose Match All from the Match Any/Match All drop-down list if you want to display only media that matches all of your keyword, tag, and advanced search criteria. In the preceding example, the Search Results pane would display all files that contain the keyword "Bongo" AND the "Drum" tag AND the "Keyboard" tag.
The yellow bar at the top of the Search Results pane will display the search terms used.
When you use the Quick text search box to perform a keyword search, you can separate search terms using quotation marks and other operators. The following guidelines are used for text searches.
You can type search terms in uppercase, lowercase, or mixed-case letters without changing your search results. For example, the following searches would find the same files:
Copyright
copyRight
CopyRight
CoPyRiGhT
Adding a space between search terms has the same effect as typing AND between the terms:
is the same search as
By combining the Match Any/Match All drop-down list with explicit AND or OR operators between search terms, you can refine your searches with pinpoint accuracy.
This search would find any media that contains the "Guitar" tag OR media that contains both of the terms "blues" AND "rock" in the file name or attributes. |
This search would find any media that contains the "Guitar" tag AND contains either the term "blues" OR "rock" in the file name or attributes. |
If you want to search for an exact phrase, add quotation marks around the search term. An * is automatically added before and after each search term (with or without quotation marks).
If you want to search for a * or ? character in a file's attributes, add quotes around the character.
Search Term |
Results |
blues and rock |
Finds any media with the term "blues" AND the term "rock" in the file name or attributes. Both terms need not appear in the same attribute. |
"blues and rock" |
Finds any media with the exact term "blues and rock" in the file name or attributes. |
"blues*" |
Finds any media with the term "blues*" in the file name or attributes. Because the asterisk is contained within quotation marks, it is not used as a wildcard. |
blues rock |
Finds any media with the term "blues" AND the term "rock" in the file name or attributes. The space between the terms is treated as an AND; additional spaces are ignored. |
"blues rock" |
Finds any media with the term "blues rock" in the file name or attributes. When quotes surround the search term, the extra spaces are preserved. |
You can also use single quotes: '
Use parentheses to nest multiple queries:
Search Term |
Results |
blues and (rock or jazz) |
Finds any media with the term "blues" AND either the term "rock" OR "jazz" in the file name or attributes. |
blues or (rock and (roll or funk)) |
Finds any media with the term "blues" OR the term "rock and roll" OR "rock and funk" in the file name or attributes. |
Add a * to match 0 or more characters. An * is automatically added before and after each search term (with or without quotation marks).
Add a ? to match exactly one character.
If you want to search for a * or ? character in a file's attributes, add quotes around the character.
Search Term |
Results |
blues* |
Finds any media with a file name or attribute that starts with "blues ." This search would find the following terms:
|
blues? |
Finds any media with a file name or attribute that starts with "blues" and is followed by one character. From the previous list, this search would find only "bluesy." |
blues?? |
Finds any media with a file name or attribute that starts with "blues" and is followed by two characters. From the previous list, this search would find only "blues66." |
Add - as a prefix to exclude a term from a search. No space can exist between the - and the search term.
Search Term |
Results |
blues -rock |
Finds any media with a file name or attribute that includes the term "blues" but does not include "rock." |
blues solo -sax |
Finds any media with a file name or attribute that includes the terms "blues" AND "solo" but does not include "sax." |
Select the check box for each tag you want to find. The Media Library searches your media files and displays the results in the Search Results pane on the right side of the window.
Choose Match Any from the Match Any/Match All drop-down list if you want to display all media that contains any keyword, tag, or advanced search criteria. In the preceding example, the Search Results pane would display all files that contain the tag "Blues" OR the tag "Big Band."
Choose Match All from the Match Any/Match All drop-down list if you want to display only media that includes all keyword, tag, and advanced search criteria. In the preceding example, the Search Results pane would display only files with tags "Blues" AND "Big Band."
If you have check boxes selected for parent and child tags, those tags will be treated as an OR relationship regardless of whether Match Any or Match All is selected. See the following examples:
This search would find any media files that contain any one of the selected tags. |
This search would find only media files with that contain the "Blues" tag AND also the "Jazz" OR "Big Band" OR "Small Combo" tag. |
Select the View Items Not Matching Search Criteria button if you want to invert your search terms. For example, if you'd searched on the "Bongo" tag, selecting this button will display all media that does not contain the "Bongo" tag.
Click a column heading to sort the results in ascending or descending order based on that column.
Click the Previous Search button to navigate through your recent searches and update the contents of the Search Results pane.
After viewing previous searches, click the Next Search button to navigate back to your current search.
Searching for Media |
You can use the Media Manager tool to search the current media library for media files using keywords or tags.
Tips:
You can use the Search Results Limit box in the Media Manager Options dialog to determine the maximum number of media files you'd like to have returned in the results of your searches. Increasing the Search Results Limit setting increases the amount of time required to search a library and can significantly decrease performance if set excessively high.
When performing complex searches, consider creating temporary tags to classify the results. If you apply a tag to the files found by a complex search, you can return to those files easily by searching on the tag. The Media Manager tool can search for tags more quickly than it can perform keyword or advanced searches.