Loook: A Light-Weight Text Search Tool For Openoffice Documents

If yous are happily running a desktop search tool such equally Tracker or Beagle, read no further. You already convey the search tool yous take away to search OpenOffice files in addition to more. These desktop search tools create indexes to ameliorate search performance, in addition to are inwards full general quite scalable. Yet, a desktop search tool may hold upwards an overkill if yous are only searching for sure as shooting text string inwards a directory containing OpenOffice files.

loook is a no-frill, nevertheless really functional text search tool for OpenOffice files. Unlike the aforementioned desktop search engines, it does non create an index of your OpenOffice files. Despite the lack of an index, searching a hierarchy of 75 OpenOffice documents alone took a dyad of seconds. That is proficient plenty for my use.

loook composes of a unmarried zipped-up python script which yous tin freely download in addition to install. Unzip the downloaded file into a directory of your choice. On my Debian Etch system, I did non convey to install whatever additional packages for loook to run.

Running the tool cannot hold upwards whatever simpler. Open a bash shell, in addition to enter:

$ python somedir/loook.py 

The Viewer plain has the default value: soffice. This is the shout out of the OpenOffice executable. You don't take away to modify this plain unless your version of OpenOffice has a dissimilar shout out or the executable is non inwards your default PATH.

What yous produce desire to modify are the next fields:

• Search Path
  
• Search Terms
  
• Mode
  

Search Path

You navigate or type inwards the path of the directory containing the OpenOffice files yous desire to search. loook volition recursively search the hierarchy starting from the specified directory. Unfortunately, yous are express to specifying 1 starting directory only.

Search Terms

You larn inwards your search price inwards this field. Note that loook supports Unicode. Non-English linguistic communication users tin search using UTF-8 characters.

Mode

The Mode determines whether a check requires all the search price to hold upwards introduce inwards a document (AND search), whatever of the price to hold upwards introduce (OR search), or the price must seem together (PHRASE search).

You tin pre-populate the search path in addition to the search terms. Simply larn inwards them equally arguments to loook on the ascendance line. For example,

$ python somedir/loook.py /home/peter/mydocs "Cisco Routers"

The search results are returned inwards the Matches field. Note that alone the amount path of the files are returned. It does non display the actual matches. You tin double click the file path inwards the Matches plain to guide opened upwards the file alongside OpenOffice.

loook does non convey all the bells in addition to whistles that yous hold off of a desktop search tool, alongside abide by to both features in addition to supported file formats. However, if all yous desire is a light-weight tool for searching OpenOffice documents inwards a directory structure, it is worth your fourth dimension to crusade it out.

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