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Using Yadle » Searching with Yadle » Search by Keywords

With Yadle, you can find files by searching for their filename, metadata, path, tags, and comments, all at the same time. This enables you to always find files even when you don’t know the exact filename or know only little about a specific file. Discover the basics of searching with Yadle.

1. How to search using a single term: girl

To search for a single keyword, simply type the keyword in the search bar.

Example:
  • girl will return all files that contain the term girl in the the filename, path, tags, comments, or any metadata field. It will also return files that have the term girl which is part of a larger term such as girlfriend.

Searching by terms is NOT case sensitive.

2. How to search with multiple terms: nasa apollo

To search for multiple terms, type them in the search bar separated by spaces. You can use as many terms as you want, though you may want to stick with related terms to improve your search results.

Example:
  • nasa apollo will return files that contain nasa AND apollo in their filename, path, metadata, tags, or comments.

The more search terms you use, the better you can narrow down results, which is useful when you need to find a specific file.

3. How to search for a phrase: “new years eve”

If you are searching for a phrase (a group of related words in a specific order) rather than for a single search term, you can enclose the phrase in quotation marks “ ” to display only relevant items.

Examples:
  • new years eve matches files that contain new, years, and eve in any field
  • “new years eve” matches only the phrase new years eve – in that order and with that spacing.
4. How to search by file path: /nas/library/images/

You can search by full or partial paths to locate a specific file by path or return files that live in or under a particular folder. Note that if any whitespace exists in the path (ie. spaces), be sure to surround the path in quotation marks “ ” to perform correct search.

Examples:
  • /nas/library/images will return files that live in or underneath the images folder.
  • “/serverX/video footage/2021” will return files that live in or underneath the 2021 folder.
4. How to search using ✱ for unknown end of term: space*

You can also search for terms whose ending you don’t know, applying the same concept as above, but reversing the position of the ✱ .

Example: space* matches space, spaces, or spacecraft, but not outer-space.

5. How to search with ✱ for unknown start and end of term: *space*

When you don’t know the start or end of a search term but think that it may include a word or several letters you know, you can use ✱ before and after the word or letters you know, as in *space*. In this way you can exclude a lot of irrelevant results.

Example: *space* matches both spacecraft and outer-space

6. How to search with ? unknown characters: volume??

Another powerful way to search is using ? as a substitute for an unknown character. Each ? you add before or after your search term stands in for a character. This can help you locate important files like reports or documents that include numbers or other letters or characters in their titles, among other things.

Example: volume?? matches volumes8 and volume18 but not volume8 or volume 18.

You can also add ? to the end of a term to make sure results will include plurals: house? will include results for houses

7. How to use ✱ and ? together

You can combine ✱ and ? in the same search to improve results. Both ✱ and ? can be used anywhere in the term.

Examples

  • *house? matches inhouse8
  • f??d matches food, feed, or fled
  • f*d matches fed, feed, followed, figured
  • cl?p* matches clip, clap, clapped
8. How to exclude terms from results: -house cat or -space man

You can also exclude terms from the results in order to filter out irrelevant results and narrow down your search. To exclude a term from the search, add – before it

Examples:
  • -space man matches all files that have the term man in the file name or metadata, but excludes files with the term space in them.
  • -house cat matches cat, cat food and all files that include cat in the file name, path, or metadata, but that DO NOT HAVE house in it. Excludes files with the term house in them such as “house cat” or “cat in the house”
You can also use – to exclude file types, i.e. -jpg, -pdf, or -doc

Example: -jpg space finds files with space in the filename or metadata for all filetypes except .jpg.

9. How to search for a phrase: “black cat” or “new years eve”

If you are searching for a phrase (a group of related words in a specific order) rather than for a single search term, you can enclose the phrase in quotation marks “ ” to display only relevant items

Examples:
  • new years eve matches files that contain new, years, and eve in any field.
  • “new years eve” matches only the phrase new years eve – in that order and with that spacing.