Search Text in Files With DocFetcher

Search text in files with the free open source utility Docfetcher!!! This software is available for both Windows and linux and it lets you search text or blocks of text in a file or multiple files located in a windows folder or directory (linux directory too).

Docfetcher is a search engine for the file repository in windows or linux and it can search text in any document stored on your windows PC or linux system. It is a fast file search utility that works by creating index files on which the searches are performed. You can either create permanent indexes for large file repositories that change less frequently, or temporary indexes for quick full-text searches on files in small folders.

To create a temporary index, simply right-click on a folder and select the menu item “Search With DocFetcher“. Temporary indexes and they are automatically disposed of after program termination. You can also choose to retain those indexes though DocFetcher.As with any other search index, the indexing process in DocFetcher might take a few minutes for larger fle repositories, and is pretty quick for files in small folders.

Once the files are indexed by DocFetcher, text search becomes easier with this tool and you can simply type the keywords into DocFetcher’s search box and hit Enter.DocFetcher will list all documents inside the selected folders that contain these words in a few seconds.

Another cool thing about DocFetcher is its indexes are automatically updated when files in the corresponding windows folders or linux directories are modified, even when the tool isn’t running!! This is achieved via a daemon that waits in the background and monitors all indexed folders. The daemon is optimized for performance has very low CPU usage, because, rather than indexing files itself, it only remembers which indexes need to be updated, the next time DocFetcher is launched!!!

DocFetcher indexes only what you need, and not the entire harddrive. further, it indexes documents only and other files are ignored.

DocFetcher is also portable and you can put all your files in it and freely move the entire folder around (i.e., DocFetcher + indexes + documents). Thus, it can be moved across computers, encrypted volumes (TrueCrypt), CD-ROMs, USB drives or any removable media. The portable version can also be used for sharing an indexed file repository across a local area network, or across the operating systems of a Windows/Linux dual boot system!!!

DocFetcher can be used to scan and search text in files of the following formats.

• HTML and plain text (both customizable)

Portable Document Format (pdf)

• Microsoft Office (doc, xls, ppt)
• Microsoft Office 2007, Office 2010 (docx, xlsx, pptx)
• OpenOffice.org Writer, Calc, Draw and Impress (odt, ods, odg, odp)
• Rich Text Format (rtf)
• AbiWord (abw, abw.gz, zabw)
• Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (chm)
• Microsoft Visio (vsd)
• Scalable Vector Graphics (svg)

Notable Features in Docfetcher

• Regular expression based exclusion of files from indexing.
• DocFetcher’s interface lets you create folders, insert new files and perform various other file operations on the document repository
• DocFetcher has preview panel with search-term highlighting and a simple built-in web browser.
• Text Search results can be sorted and filtered by different criteria including filetype, filesize, path, etc.
• Global hotkey to bring DocFetcher to the front

DocFetcher does well what it claims to do and it is a fast and trustworthy full text search engine for your file repository.Free download DocFetcher from here and do quick text search in files!!!

You can also try TextCrawler to search and replace text in files.

Filed under: Software Tips