NANY 2017: CSearcher - A simple and fast free non-indexing search program.

[hugo nabais]

Hi all,

Application Name	CSearcher
Version	1.5.5.0
Short Description	A simple and fast free non-indexing search program.
Supported OSes	.net4 Windows (XP/Vista/7,8,10,server 2008, server 2012, etc)
Web Page	http://www.hnsoft.pt
Download Link	http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads
System Requirements	Any Windows with .net4 framework installed
Version History	http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads
Author	Hugo Nabais

Description
To search files, I always used windows explorer but it was slow, sometimes it did not return all the expected results, and it uses lots of RAM. I tried some freeware non-indexing searchers but some were slow, and others did not have all the features I wanted. So since I develop some application in my work I decided to create my own portable program: CSearcher. CSearcher is a simple & fast free non-indexing search program. Since I’ve been using it I gave it to some colleagues at work and they gave me same good feedback. I then decided to clean and polish the program and publish it as freeware! To contribute back. No installation required, everything runs from its folder, just copy it anywhere.

Features
· Integration with Explorer menu for seamless search of folders.

· Exclude patterns.
· Date and size options.
· Find files that contain specific text.
· Calculate MD5 and compare files.
· Simple Hex Viewer of any file.
· Search history.
· Filtering:
        Filter results. After finding all the results you want, you can dynamically filter results for faster finding of different items.
        Filter possible duplicate file (same name and size), can be confirmed with md5.
· Export selected results to CSV or HTML file.

Planned Features
What features are you planning to implement in the future?
I need some feedback on that one!


Screenshots


Usage
Installation
Run it from anywhere, portable!.

Compared to other free non-indexing search programs I found on Google:
http://www.informan.pt/csearcher/Comparison

Using the Application
Self explanatory.

[Curt]

wonderful idea

Bug:
It was happy to register with, but has so far refused to unregister from my Windows Explorer!

32-bit Win 10 Pro 1607 (with adm's rights)

[hugo nabais]

wonderful idea

Bug:
It was happy to register with, but has so far refused to unregister from my Windows Explorer!

32-bit Win 10 Pro 1607 (with adm's rights)

To unregister from Windows Explorer Context Menu:
You have to go to the folder where you "installed" CSearcher (Not open CSearcher from context menu).
Right Click over the CSearcher.exe, Run as administrator, and then the unregister option will work!
Windows 10 "pseudo" security. Sorry about that.
I will try to put a warning about this.

[Curt]

-that's how I did, but it wouldn't go away. I have now deleted it myself from HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\...

The program was situated in C:\Program Files\CSearcher\CSearcher.exe

[hugo nabais]

-that's how I did, but it wouldn't go away. I have now deleted it myself from HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\...

The program was situated in C:\Program Files\CSearcher\CSearcher.exe

I'll look in to it!

EDIT: You are right it's not working properly, I'll need to fix it and publish a new version!

[hugo nabais]

It's fixed and tested now!
I have released a new version 1.0.1.2.

Thanks for the help nailing this bug

[mouser]

Nice entry 

[tomos]

I'm a very basic 'searcher', having only installed 'Everything' about a year ago.
I like the filtering options
Will try for a while see how I get on with it

[hugo nabais]

New version 1.1.0.0 released:



I received some good suggestions and lots of things were changed and added in this version!
Please read the release notes and try it out.
The old patterns.txt file must be replaced by the new one.

I'll wait for feedback.

Version 1.1.0.0:
[alt] removed *text* buttons. Default search uses filesystem syntax. For searches that contain pattern you should check "Containing text"
[alt] multi patterns separator changed from ; to | because ; is a valid character in file system naming
[new] New option to manually add search folders. It also has a combobox with last searched directories (separeted by "|")
[new] When CSearcher starts whith no parameters, it will load last searched directories.
[alt] Removed clear "pattern" buttons. They were redundant
[fix] Small fix to menu icons (folder, notepad)
[new] Option to restore minimized CSearcher using a Windows HotKey. Ability to configure custom HotKey in Options menu.
[new] Results columns state (visibility, size) is now saved and restored after restart
[new] When opening previous patterns or last exclude patterns pressing the delete key will delete selected entry
[alt] asks for permission when register/unresgistering CSearcher in options menu, no more restarting csearcher with admin privileges
[new] check for command line folders access on program loading before adding to search dir box
Downloads:
·http://www.informan.pt/csearcher/CSearcher_1.1.0.0.zip Compressed archive.
·http://www.informan.pt/csearcher/CSearcher_1.1.0.0.exe Self-Extracting file.

Hugo

[hugo nabais]

I released version 1.2.1.0.
There were a lot of changes:

      Version 1.2.1.0:
                          [new]  Added option to search files not containing text
                          [new]  Added state icons to restrictions options
                          [new]  Multiple size options: added GB
                          [alt]  Options checkboxes state is no longer preserved. It was confusing.
                          [fix]  Small Layout fixes
      Version 1.2.0.0:
                          [fix]  Improved error handling
                          [new]  Multiple size options: autosize, in bytes, in KB, in MB
                          [new]  Move UP/Down search folders changing search order
                          [fix]  Small Layout fixes
                          [new]  Added more custom icons to layout improving visual clarity
                          [new]  Integrated with Notepad++. If installed option to open with Notepad++ is available
                          [new]  New Command line option to add all available drives (ex:c:\ e:\) to search folders on startup
                          [new]  New browse form that allows multiple folders paths to be selected (browse button)
                          [fix]  Last column sort state is not preserved any more.
                          [fix]  HotKey KeyCode not initialized correctly
                          [new]  Tab selected is now preserved
                          [new]  Results new option: Search with CSearcher (only directories)

Screenshot:


new custom browse button:

[skwire]

Featured here: http://betanews.com/2017/01/11/csearcher-is-a-fast-portable-desktop-search-tool/

Kudos. 

[mouser]

Very nice 

[hugo nabais]

I have good news. CSearcher is mainly divided in two parts:
1 The main form that handles file operations and display results.
2 The search thread that focus on fast search without blocking main form.

I completely redesigned the code that handles the communication between the main form and the search thread, and I was able to squeeze a lot of performance when you are searching for hundreds of thousands of files.

Before:


Now:


This still is not the disk file table "trick" planed for future versions.

This improvement will benefit mainly of fast disks but it still provides some improvements in other disk.
I have a "slow" NAS share that had this results searching through +/- 300.000 files:
Windows Explorer: 1:30s
Csearcher "old": 1:10s
Csearcher "new": 0:59s

The limitation here was really the NAS speed!

I'm finishing testing and implementing other fixes and hope to release a new version in the next couple of days.

[hugo nabais]

New Version 1.3.0.1
Changes:
Auto scroll information about current directory being searched.
Performance improvement when searching for thousands of objects in fast disks
Performance improvement handling thousands of objects (mainly deleting and others operations)
New filters to hide folders and files
Fixed selecting and right clicking over hundreds of thousands of objects (faster now)
Clarified warning about empty containing/non containing strings.
Fixed Ascii/Unicode layout positioning

New website: http://www.hnsoft.pt
Downloads:
http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.3.0.1.zip Compressed archive.
http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.3.0.1.exe Self-Extracting file.

[tomos]

hi hugo,
just a heads up that the direct dowload link in op is not working:
"You do not have permission to view this directory or page."
http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/

(Got the download via other page @ http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads.aspx)

[hugo nabais]

hi hugo,
just a heads up that the direct dowload link in op is not working:
"You do not have permission to view this directory or page."
http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/

(Got the download via other page @ http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads.aspx)

The links I posted are working, I tested them.

"http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/" was not supposed to be accessed directly. But I understand people may try that, I'll get an alternative.

[tomos]

"http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/" was not supposed to be accessed directly. But I understand people may try that, I'll get an alternative.

as said, it's given as the download link above (so it's the obvious first choice for clicking)
But also as said, it not a problem

[hugo nabais]

"http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/" was not supposed to be accessed directly. But I understand people may try that, I'll get an alternative.

as said, it's given as the download link above (so it's the obvious first choice for clicking)
But also as said, it not a problem

Where is "http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/" given as a link above?

[hugo nabais]

New download links:
Downloads:
http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.3.0.1.zip Compressed archive.
http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.3.0.1.exe Self-Extracting file.

Opening http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/ works fine now.

[tomos]

Sorted

Where is "http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/" given as a link above?

in the download link in the table in the first post.

[hugo nabais]

Sorted

Where is "http://www.hnsoft.pt/Downloads/" given as a link above?

in the download link in the table in the first post.

I had forgotten that. I'll update it.

thanks

[tomos]

I see I can copy filepath via:
menu >Edit >etc.

Any chance that could be made more accessible, especially via a shortcut?
Cant speak for others, but it's what I use most once I find a file.

[hugo nabais]

I see I can copy filepath via:
menu >Edit >etc.

Any chance that could be made more accessible, especially via a shortcut?
Cant speak for others, but it's what I use most once I find a file.

Sure, I have released a new version implementing your request:

Version 1.3.0.2
[fix] Fixed bug when starting a new search if there were objects selected. They are cleared now
[alt] "Delete object(s)" message box information text was clarified.
[new] Edit->Copy Name/full path/MD5 now is able to copy 1 or more selection objects
[new] Edit->Copy Name/full path/MD5 can now be accessed through shortcut keys
Downloads:
·http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.3.0.2.zip Compressed archive.
·http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.3.0.2.exe Self-Extracting file.

Preview:

[tomos]

^ thanks hugo

[hugo nabais]

Once again I have good news.
I have completely redesigned the search method/algorithm.  CSearcher is now using 100% Windows low level fast optimized native methods.
This has improved performance on fast disks by a factor of 2X compared to 1.3 versions!
I also improved memory usage. Around 30% less memory usage!
I have tested it and now it can easily search and obtain over 4 million objects (files and folders)!

Comparison between the last versions: (check search time!)
Version 1.2:

Version 1.3:

Version 1.4:


Version 1.4.0.0
[new]  Completely redesigned search method/algorithm. Improved performance on fast disks. 100% Windows low level fast native method
[new]  Improved memory usage. Around 30% less memory usage.
[fix]  Several small optimizations and big fixes
[fix]  Fixed bug when restricting by "Newer than accessed date".
[fix]  Fixed bug when containing search or exclude pattern was one character long
[new]  Now it can perform searches inside long path name folders over 260 characters long
[new]  When a result has a path longer than the system maximum length is selected, an alert is displayed!
[fix]  Fixed rare bug where restriction icons could display icon in wrong tab
[new]  Check online for newer versions, on start or manually

Downloads:
·http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.4.0.0.zip Compressed archive.
·http://www.hnsoft.pt/Repository/CSearcher/CSearcher_1.4.0.0.exe Self-Extracting file.


I will wait for your feedback!