Copyright © 2005-2019 Jean-Francois +
Copyright © 2005-2020 Jean-Francois Dockes
This document introduces full text search notions and describes the installation and use of the Recoll application. It is updated for - Recoll 1.25.
+ Recoll 1.26.Recoll was for a long
time dedicated to Unix-like systems. It was only lately
(2015) ported to MS-Windows.
@@ -440,10 +441,13 @@ alink="#0000FF">
updated. Until this happens, on Windows, most references to shared files
can be translated by looking under the Recoll installation
- directory (esp. the Share
- subdirectory). The user configuration is stored by default
- under AppData/Local/Recoll
- inside the user directory, along with the index itself.
C:/Program Files
+ (x86)/Recoll, esp. anything referenced in /usr/share in this document will be found
+ int the Share subdirectory).
+ The user configuration is stored by default under
+ AppData/Local/Recoll inside the
+ user directory, along with the index itself.
The indexing process is started automatically (after asking permission), the first time you @@ -744,11 +750,9 @@ alink="#0000FF">
recollindex skips files
which caused an error during a previous pass. This is a
- performance optimization, and a new behaviour in version
- 1.21 (failed files were always retried by previous
- versions). The command line option -k can be set to retry failed files, for
- example after updating an input handler.
-k can be set to retry failed
+ files, for example after updating an input handler.
The following sections give an overview of different aspects of the indexing processes and configuration, with links to detailed sections.
@@ -791,9 +795,10 @@ alink="#0000FF"> into your cron file. On Windows, this is - the only mode available, and the indexer is usually - started from the GUI (but there is nothing to - prevent starting it from a command script). + the only mode available, and the Windows Task + Scheduler can be used to run indexing. In both + cases, the GUI includes an easy interface to the + system batch scheduler.Variables set inside the Variables stored inside the Recoll configuration files control which areas of the file system are indexed, and how files - are processed. These variables can be set either by editing - the text files or by using the dialogs in the recoll @@ -1322,7 +1323,7 @@ alink="#0000FF"> "https://www.lesbonscomptes.com/recoll/manpages/recoll.conf.5.html" target="_top">recoll.conf(5) manual - page.Both documents are automatically generated from the + page. Both documents are automatically generated from the comments inside the configuration file.
The most immediately useful variable is probably "#RCL.INSTALL.EXTERNAL" title= "5.2. Supporting packages">external packages section.
-As of Recoll 1.18 there are two incompatible types of - Recoll indexes, depending on the treatment of character - case and diacritics. A There are two incompatible types of Recoll indexes, + depending on the treatment of character case and + diacritics. A further - section describes the two types in more detail.
+ section describes the two types in more detail. The + default type is appropriate in most cases.By indexing the volume in the main, fixed, index, and ensuring that the volume data is not purged if - the indexing runs while the volume is mounted. - (Recoll 1.25.2).
+ the indexing runs while the volume is mounted. (since + Recoll 1.25.2).By storing a volume index on the volume itself - (Recoll 1.24).
+ (since Recoll + 1.24).The GUI menu has - entries to start or stop the current indexing - operation.
-When no indexing is running, you have a choice of - updating the index or rebuilding it (the first choice + entries to start or stop the current indexing operation. + When indexing is not currently running, you have a choice + of updating the index or rebuilding it (the first choice only processes changed files, the second one zeroes the index before starting so that all files are processed).
+On Linux and Windows, the GUI can be used to manage + the indexing operation. Stopping the indexer can be done + from the recoll GUI File → menu entry.
On Linux, the recollindex indexing process can be interrupted by sending an interrupt (Ctrl-C, SIGINT) or terminate (SIGTERM) signal.
-On Linux and Windows, the GUI can used to manage the - indexing operation. Stopping the indexer can be done from - the recoll - GUI → Stop Indexing menu entry.
When stopped, some time may elapse before recollindex exits, because it needs to properly flush and close the @@ -2368,6 +2371,18 @@ metadatacmds = ; +
recollindex has many options which are listed in its Qt library.
recoll has - two search modes:
+ two search interfaces:The File name search - mode will specifically look for file names. The point of - having a separate file name search is that wild card - expansion can be performed more efficiently on a small - subset of the index (allowing wild cards on the left of - terms without excessive cost). Things to know:
-White space in the entry should match white - space in the file name, and is not treated - specially.
-The search is insensitive to character case and - accents, independently of the type of index.
-An entry without any wild card character and not
- capitalized will be prepended and appended with '*'
- (ie: etc
- -> *etc*, but
- Etc ->
- etc).
If you have a big index (many files), - excessively generic fragments may result in - inefficient searches.
-When using a stripped index (the default), character case has no influence on search, except that you can disable stem expansion for any term by capitalizing it. @@ -2883,6 +2864,40 @@ fs.inotify.max_user_watches=32768 "guimenu">Tools → dialog for more complex searches.
+The File name search + mode will specifically look for file names. The point of + having a separate file name search is that wild card + expansion can be performed more efficiently on a small + subset of the index (allowing wild cards on the left of + terms without excessive cost). Things to know:
+White space in the entry should match white + space in the file name, and is not treated + specially.
+The search is insensitive to character case and + accents, independently of the type of index.
+An entry without any wild card character and not
+ capitalized will be prepended and appended with '*'
+ (ie: etc
+ -> *etc*, but
+ Etc ->
+ etc).
If you have a big index (many files), + excessively generic fragments may result in + inefficient searches.
+After starting a search, a list of results will - instantly be displayed in the main list window.
+ instantly be displayed in the main window.By default, the document list is presented in order of relevance (how well the system estimates that the document matches the query). You can sort the result by ascending or descending date by using the vertical arrows in the toolbar.
-Clicking on the Preview
- link for an entry will open an internal preview window
- for the document. Further Preview clicks for the same search will
- open tabs in the existing preview window. You can use
- Shift+Click
- to force the creation of another preview window, which
- may be useful to view the documents side by side. (You
- can also browse successive results in a single preview
- window by typing Clicking the Preview link
+ for an entry will open an internal preview window for the
+ document. Further Preview
+ clicks for the same search will open tabs in the existing
+ preview window. You can use Shift+Click to force the
+ creation of another preview window, which may be useful
+ to view the documents side by side. (You can also browse
+ successive results in a single preview window by typing
+ Shift+ArrowUp/Down in the
window).
Even when Use desktop - preferences is checked, there is a small list of - exceptions, for MIME types where the Recoll choice should override the - desktop one. These are applications which are well - integrated with Recoll, - especially evince for - viewing PDF and Postscript files because of its support - for opening the document at a specific page and passing a - search string as an argument. Of course, you can edit the - list (in the GUI preferences) if you would prefer to lose - the functionality and use the standard desktop tool.
-You may also change the choice of applications by
- editing the mimeview configuration file if you
- find this more convenient.
Each result entry also has a right-click menu with an - Open With entry. This lets - you choose an application from the list of those which - registered with the desktop for the document MIME - type.
+ document types. This currently not customisable on + Windows. See further + for customizing the applications on Unix-like systems. +You can click on the Query
+ details link at the top of the results page to see
+ the query actually performed, after stem expansion and
+ other processing.
Double-clicking on any word inside the result list or + a preview window will insert it into the simple search + text.
+The result list is divided into pages (the size of + which you can change in the preferences). Use the arrow + buttons in the toolbar or the links at the bottom of the + page to browse the results.
The Preview and
Open edit links may not be
present for all entries, meaning that edit an HTML fragment.
You can click on the Query
- details link at the top of the results page to see
- the query actually performed, after stem expansion and
- other processing.
Double-clicking on any word inside the result list or - a preview window will insert it into the simple search - text.
-The result list is divided into pages (the size of - which you can change in the preferences). Use the arrow - buttons in the toolbar or the links at the bottom of the - page to browse the results.
+By default Recoll + lets the desktop choose what application should be used + to open a given document, with exceptions.
+The details of this behaviour can be customized with
+ the →
+ →
+ →
+ dialog or by editing the mimeview configuration file.
When Use desktop + preferences, at the top of the dialog, is + checked, there is a small list of exceptions, for MIME + types where the Recoll + choice should override the desktop one. These are + applications which are well integrated with + Recoll, for example, + on Linux, evince for + viewing PDF and Postscript files because of its support + for opening the document at a specific page and passing + a search string as an argument. You can add or remove + document types to the exceptions by using the + dialog.
+If you prefer to completely customize the choice of + applications, you can uncheck Use desktop preferences, in which + case the Recoll + predefined applications will be used, and can be + changed for each document type. This is probably not + the most convenient approach in most cases.
+In all cases, the applications choice dialog accepts + multiple selections of MIME types in the top section, + and lets you define how they are processed in the + bottom one.
+You may also change the choice of applications by
+ editing the mimeview configuration file if
+ you find this more convenient.
Under Unix-like + systems, each result list entry also has a right-click + menu with an Open With + entry. This lets you choose an application from the + list of those which registered with the desktop for the + document MIME type, on a case by case basis.
+The Preview and Open entries do the same thing as the corresponding links.
-Open With lets you
- open the document with one of the applications claiming
- to be able to handle its MIME type (the information
- comes from the .desktop
- files in Open With
+ (Unix-like systems)
+ lets you open the document with one of the applications
+ claiming to be able to handle its MIME type (the
+ information comes from the .desktop files in /usr/share/applications).
Run Script allows
- starting an arbitrary command on the result file. It
- will only appear for results which are top-level files.
- See
+ Run Script
+ (Unix-like systems)
+ allows starting an arbitrary command on the result
+ file. It will only appear for results which are
+ top-level files. See
further for a more detailed description. The Copy File Name and
Copy Url copy the
@@ -3129,11 +3179,11 @@ fs.inotify.max_user_watches=32768
In Recoll 1.15 and - newer, the results can be displayed in spreadsheet-like - fashion. You can switch to this presentation by clicking - the table-like icon in the toolbar (this is a toggle, - click again to restore the list).
+As an alternative to the result list, the results can + also be displayed in spreadsheet-like fashion. You can + switch to this presentation by clicking the table-like + icon in the toolbar (this is a toggle, click again to + restore the list).
Clicking on the column headers will allow sorting by the values in the column. You can click again to invert the order, and use the header right-click menu to reset @@ -3164,9 +3214,9 @@ fs.inotify.max_user_watches=32768
There are also some pointers about thumbnail - generation on the Recoll wiki.
+ generation in the Recoll FAQ.Of course you can also close a preview window by using - the window manager button in the top of the frame.
+ Closing the last tab, or using the window manager button + in the top of the frame will also close the window.You can display successive or previous documents from
the result list inside a preview tab by typing
- This feature is new in Recoll 1.20, and will probably be
- refined depending on user feedback.
As of release 1.19, when a result document does have
- undisplayed duplicates, a Dups link will be shown with the result
- list entry. Clicking the link will display the paths
- (URLs + ipaths) for the duplicate entries.
When a result document does have undisplayed
+ duplicates, a Dups link will
+ be shown with the result list entry. Clicking the link
+ will display the paths (URLs + ipaths) for the duplicate
+ entries.
virtual
reality should appear sooner in the list.
- Phrase searches can strongly slow down a query if
- most of the terms in the phrase are common. This is why
- the autophrase option is
- off by default for Recoll versions before 1.17. As of
- version 1.17, autophrase
- is on by default, but very common terms will be removed
- from the constructed phrase. The removal threshold can
- be adjusted from the search preferences.
Phrases and abbreviations. As of
- Recoll version 1.17,
- dotted abbreviations like I.B.M. are also automatically indexed
- as a word without the dots: IBM. Searching for the word inside a
- phrase (ie: "the IBM
- company") will only match the dotted
- abrreviation if you increase the phrase slack (using
- the advanced search panel control, or the o query language modifier). Literal
- occurences of the word will be matched normally.
Phrase searches can slow down a query if most of the
+ terms in the phrase are common. If the autophrase option is on, very common
+ terms will be removed from the automatically
+ constructed phrase. The removal threshold can be
+ adjusted from the search preferences.
Phrases and abbreviations. Dotted
+ abbreviations like I.B.M.
+ are also automatically indexed as a word without the
+ dots: IBM. Searching for
+ the word inside a phrase (ie: "the IBM company") will only match the
+ dotted abrreviation if you increase the phrase slack
+ (using the advanced search panel control, or the
+ o query language
+ modifier). Literal occurences of the word will be
+ matched normally.
Newer versions of Recoll (from 1.17) normally use - WebKit HTML widgets for the result list and the - snippets - window (this may be disabled at build time). Total - customisation is possible with full support for CSS and - Javascript. Conversely, there are limits to what you - can do with the older Qt QTextBrowser, but still, it is - possible to decide what data each result will contain, - and how it will be displayed.
-The result list presentation can be exhaustively - customized by adjusting two elements:
+Recoll normally uses a full function HTML processor + to display the result list and the snippets + window. Depending on the version, this may be based + on either Qt WebKit or Qt WebEngine. It is then + possible to completely customise the result list with + full support for CSS and Javascript.
+It is also possible to build Recoll to use a simpler Qt + QTextBrowser widget to display the HTML, which may be + necessary if the ones above are not ported on the + system, or to reduce the application size and + dependancies. There are limits to what you can do in + this case, but it is still possible to decide what data + each result will contain, and how it will be + displayed.
+The result list presentation can be customized by + adjusting two elements:
In addition to the predefined values above, all
strings like Recoll">
http://www.recoll.org/features.html">
-
+
Xapian">
Windows">
Unix-like systems">
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@