Re: [Gimp-user] Problem with Gimp file search feature

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

On 04/24/2017 09:33 PM, Paula Koval wrote:
> My partner is using the latest release of Gimp and Windows 10.  I have no
> idea of why this problem is taking place and since I am not an expert in
> W-10 or Gimp, I am asking for help.
>
> First, she finds a gif image that she wants to use with Gimp and she stores
> in a file on the HDD of her system.  She then opens Gimp, goes to File,
> clicks on Open, puts the name of the gif in Search, and has it search in
> All Files, then tells it to Open.
>
> The Gimp search facility runs and comes back with a result that she cannot
> use because of the file extension that is added to the file name.  The
> result comes back as    filename.gif.lnk  instead of what had been the
> result until 24 hours ago, which was two results that appeared to be
> related   filename.lnk and filename.gif   It was easy enough for her to
> pick the     filename.gif   file because it was a result.  She is dyslexic
> and has a difficult time looking at the listing of images in her images
> file.

Why the .lnk files exist at all is a mystery to me; these are created
when one makes a "shortcut" pointing to a file that is (usually) located
in another directory.  Apparently Windows 10 is doing this automatically
for some reason?  If so there may be a way to disable it, then those
.lnk files won't present any more problems - although the existing ones
will remain.

I had never used the GIMP's file search tool before, but when I just
tried it out I noticed that the user selects which directory to search
in; since there's no reason for those .lnk files to exist, maybe more
than one of them is created in more than one directory, and maybe she is
looking in the wrong directory.  If she could create a directory just
for files she is working on, and search in only that directory, that
might be a solution.

I'm not sure about Windows 10, but "find as you type" has never worked
in previous versions of Windows Explorer; from Windows 98 though Windows
XP, it always searched only for the last letter typed, by looking at the
first letters of the file names in the directories.  If that /has/ been
fixed in Windows 10, she could open the directory where the file she
wants to open lives, type its name until it is automagically selected,
then drag and drop it to the GIMP canvas or toolbox to open it.  Or
right click and "open with" the GIMP.

The actual file search tool in Windows Explorer does work (as far as I
know, at least it used to), so she could use that to find the files she
wants, and drag and drop them to the GIMP.  Or, right-click the file
icon or thumbnail, and select open with > GIMP from the drop down menu.

Finding a file that has "gone missing" after being worked on the
previous day might be solved by doing File > Open > Recent in the GIMP.