Search

Files.com offers a search engine that allows users to search for content, including files and folders by name. Search also returns matching Site Settings for Site administrators.

Using the search capability on the Files.com web interface allows users to see search results as they type their query and provides shortcuts to navigate directly to specific results. This includes navigating to folders, previewing files, filtering by Custom Metadata values, or navigating to Site Settings for Site Administrators.

For folders stored within Files.com, name based search is recursive and results include items found within any subfolders. Searches for Custom Metadata values are case sensitive and apply only to the current folder.

Remote Mount Limitations

We do not maintain an index of Remote Mount folders for searching. Doing so would require regularly spidering remote servers, and we've found that this can create problems for many of our customers.

Our in-app search supports searching the current folder and will only include items found within that folder.

We hope to offer an indexed search of remote mounts at some time in the future. If we add this, it will be delivered on an opt-in basis for each remote mount.

Automated Use

Our in-app search engine is meant for human business users, and is not meant to be used by automations. That's because our search index is specifically not updated in real time.

While we try to have file uploads, moves, and deletes reflected in search within a period of time that's reasonable for humans, we have not designed the system to provide the sort of instant gratification that is often required for automated business processes.

For automated search, we do offer the ability to filter the items returned in the list of a single folder. This can be achieved with the filter parameter to the folder list request in our API and SDKs. It accepts wildcards.

With all of that said, we do provide API and SDK access to the search functionality, with the expectation that it only be used to support human business users.

Searching the Current Folder

Within the File Manager, you can search for file and folders with names that match certain text using the Search this folder field. This search is not case sensitive. The Search this folder option is not available for the root folder of your site.

Searching Custom Metadata

Custom Metadata values can be searched within the current folder using the top search bar in the File Manager. When a search term is entered, a suggestion is shown that allows the search to be limited to metadata values in the current folder.

Custom Metadata values can also be searched by individual metadata keys by adding those keys as columns in the files table. When a Custom Metadata key is added as a column, the column includes its own search, allowing files and folders to be filtered by values for that specific metadata key.

Searching Custom Metadata values is case sensitive, whether the search is performed using the top search bar or a metadata column. Custom Metadata searches apply only to the current folder and are not recursive.

In-File Search

We hope to extend our search engine in the future to support in-file search. However, this capability is not planned for our near term roadmap.