Best tool for organizing and searching across PDF and Word docs?

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Posted by dan7000
Dec 30, 2009 at 05:45 PM

I use Evernote for most of my notetaking and grabbing web pages for future reference. Evernote is great for storing the universe. But I keep finding myself needing to search across a small set of documents (like 20-30 documents) and quickly preview my search hits. Evernote is not so good at this—and it doesn’t do searching in Word at all.

I think Ultrarecall would probably do what I want—are there any others that people would recommend?

Bonus points for the following features that would be ideal but not 100% necessary:
- search hit preview (ala google desktop or copernic search)
- free, cheap, or at least a trial version
- searches Wordperfect too

Posted by Cassius
Dec 31, 2009 at 03:40 AM

In recent years, a problem that has developed in doing text searches using general search software is that many applications now compress their files. So a search application has to have the equivalent of a “codec” to “know” how to decompress the file format. (I use the word “codec” because I’ve forgotten the actual name for these software add-ins.) However, you might want to try FileLocator Pro at

http://www.mythicsoft.com/Page.aspx?type=filelocatorpro&page=home .

I used an earlier version of it, before everyone started compressing their file formats. Regrettably most of the software I use does not have the “codecs” needed for FileLocator Pro to work, but I expect that it does have what’s needed for PDF and Word files.

-cassius
===============================================

dan7000 wrote:
>I use Evernote for most of my notetaking and grabbing web pages for future reference.
>Evernote is great for storing the universe. But I keep finding myself needing to
>search across a small set of documents (like 20-30 documents) and quickly preview my
>search hits. Evernote is not so good at this—and it doesn’t do searching in Word at
>all.
> >I think Ultrarecall would probably do what I want—are there any others that
>people would recommend?
> >Bonus points for the following features that would be
>ideal but not 100% necessary:
>- search hit preview (ala google desktop or copernic
>search)
>- free, cheap, or at least a trial version
>- searches Wordperfect too

Posted by Cassius
Dec 31, 2009 at 06:46 AM

The word I couldn’t think of (and so substituted “codec”) is “IFilter.”

Posted by Edwin Yip
Jan 1, 2010 at 09:38 AM

Hi Dan,

I’m developing Writing Outliner Word addin, I think it will be able to do what you want with several steps:
1. Create a Writing Outliner project in Word.
2. Import your Word and PDF documents into the project and Writing Outliner will index it.
3. In the search box of project manager, you type search string and Writing Outliner will instantly show matching snippets (I’m not sure if this is what you said ‘search preview’).

Anyway, Writing Outliner Word addin is not released yet, but you are welcome to subscribe to the newsletter to get informed when it’s available.

—-
Edwin Yip
All-in-one writing software for writers
http://WritingOutliner.com

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