Is there any way to search a directory full of GEDCOMs for specific contents? I have a several GEDCOMs in a directory and I wanted to separate those that I had created from those that had been sent to me or downloaded by me. I thought if I used the Windows XP Explorer search function to look for my phone number or street address, I could narrow down the list. The search always returns "no results". I thought maybe Windows didn't know how to open the .ged files so I set them to open with notepad, then with WordPad, and then with MS Word. The result is always "no results". Am I missing something about the MS search function? Is there a simple program to search GEDCOMs for words/phrases? Thanks, Frank

The Windows Search is very basic and would not "delve" into the text of files such as a GEDCOM. There is an application which will do a thorough search for any word or phrase you specify but it is not freeware. It's called Super Text Search: http://www.galcott.com/ts.htm. I have used this over a number of years and it is very through. You can download it and trial it on your GEDCOM files. The trial is not blocked in any way, so if you only need it for this one specific exercise, you may not need to buy it - but I didn't suggest that :-). There are several other applications (as this search page reveals) which you may care to consider: http://tinyurl.com/y9hx3z > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > Sent: Sun, 29 Oct 2006 19:33:18 -0600 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [GEN-COMP-TIPS] Windows XP Search and GEDCOMs > > Is there any way to search a directory full of GEDCOMs for specific > contents? > > I have a several GEDCOMs in a directory and I wanted to separate those > that > I had created from those that had been sent to me or downloaded by me. I > thought if I used the Windows XP Explorer search function to look for my > phone number or street address, I could narrow down the list. The search > always returns "no results". I thought maybe Windows didn't know how to > open the .ged files so I set them to open with notepad, then with > WordPad, > and then with MS Word. The result is always "no results". > > Am I missing something about the MS search function? > > Is there a simple program to search GEDCOMs for words/phrases? > > Thanks, > > Frank > > -------------------------------------- > Having trouble with your subscription? Contact the List Admin at > [email protected] > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ____________________________________________________________ FREE ONLINE PHOTOSHARING - Share your photos online with your friends and family! Visit http://www.inbox.com/photosharing to find out more!