I have purchased EF so I’m not just complaining. I am trying to find a workflow that allows me to access my TPS reports that 1.) have been indexed in EF 2.) stored on DropBox 3.) need to be accessed from iOS device.
This would include TPS reports that are stored as .docx or scanned and OCR’ed as PDF or still in markdown (txt).
I’ve tried to use iOS spotlight to search native DB app, but this is useless unless you’ve recently touched that file on iOS. Not useful when I need to pull up a TPS report from 2013 that I have never looked at before but dutifully filed away.
Maybe this can’t be done. I’ve tried to adapt Together for this workflow (it doesn’t sync to DB and fails on iCloud). I’ve tried to use Notebooks App, but can’t live with the cruft of the system files it needs everywhere to work. Also, it’s document handlers are a bit immature compared with above.
I really want to scan and file and store into EF, but I absolutely need to be able to search and access from mobile. Having followed EF for at least 2 years waiting for a solution, I’m surprised this isn’t more readily apparent.
I use Readdle’s Documents app on iOS to sync (generally parts of) my EagleFiler library onto my iOS devices. It will index both PDFs and Word documents. You have to ignore the odd “EagleFiler Metadata” document but otherwise it works great.
Have you tried GoodReader, as recommended here? I find it much better than Dropbox for browsing documents. I also like Editorial for full text searching of text files. I have not found a good solution for bulk full text searching other types of files, though GoodReader can do that within an individual file.
Thanks for the pointer. This looks like it can do bulk full text searches, and that you can set it up to do two-way syncing of an entire folder hierarchy.
Thanks for the suggestion. Purchased and trying. I selected the option to index files for search, but that feature is not yet working. Does anyone know how it works (does Documents literally build a search index for all files in the Dropbox directory selected?)?
That’s right - you need to sync folders you want it to index (which means they’ll be stored locally on your iOS device). Go into the folder you want, then tap Edit (on iPhone) and Sync.
Semi-annual check in
With iOS 10 around the corner and another 6 months behind us, I’m wondering if there are any other suggestions here that do not require downloading my entire library to my iOS devices in order to search them. Any chance iOS 10 has some better search functions?
Also, for a million personal reasons, I’m looking at storing EF library on iCloud drive. Does this change the response here at all? I really don’t need to manipulate files while on iOS, but really would like to search and find an OCR’ed PDF from there.
I don’t think iOS 10 or iCloud Drive changes that. I haven’t tried it, but it looks like Dropbox for Business supports full text search without downloading all the files.
I’ve read that it does as well. Just impossible for consumer/prosumer level to attain without making fake accounts for a team and other odd restrictions DropBox has imposed. Thanks for the mention here though.
I use the material Readdle applications on iOS to sync (usually stock) EagleFiler my library on your iOS devices. It will index both PDFs and Word documents. You have to ignore the odd “EagleFiler Metadata” document, but otherwise it works great.
Thanks. The new versions seem to remove the sync option from what I can see (I can only find the document picker when looking to open a document). Any chance you could share where sync option is located? or need to locate the EF library in the Readle folder?
You actually appear to be responding to a spammer as that is a barely modified version of my message from last year. If you are trying to use Documents on iPhone, the Sync button is a little hidden. Navigate to the folder you want to synchronize by starting with the Services button at bottom center, then tap Edit at the top right and there will be a Sync button at the bottom. It should look like this:
