Rebuild for spotlight?

S

Steven Day

Actually, here is the original command posted on Mac OSX Hints:

sudo mdimport -f /Volumes/your_iPod/iPod_control/

I don't know much at all about Unix commands, but the link Andy refers to is
missing the -f part and the instructions below do not use the sudo command.
Might this not make some difference?

Thanks.
 
P

philcozz

Ok... Another day and still no luck. Perhaps this is my last gasp. I've
reinstalled the 11.2.3 update, I've rebuilt my Entourage database, I've
clicked "Rebuild" in Entourage's Spotlight preferences, I've checked
"Mail Messages" in Spotlight's system prefs. I have files in the
~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft folder. Specifically, my folder
structure there looks like this"

~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main Identity/

In "Main Identity" folder I have folders called "Contacts," "Events,"
"Messages," "Notes," and "Tasks," plus I have a single file called
"Index."

This is the structure of the "Messages" folder:

/Messages/0T/0B/0M

Inside the last folder, "0M," I have 16 more folders labeled
sequentially from "0K" to "15K." In each of these folders there are
individual files with titles such as "4176.vRgeMessage." I assume these
are my mail messages.

I have even tried "kick-starting" Spotlight to see the "Messages"
folder by using the freeware app "SpotlightIndexer," which allows you
to specify locations for Spotlight to index. But despite having the
apparent files on my hard drive and despite "forcing" Spotlight to see
them, I get nothing in my Spotlight searches related to mail messages,
contacts, etc.

Any ideas?
 
A

Andy Ruff

Try running the mdls command line tool on one of those "XXXX.vRgeMessages"
(e.g. mdls XXXX.vRgeMessage).

This will return all the metadata Spotlight knows about the item. If the
metadata looks sparse (just things like file name and date created), then
Spotlight has not yet indexed the item.

If the metadata is robust (includes a whole bunch of info including
categories, recipient names, author names, etc), then Spotlight has properly
imported the item and there's something wrong with Spotlight that is causing
it to not show up in results.

From the Entourage side, it sounds like everything is working as expected as
far as the creation of cache files. There might be an issue where the
importer isn't working for some reason. You can determine this by then
running mdimport with a high debug level (e.g. mdimport -d4
XXXX.vRgeMessage). This will show how Spotlight finds the Entourage
importer and what metadata the importer returns to Spotlight. If something
is wrong with the importer, you'll see an error within these results.

Let us know what you find out,

-Andy

--
Andy Ruff
MacBU Program Management
Entoruage Weblog: http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
P

philcozz

Thanks for the reply. I really don't know Unix commands too well. How
exactly do I run the "mdls command line tool on one of those
XXXX.vRgeMessages?"
 
P

philcozz

Ok, I figured it out. Here's what I get when I "mdls" one of the files:

kMDItemAttributeChangeDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600
kMDItemContentType =
"com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message"
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message",
"public.message",
"public.data",
"public.item"
)
kMDItemDisplayName = "20.vRgeMessage"
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600
kMDItemFSCreationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600
kMDItemFSCreatorCode = 0
kMDItemFSFinderFlags = 0
kMDItemFSInvisible = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden = 0
kMDItemFSLabel = 0
kMDItemFSName = "20.vRgeMessage"
kMDItemFSNodeCount = 0
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID = 501
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID = 501
kMDItemFSSize = 2127
kMDItemFSTypeCode = 0
kMDItemID = 14125856
kMDItemKind = "Microsoft Entourage message pointer"
x84-49-177:~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K
 
A

Andy Ruff

1. Launch Terminal.app


2. Navigate to your cache files in the command line (for this case, we're
going to do an e-mail message--but you might want to also try other item
types if they aren't show up as well):

cd ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/15K

3. Perform command "ls" to get a list of the directory's contents. Pick one
of the XXXX.vRgeMessage items within the list of contents. For this
example, we'll use 1234.vRgeMessage.

4. Check the metadata on the file:

mdls 1234.vRgeMessage

This should list all the metadata Spotlight knows about the item. If you
don't see an entry like "com_microsoft_entourage_recordID" then Spotlight
has not yet indexed the item. If you do, it should be indexed and available
in your Spotlight results (if it doesn't show up in results there's a
Spotlight problem going on).

5. If the metadata is sparse (doesn't contain anything that looks related to
e-mail), try running the importer with debugging:

mdimport -d4 1234.vRgeMessage

This will print out a whole bunch of info on how Spotlight is importing the
item. Look for any errors.

6. If it appeared to have worked, run mdls again and see if the metadata now
looks like mail-related values. If so, again, try searching for the item
with Spotlight.

-Andy


Thanks for the reply. I really don't know Unix commands too well. How
exactly do I run the "mdls command line tool on one of those
XXXX.vRgeMessages?"
Click to expand...

--
Andy Ruff
MacBU Program Management
Entoruage Weblog: http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
A

Andy Ruff

Try out the mdimport command--Entourage is succeeding at creating the
appropriate cache files. Either one of two things is happening:

1) the Entourage Importer is failing or not being called. MDImport will
give us an idea of that.

2) Spotlight hasn't yet indexed the items. Could be it just hasn't had
time, could be the directory is excluded from indexing (System
Preferences:Spotlight).

-Andy


--
Andy Ruff
MacBU Program Management
Entoruage Weblog: http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
C

Corentin Cras-Méneur

Gary Stein said:
1) Using OnyX
run/execute Automation; it forces a restart

then under: Maintenance
check reset Spotlight
run/execute Maintenance

2) After OnyX forces a restart, I opened Entourage, hit rebuild.
Click to expand...


You manually trigger Spotlight indexing in the Terminal:
mdimport ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004

You can even force it:
mdimport -f ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004

Corentin
 
C

Corentin Cras-Méneur

Steven Day said:
Is the command sudo mdimport ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft
Click to expand...

I don't see why you would have to run it under sudo. You're the owner
of the folder I sure don't have to on my Mac.

Corentin
 
C

Corentin Cras-Méneur

Steven Day said:
sudo mdimport -f /Volumes/your_iPod/iPod_control/
Click to expand...

That's a different issue. With this command you are forcing Spotlight to
index a location that might not have the right permissions for you to
index and that is not in the list of "indexable" paths.

You shouldn't have to use sudo and you shouldn't have to use -f. Now I'm
not sure it would really hurt, but if it works with these options and
not without, it might be an indication that something is fishy with your
Spotlight settings.

Corentin
 
P

philcozz

Ok, I ran the "mdimport" command for the same file that generated the
earlier output. I got a long string of info, such as:

2006-03-15 10:36:00.197 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type public.font
2006-03-15 10:36:00.198 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type public.truetype-font
2006-03-15 10:36:00.199 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type com.adobe.postscript-font
2006-03-15 10:36:00.200 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type com.apple.truetype-datafork-suitcase-font

Too many of these lines to put in here, I think. At the end of the
output, I got this:

2006-03-15 10:36:00.626 mdimport[762] Attributes of file
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' before import: {
"_kMDItemImporterCrashed" = <null>;
"com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 164129881;
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentType = "com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message";
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message",
"public.message",
"public.data",
"public.item"
);
kMDItemDisplayName = {"" = "20.vRgeMessage"; };
kMDItemKind = {"" = "Microsoft Entourage message pointer"; };
}
2006-03-15 10:36:00.629 mdimport[762] Import
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' type
'com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message' no mdimporter
2006-03-15 10:36:00.630 mdimport[762] Sending attributes of
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' to server. Attributes:
'{
"_kMDItemImporterCrashed" = <null>;
"com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 164129881;
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentType = "com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message";
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message",
"public.message",
"public.data",
"public.item"
);
kMDItemDisplayName = {"" = "20.vRgeMessage"; };
kMDItemKind = {"" = "Microsoft Entourage message pointer"; };

Does this make sense?
 
A

Andy Ruff

Hmm...

Do you have a file on your computer called Microsoft Entourage.mdimporter in
either System/Library/Spotlight or ~/Library/Spotlight?

The line that concerns me is:
2006-03-15 10:36:00.629 mdimport[762] Import
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' type
'com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message' no mdimporter
Click to expand...

That basically says that Spotlight could not find the Entourage importer.

-Andy


Ok, I ran the "mdimport" command for the same file that generated the
earlier output. I got a long string of info, such as:

2006-03-15 10:36:00.197 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type public.font
2006-03-15 10:36:00.198 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type public.truetype-font
2006-03-15 10:36:00.199 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type com.adobe.postscript-font
2006-03-15 10:36:00.200 mdimport[762] loading sniffer
'file://localhost/Users/Philip/Library/Spotlight/FontMDI.mdimporter/'
for type com.apple.truetype-datafork-suitcase-font

Too many of these lines to put in here, I think. At the end of the
output, I got this:

2006-03-15 10:36:00.626 mdimport[762] Attributes of file
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' before import: {
"_kMDItemImporterCrashed" = <null>;
"com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 164129881;
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentType = "com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message";
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message",
"public.message",
"public.data",
"public.item"
);
kMDItemDisplayName = {"" = "20.vRgeMessage"; };
kMDItemKind = {"" = "Microsoft Entourage message pointer"; };
}
2006-03-15 10:36:00.629 mdimport[762] Import
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' type
'com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message' no mdimporter
2006-03-15 10:36:00.630 mdimport[762] Sending attributes of
'/Users/Philip/Library/Caches/Metadata/Microsoft/Entourage/2004/Main
Identity/Messages/0T/0B/0M/0K/20.vRgeMessage' to server. Attributes:
'{
"_kMDItemImporterCrashed" = <null>;
"com_apple_metadata_modtime" = 164129881;
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2006-03-15 09:38:01 -0600;
kMDItemContentType = "com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message";
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.microsoft.entourage.virtual.message",
"public.message",
"public.data",
"public.item"
);
kMDItemDisplayName = {"" = "20.vRgeMessage"; };
kMDItemKind = {"" = "Microsoft Entourage message pointer"; };

Does this make sense?
Click to expand...

--
Andy Ruff
MacBU Program Management
Entoruage Weblog: http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
P

philcozz

Hold on...I have the file, but it's in

/Library/Spotlight/, off of my main hard drive, not in
System/Library/Spotlight as you suggested above.
 
A

Andy Ruff

It should be able to live in either location--try moving it and seeing if
mdimport succeeds.

-Andy

--
Andy Ruff
MacBU Program Management
Entoruage Weblog: http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
D

Dale Clarke

Changed it over like you said it is now working.

Thankyou for the help seems like there maybe a few people who will have this
problem.

Dale
 
P

philcozz

That did it!! I moved it (and the Microsoft Office.mdimporter file) to
System/Library/Spotlight and lo and behold, e-mail and contacts from
Entourage in Spotlight.

Thank you so much for the help!
 
C

Corentin Cras-Méneur

philcozz said:
That did it!! I moved it (and the Microsoft Office.mdimporter file) to
System/Library/Spotlight and lo and behold, e-mail and contacts from
Entourage in Spotlight.
Click to expand...


Really weird... I wonder why it didn't work when it was in the rpevious
location... You should check the Permissions on your Mac. Repairing them
with DiskUtility might correct the problem with the original location.

Corentin
 
P

philcozz

Perhaps, but one of the many things I tried over the last 24 hours to
get this to work was a complete permissions repair... I don't know. I'm
just happy it's working. Thanks to all for their help.
 
S

Steven Day

Where were they originally. My files are in the /Library/Spotlight folder,
not the System/Library/Spotlight folder.

I don't recall ever moving them, but will try now.
 

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