Filename search with multiple keywords

[Joel Keane]

Hi,

I have a recursive search that uses the ".contains" function to find file names based on the search words entered. The only problem is that if the file name contains only one of the words it doesn't show up.

For example:

Keywords entered = "black cat"

If the title contains "black cat" in that specific order it returns the file name. However if the title only contains "cat" it doesn't return anything.

I need some way to break the search keywords up so that it finds all the files that contain any of the keywords.

Here is the section of code that handles the search:

private void fill(File f)   
  
    {   
           
     //This gets the searchname Global string stored in searchname.java        
       File[]dirs = f.listFiles(new FilenameFilter() {   
              
           public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {       
               File f = new File(dir, name); // Form the file path "dir/name".    
               if (f.isDirectory()){      
             return true; // Don't discard any subdirectories     
                               }                  
                            else {    
                    searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase();   
                    return name.toUpperCase().contains(searchname.searchname.toUpperCase());    
                                    }     
           }   
        });   

Below is the full code for that activity:

package com.proceduresyncv2;   
  
import java.io.File;   
import java.io.FilenameFilter;   
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;   
import java.util.ArrayList;   
import java.util.List;   
  
import com.proceduresyncv2.R;   
  
import android.annotation.TargetApi;   
import android.app.ActionBar;   
import android.app.ListActivity;   
import android.net.Uri;   
import android.os.Bundle;   
import android.os.Environment;   
import android.content.ActivityNotFoundException;   
import android.content.Context;   
import android.content.Intent;   
import android.os.Build;   
import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;   
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;   
import android.support.v4.app.NavUtils;   
import android.util.Log;   
import android.view.Gravity;   
import android.view.LayoutInflater;   
import android.view.Menu;   
import android.view.MenuItem;   
import android.view.View;   
import android.view.ViewGroup;   
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;   
import android.widget.ListView;   
import android.widget.TextView;   
import android.widget.Toast;   
  
public class OperatingProceduresSearch extends ListActivity  implements ActionBar.OnNavigationListener {   
  
    /**  
     * The serialization (saved instance state) Bundle key representing the  
     * current dropdown position.  
     */  
       
    private File currentDir;   
       
     /* Accumulate all the matching files  */  
    private FileArrayAdapter adapter;   
  
       
    private static final String STATE_SELECTED_NAVIGATION_ITEM = "selected_navigation_item";   
       
       
    @Override  
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {   
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);   
                
  // Recursion would have ended now, and all matches are accumulated in "adapter".     
  
        List<Option>dir = new ArrayList<Option>();   
        adapter = new FileArrayAdapter(OperatingProceduresSearch.this, R.layout.file_view, dir);     
        fill(new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/RTIO"));   
        this.setListAdapter(adapter);      
           
   // Set up the action bar to show a dropdown list.   
           
        final ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();   
        actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);   
        actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_LIST);   
        actionBar.setTitle( "" );   
  
   // Set up the dropdown list navigation in the action bar.   
        actionBar.setListNavigationCallbacks(   
                   
   // Specify a SpinnerAdapter to populate the dropdown list.   
                new ArrayAdapter<String>(   
                        getActionBarThemedContextCompat(),   
                        android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1,   
                        android.R.id.text1,   
                        new String[] {   
                            getString(R.string.title_section6),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section1),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section2),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section3),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section4),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section5),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section7),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section8),   
                            getString(R.string.title_section10),   
  
                            getString(R.string.title_section9),   
                        }),   
                this);                 
    }   
  
       
    //****Recursively search through all the folders and find files that match the search query****   
    //****This is done through the "fill"   
       
    private void fill(File f)   
  
    {   
           
     //This gets the searchname Global string stored in searchname.java        
       File[]dirs = f.listFiles(new FilenameFilter() {   
              
           public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {       
               File f = new File(dir, name); // Form the file path "dir/name".    
               if (f.isDirectory()){      
             return true; // Don't discard any subdirectories     
                               }                  
                            else {    
                    searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase();   
                    return name.toUpperCase().contains(searchname.searchname.toUpperCase());    
                                    }     
           }   
        });   
  
              
        this.setTitle(""+f.getName());   
                
         List<Option>dir = new ArrayList<Option>();   
                   
  
         try{   
  
            for(File ff: dirs)   
             {   
                   
       //***If fill comes across a directory "fill" it to look for files***   
                                    
                 if(ff.isDirectory()&& !ff.getCanonicalPath().contains("Recent Files")){    
                //If it is a directory and the path does not contain "Recent Files"     
                     fill(ff);                    
                 }     
                     
                 if(ff.isDirectory()&& ff.getCanonicalPath().contains("Recent Files")){       
                        //If it is a directory and the path does contain "Recent Files"                 
                 }     
                                   
                if (ff.isFile()&& !ff.getCanonicalPath().contains("Recent Files"))           
                    //If it is a file and the path does not contain "Recent Files"           
                {     
                     SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd MMM yyyy");                         
                     dir.add(new Option(ff.getName(),"Date Modified: "+sdf.format(ff.lastModified()), ff.getAbsolutePath()));     
                 }     
             }     
  
         }catch(Exception e)   
  
         {           
         }  
       
adapter.addAll(dir);   
        
    }   
       
    //****************************    END OF FILL   ***************************************   
  
       
  
  
       
    private <T> List<Comparable<? super Comparable<? super T>>> lastModified() {   
            return null;   
    }   
  
       
       
    //****What to do when a user clicks on the filename on the screen****   
       
    @Override  
  
    protected void onListItemClick(ListView l, View v, int position, long id) {   
        super.onListItemClick(l, v, position, id);   
        Option o = adapter.getItem(position);   
        if(o.getData().equalsIgnoreCase("folder")||o.getData().equalsIgnoreCase("parent directory")){   
            currentDir = new File(o.getPath());   
            fill(currentDir);   
    }   
       
        else  
  
        {   
            onFileClick(o);   
        }   
         }   
  
    private void onFileClick(Option o){   
  
    File pdfFile = new File((o.getAbsolutePath()));    
    Log.w("Joel", "You can read and write to SDcard");   
    if(pdfFile.exists())    
    {   
        Uri path = Uri.fromFile(pdfFile);    
        Intent pdfIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);   
        pdfIntent.setDataAndType(path, "application/pdf");   
        pdfIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);   
  
        try  
        {   
            startActivity(pdfIntent);   
        }   
        catch(ActivityNotFoundException e)   
        {   
            Toast.makeText(this, "No Application available to view pdf", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();    
        }   
    }   
  
}   
       
//***End of handling of on screen click*****       
       
    /**   
     * Backward-compatible version of {@link ActionBar#getThemedContext()} that   
     * simply returns the {@link android.app.Activity} if  
     * <code>getThemedContext</code> is unavailable.   
     */   
       
       
       
    @TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)   
    private Context getActionBarThemedContextCompat() {   
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH) {   
            return getActionBar().getThemedContext();   
        } else {   
            return this;   
        }   
    }   
  
    @Override  
    public void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) {   
        // Restore the previously serialized current dropdown position.   
        if (savedInstanceState.containsKey(STATE_SELECTED_NAVIGATION_ITEM)) {   
            getActionBar().setSelectedNavigationItem(   
                    savedInstanceState.getInt(STATE_SELECTED_NAVIGATION_ITEM));   
        }   
    }   
  
    @Override  
    public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {   
        // Serialize the current dropdown position.   
        outState.putInt(STATE_SELECTED_NAVIGATION_ITEM,   
                getActionBar().getSelectedNavigationIndex());   
    }   
  
    @Override  
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {   
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.   
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);   
        return true;   
    }   
       
       
 //****This tells the activity what to do when a different object is selected on the Actionbar***      
       
    protected void launchActivity(int position) {   
        switch (position) {   
        case 1:   
            Intent intent = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);   
            startActivity(intent);   
            finish();   
            Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 1");   
            break;   
        case 2:   
            Intent intent1 = new Intent(this, OperatingProcedures.class);   
            startActivity(intent1);   
            finish();   
                Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 2");   
                break;   
        case 3:   
            Intent intent11 = new Intent(this, OperatingNotices.class);   
            startActivity(intent11);   
            finish();   
            Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 1");   
            break;   
        case 4:   
            Intent intent111 = new Intent(this, OperatingInstructions.class);   
            startActivity(intent111);   
            finish();   
                Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 2");   
                break;   
        case 5:   
            Intent intent1111 = new Intent(this, GeneralOrders.class);   
            startActivity(intent1111);   
            finish();   
            Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 1");   
            break;   
        case 6:   
            Intent intent11111 = new Intent(this, TrackCharts.class);   
            startActivity(intent11111);   
            finish();   
                Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 2");   
                break;   
        case 7:   
            Intent intent111111 = new Intent(this, Manuals.class);   
            startActivity(intent111111);   
            finish();   
            Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 1");   
            break;   
        case 8:   
            Intent intent1111111 = new Intent(this, OperatingStrategies.class);   
            startActivity(intent1111111);   
            finish();   
            Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 1");   
            break;   
        case 9:   
            Intent intent11111111 = new Intent(this, SearchScreen.class);   
            startActivity(intent11111111);   
            finish();   
            Log.w("Joel", "Switch Case 1");   
            break;   
              
        }   
    }   
       
       
       
    @Override  
    public boolean onNavigationItemSelected(int position, long id) {   
        launchActivity(position);   
        return true;   
        }   
       
       
       
}  

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer

[Steve Luke]

Assuming searchname.searchname is a String, what methods do you think you could use in java.lang.String (<= API Link) that would help you split the text into multiple parts? What do you think you should use as a delimiter to split on? When you finally do split it, you will have a String[] with search terms, so you would need to loop through each possible search term to see if it is found, and return true if any one of them are.

[Joel Keane]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for you help. I do understand that I need to split the search term up and check if they filenames contain any of the search string words. Unfortunately I am at a loss as to how I go about this. You are correct that searchname.searchname is a string that has been passed to the activity from a previous search screen. This is the search term that the user has entered.

Unfortunately my Java skills are not at the level that seems to be required to carry out this task. I understand the logic of what I need it to do, I just don't know how to go about this.

[Steve Luke]

Did you click on the API Link for java.lang.String I gave you?

[Joel Keane]

Hi Steve,

I have had another look at the link you posted. I think I am very close. I believe I can use the ".split" function.

My new code is

if (f.isDirectory()){ 
    			   
    		 return true; // Don't discard any subdirectories  
    		          		   }
    		  
    		    else {
      		      String[] temp;
      		    	 /* delimiter */
      		    	String delimiter = " ";
      		    	searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase();
      		    	 temp = searchname.searchname.split(delimiter);
      		    	 for(String asset: temp){
      		    		 return name.toUpperCase().contains(asset.toUpperCase()); 
      		    		 }
      		    	       	 
          		           		    	}
      		return false;

      	}});

The only problem is that this only searches on the first word in the search string. For instance if I put "black cat" as a search string it will bring up any file with "Black" in the title. I think it isn't checking every word in the string split. Can you please help me out with how I can achieve this?

Thanks,
Joel

[Joel Keane]

I have also tried:

if (f.isDirectory()){ 
    			   
    		 return true; // Don't discard any subdirectories  
    		          		   }
    		  
    		   else {  
                                       /* delimiter */  
                     String delimiter = " ";  
                     searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase();  
                      String [] tempname = searchname.searchname.split(delimiter);  
                        for(int i=0;i<tempname.length;i++)
                      {
                    	  return name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i]);
                      }
                                
                                         }  
             return false; 

      	}});

But still it only shows results for the first word only

[Steve Luke]

That is because you are immediately returning the results of the first search. You have to consider what happens when the first search fails. What to do then? If I were you, I would step away from code, bring out a pencil and paper and start writing the logic out in close-to-plain-english first. Once I was sure of the logic and sequence then I would turn it into code. Maybe I would start with:

1) Split the search term into words.
2) For each word
2a) Check if the word is found in the file name
2b) If the word is found, return true
2c) If the word is not found, keep searching
3) If done searching all words, and have not returned from this method, return false.

[Joel Keane]

I have been looking into the loop more and think I know why it is only showing the first term. It is with the following code:

for(int i=0;i<tempname.length;i++)  
                      {  
                          return name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i]);  
                      }  

The "return" section is ending the loop - this is why it is only showing the first one and also why I get a "dead code" error for the "i++" as "i" is never incremented.

This being said, I still cannot work out how to return each "name" that contains a word form the spilt in its filename to my array.

I think I need to store each "name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i])" to a list and then once the for loop is finished checking all the words return all of the values. I just don't know how to do this.

[Joel Keane]

Here is my latest effort:

else {  
    			 
                      /* delimiter */  
                     String delimiter = " +";  
                     searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase();  
                      String [] tempname = searchname.searchname.split(delimiter); 
                   String [] namestring;
                   namestring = new String[tempname.length];
                  for(int i=0; i<tempname.length; i++)
                      {   
                	  
                	// Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), (tempname[i]), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                    	namestring[i] = name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i]);
                                  }
           return namestring;
                      }
                              
                                       
           return false; 

I am trying to store the name values while in the loop and then return all the values after the loop has finished. I get an error of "Type mismatch: cannot convert from boolean to String" for the

namestring[i] = name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i]);

code and an error of "Type mismatch: cannot convert from String[] to boolean" for the

 return namestring;

code.

If you can offer anymore assistance that would be greatly appreciated. Like I said before, my java is quite basic. I have written this app purely in my own time for my workmates to use for free - java is not my profession (As you can tell lol)

Thanks

[Joel Keane]

I have since worked out that I was trying to store a string in a boolean which was giving me the error.

If I change the code to :

 else {  
    			 
                      /* delimiter */  
                     String delimiter = " +";  
                     searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase();  
                      String [] tempname = searchname.searchname.split(delimiter); 
                   boolean[] namestring = new boolean[tempname.length];
                   
                  for(int i=0; i<tempname.length; i++)
                      {   
                	  
                	// Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), (tempname[i]), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                    	namestring[i] = name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i]);
                                  }
           return namestring[i];
                      }
                              


      	}});;

I get an error in the "return namestring[i]" code for the 'i' value. If I move the line up under the "namestring[i] = name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i]);" (in the same brackets) I lose the error but the loop won't loop because it is closing the loop after the first pass. Any ideas how I can get around this?

[Joel Keane]

I finally have working code:

 public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {  
    		   
    		   File f = new File(dir, name); // Form the file path "dir/name". 
    		    String delimiter = " ";  /* delimiter */  
    		    searchname.searchname = searchname.searchname.toUpperCase(); 

    		    //Split the search string//
    		    String [] tempname = searchname.searchname.split(delimiter); 

    		    if (f.isDirectory()){
    		        return true; // Don't discard any subdirectories  
    		            		    } 
    		    
    		    else {  
    		        for(int i=0; i<tempname.length; i++){   
    		        	//While i < the length of the string split do...
    		             if(name.toUpperCase().contains(tempname[i])) {
    		           //If the filename contains the search word add it to the array
    		                return true;
    		            }
    		        }               
    		    }

    		    return false;  
    		}});

Big thanks Steve and also JackyZhu from another forum for pointing me in the right directions. I have learnt a lot more about loops, booleans and arrays. Thank you