Quick Start

FIND_AZ 2.1.1 helps you find files by filename, path, file contents, OCR text, video chapters, and video transcriptions. The GUI mode is recommended for normal use.

1. InstallExtract FIND_AZ, place it where you want to run it, and run the installer for your platform.

2. Select foldersUse Desktop 2 to select the top folders that should be indexed recursively.

3. Index and searchUse Desktop 3 to build the index, then Desktop 4 to search, tag, and export results.

Use Windows Command Prompt or Windows Terminal for Windows commands. Do not use PowerShell.

Installation

Keep an internet connection available during installation. Installation sets up required components and prepares folders. Daily use does not require admin mode.

Windows

Place the extracted folder somewhere stable, for example E:\FIND_AZ.

cd /d E:\FIND_AZ
install.bat

After installation, start the GUI by double-clicking gui.bat or az.bat from the WIN folder, or run:

gui
az

macOS Intel, macOS Apple Silicon, and Ubuntu x64

Place the extracted folder somewhere stable, then run the universal installer.

cd ~/Desktop/FIND_AZ
chmod 777 ./install_universal
chmod +x ./install_universal
./install_universal

After installation, start the GUI from terminal:

gui
az

GUI Reference

The app is organized into desktop screens. Most users can complete setup and search from Desktop 2, Desktop 3, and Desktop 4.

Desktop 1Install, activate the license, change installation level, and check for updates.

Desktop 2Select top folders to index, initialize an index, and temporarily enable or disable folders.

Desktop 3Build the first index and run faster incremental indexing after file changes.

Desktop 4Search with include/exclude words, assign tags, assign search context, export tagged files, and find related files.

Desktop 5Enable or disable application functions from preferences.

Desktop 6Change themes, colors, background images, fonts, and font scaling.

Search Reference

Search accepts include words and exclude words. Matching files contain the include words and do not contain the exclude words. Upper and lower case are ignored.

fnd -i "Hello World" India -e "Maharashtra State" Gujarat
fnd "Hello World" India -e "Maharashtra State" Gujarat

-i defines include words.
-e defines exclude words.
-n searches filename only.
-p searches full path only.
-ns ignores synonyms.

Supported content

File names, file paths, and file contents
Text, Markdown, HTML, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and similar document files
OCR text from BMP, PNG, JPG, JPEG, TIF, TIFF, and embedded PDF images
Video chapters and generated video transcriptions

Dictionaries & Synonyms

FIND_AZ maintains dictionaries for tags, search context, and find terms. Autocomplete uses these dictionaries while entering tags, context, include words, and exclude words.

Tags: stored in master_tags_list.json, start with #, and are maintained uppercase.
Context: stored in master_context_dict.json, case-sensitive, and can include quoted strings or bracketed strings.
Find terms: stored in master_find_dict.json, lowercase, and used for include/exclude autocomplete.

Use the Sync button to sync words across tag, context, and find dictionaries.

Synonyms

Edit synonyms.txt. Put one synonym set on each line. A synonym should appear in only one line.

"india" "bharat" "Hindustan"
"ebs" "ebusiness suite" "r12"

Terminal Utilities

Terminal mode is optional but useful for repeat workflows and older computers that do not support the GUI well.

cli
az2
setup
ind
fnd
act
upd

fcd / kmCreate and use shortcut names for frequently opened directories.

fpShow the full path of a file in the current directory.

fOpen a file's folder in Finder or Explorer and change terminal directory.

cChange terminal directory from a full file path.

ch / dhConvert text or Markdown to HTML using light or dark templates.

nOpen one or more files in a suitable text editor.

On Windows, GPU-based video transcription is available after installing Python 3.10 and running install_gpu_windows.bat. Use ind_gpu for GPU indexing.

Themes & Styles

Themes control app colors. Styles control background images, font family, font weight, font style, object opacity, and font scaling.

Combine light themes with light styles.
Combine dark themes with dark styles.
Neutral styles can be combined with any theme.
Back up themes.json, styles.json, and hot_data.json before editing.
If the app does not load after editing, restore from your backup or copy seeded files from COMMON_ALL.

Moving Installations

You can move or rename the FIND_AZ folder, but rerun installation/setup from the new folder. Use full paths and avoid spaces in the app path and top folder paths.

Windows:
cd /d E:\SEARCH_PRG
install_windows.bat
setup.bat

macOS / Ubuntu:
cd /VOLUMES/DATA/SEARCH_PRG
./install_universal
setup

Multiple installations are allowed. In one environment, only one FIND_AZ home is active at a time. Run setup from another installation folder to make it active.

Uninstall

Windows

cd /d E:\FIND_AZ
uninstall.bat

macOS / Ubuntu

cd /VOLUMES/DATA/FIND_AZ
chmod +x uninstall.sh
./uninstall.sh

Third-party component notices are provided in NOTICES.txt.