Author Topic: QuickSearch with accented characters  (Read 11509 times)

halifax80

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QuickSearch with accented characters
« on: February 08, 2023, 15:51:30 »
Multi Commander handles QuickSearch of accented characters differently than non-accented characters. I did some test and outlined my results below. I hope this behavior can be changed to make it the same as with non-accented characters.

The test setup

  • Windows treats filenames case-insensitive. 'A' is the same as 'a'. Also, 'Á' is the same as 'á'. This means that if I have a folder 'Ábc', Windows does not allow me to create a new folder 'ábc'.
  • I'm using version x64 12.8 (build 2929) Portable.
  • In Explorer Panel settings, 'Quick Search' is checked, 'Search field' is checked, 'Search for text parts anywhere' is unchecked, 'Search Keys' is set to 'Letter only'.
  • I have prepared a test folder with the following 2 folders and 2 files:

Code: [Select]
<Folder> Abc
<Folder> Ábc
abc.txt
ábc.txt

My test results

  • I press the A key. Result: The Search field appears with a lower-case 'a' in it. Folder Abc is selected and I can jump between folder Abc and file abc.txt with the up-down cursor keys.
  • I press the SHIFT+A keys. Result: Same as above. This is a bit strange but somewhat understandable. The Search field contains a lower-case 'a', although I entered a capital 'A'. But I guess, this happens because Windows filenames are case-insensitive.
  • I press the Á key or the SHIFT+Á keys. Result: Nothing happens. The Search field does not appear and file selection is not changed. I would expect the selection to jump to folder Ábc and I should be able to jump between folder Ábc and file ábc.txt with the up-down cursor keys. Also, the Search field should appear and contain a lower-case á.
  • I press the A key. The Search field appears with a lower-case 'a'. I press BACKSPACE and then SHIFT+Á. The Search field now contains a capital 'Á'. Result: The selection jumps to folder Ábc. The cursor keys do nothing. This is almost okay, but I would expect to be able to jump between folder Ábc and file ábc.txt with the up-down cursor keys.
  • I press the A key. The Search field appears with a lower-case 'a'. I press BACKSPACE and then Á. The Search field now contains a lower-case 'á'. Result: The selection jumps to file ábc.txt. The cursor keys do nothing. This has two problems. 1. The selection should jump to folder Ábc. 2. I would expect to be able to jump between folder Ábc and file ábc.txt with the up-down cursor keys.

Overall, I see two problems:
  • Quick Search is not activated by accented keys. Therefore, I cannot search for files or folders whose name starts with an accented character.
  • Once Quick Search is activated (by a non-accented key), search for accented characters is case sensitive. This should not be true because Windows treats filenames case-insensitive.

Using English keyboard

To enter accented characters on an English keyboard, make sure NumLock is ON and
  • to enter á, hold ALT then type 160 on the numeric keypad, then release ALT
  • to enter Á, hold ALT then type 0193 (leading zero included) on the numeric keypad, then release ALT

I checked and my test results can be reproduced with an English keyboard. But I'm happy to help if more testing is needed.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2023, 15:53:04 by halifax80 »

gandalfthewhite

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Re: QuickSearch with accented characters
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2023, 08:32:48 »
Any updates regarding this?
I tested with latin and cyrillic alphabet:
Folders Abc, abCD, abcDe are searchable with abc request.
BUT not with cyrillic - exact fill is required - Ab will shows only one folder, ab - two etc. And that is very bad.

cema

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Re: QuickSearch with accented characters
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2023, 07:00:43 »
Hello, I also see problem with Quick search. I have folders named by clients name e.g. Šírer, Čermák, Žáková. Quick search doesn't reflect special characters at all.  Please consider this issue. Thank you very much for your work.