Smart Folders

3.4. Smart Folders You may remember from Chapter 1 (or from staring at your own computer) that the Sidebar at the left side of every Leopard desktop window contains a set of little folders under the Searches heading
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Smart Folders3.4. Smart FoldersYou may remember from Chapter 1 (or from staring at your own computer) that theSidebar at the left side of every Leopard desktop window contains a set of little foldersunder the Searches heading. Each is actually a smart folder—a self-updating folder that,in essence, performs a continual, 24/7 search for the criteria you specify. (Smart foldersare a lot like smart albums in iPhoto and iTunes, smart mailboxes in Mail, and so on.)Note: In truth, the smart folder performs a search for the specified criteria at the momentyou open it. But because its so fast, and because its always up to date, it feels as thoughits been quietly searching all along.As it turns out, the ones installed there by Apple are meant to serve as inspiration for youto create your own smart folders. The key, as it turns out, is the little Save button in theupper-right corner of the Spotlight window.Heres a common example of how you might use it. (Its an example, by the way, that youcant replicate in any other operating system.) You choose File Find. You set up thepop-up menus to say last opened date and this week. You click Save. You name thesmart folder something like Current Crises, and you turn on Add to Sidebar (Figure 3-8).Tip: Behind the scenes, smart folders that you create are actually special files that arestored in your Home Library Saved Searches folder. Figure 3-8. Mac OS X can preserve your search as a smart folder listed in theSidebar (lower left)—at least, it does as long as Add To Sidebar is turned on. You can stash a smart folder in your Dock, too, although it doesnt display a stack of its contents, as normal folders do.From now on, whenever you click that smart folder, it reveals all of the files youveworked on in the last week or so. The great part is that these items real locations may beall over the map, scattered in folders all over your Mac and your network. But throughthe magic of the smart folder, they appear as though theyre all in one neat folder.Tip: If you decide your original search criteria need a little fine-tuning, click the smartfolder. From the Action menu, choose Show Search Criteria. Youre back on the originalsetting-up-the-search window. Use the pop-up menus and other controls to tweak yoursearch setup, and then click the Save button once again.To delete a smart folder, just dragits icon out of the Sidebar. (Or if its anywhere else, like on your desktop, drag it to theTrash like any other folder.)