ok, after 80,000 words of my first book this is one function that irritates me most. If there is a fix I will be DELIGHTED. But if not …
When I use the global search it produces a list of docs in the Binder. Great. But when I click on each … I have to scroll up and down looking for the highlighted word I am searching for. And I find that I have to use Search a surprising number of times (!) going back to check on characters, on tech terms, on scenes mentioning a specific word.
I would be so so so nice … if when I click on each doc, it springs to the first instance of the searched for word.
Once you’ve run the project search (on the document text), click the “Search Results” header bar at the top to load them all in the editor and switch to View > Scrivenings if necessary, then use Cmd-G and Cmd-Shift-G to jump to the next/previous instance of the term in the text.
Unfortunately this misses the problem that I am trying to fix. This solution that you set out addresses the need to sequentially find every instance of a word in the manuscript, which is fine, but it is a rare occurrence in my experience of the writing that I have done. It is a search where someone wants to change a word or change it’s spelling or punctuation maybe, and therefore wants to see every sequential instance.
My need to search for a word almost always arises from
a) a need to find where in the story it was used and
b) then see the list of scenes in the binder that include that word
c) I can then see which instance is the one, or more than one, that I want to go to straight away.
The search is not actually driven by the word … but by it’s context in trying to find a specific scene. And this also usually happens while composing in a single doc.
Toggling through every instance sequentially is an incredibly time consuming action, especially when composing and wanting to get back to work, and especially when the scene that I want is more than likely 70% through the 80,000 words manuscript
As I mention in my OP I would be so so so nice … if, after carrying out the manuscript search, I find the scene(s) that I was hunting for, and then click on each document in the Search Results Binder, and have the cursor spring to the first instance of the searched for word in that document.
I have had to do this dozens of times in the last 4 months as I have written my book, and I cannot imagine how others would not have the same need.
If you don’t want to view all the documents together, just load each individually from the search results and use Cmd-G to jump to the first instance, in context. This is exactly what you’re asking for with the simple addition of a single shortcut, which also allows you to quickly jump to other instances of the search term within the document in case the area you’re looking for wasn’t the first instance. You can use the Opt-Cmd-Up/Down shortcut to move to the next or previous document in the search results without needing to mouse click back and forth.
We do have ideas for showing the immediate context of each instance of the search term within the results list, so that may further address your needs by better allowing you to go straight to the document you’re seeking. I was just suggesting how to get what you’re after with he tools already available.
It is sometimes difficult to explain what function is being asked for and why a function is valuable and useful.
One scenario where I have used this many many times is where I am well into the book and realise one of my characters needed to have done something or said something earlier in the book in order to justify or support an action later in the book. Some authors are probably able to recall everything and every scene in their book … not me
So I have to think of a word that might identify the particular place I need to insert the change. Maybe a flower was mentioned, or an address or a tech term. Or often I just have to search for that character. Once I see the scene name in the binder after the search I know which one it is.
Thank again and yes I do hope it is possible to include this function in a new version without too much work on your part.
I agree. This is a needed feature. All these proposed fixed, workarounds, and gyrations that have been posted here are evidence that a feature is missing. Please fix in next version. Thks.
