PK Tip: Finding Text across Multiple Knowbase Data Files

Personal Knowbase has no built-in way to search for a text string across multiple data files.

However, within a single PK session, the Find dialog box remembers its settings, even after you've opened a different file. So you can search for the same string using the same range and search settings by opening each data file consecutively and re-running Find without changing the settings.

For example:

Let's say that you archive your emails and messages involving your customers, vendors, and colleagues in three separate Knowbase data files. Then you run across a name that sounds familiar, but you can't remember where you heard it. You want to search all three files for that person's name.

First, open the customer file. Start the search sequence by selecting Find from the Edit menu. Type the person's name in the Find What field. Check the box Show Only Titles so you can easily scan the found titles for articles mentioning this person. Click the Find button.

If the results of that search don't help you, close the dialog box. Then open the second file, the vendors file. Select Find and you'll see that the search string is still in place, so just click the Find button.

Again, if the results don't reveal what you're looking for, open the third file, the colleagues file. Select Find and click the Find button.

While it may be preferable to see results from all files at once, this solution keeps your data clear and separated in the groups you've already chosen when you set up your data files. And there is no need to re-select your search parameters for each file.

The Build Query dialog box also remembers its settings between runs within a single PK session. So this consecutive file method can also help you run the same query over multiple data files.