Searching for phone numbers

  • I have phone numbers stored under a login item, under the field "Phone"
  • Say the phone number is +1347xxxx1234
  • When running a search, if I search for +1347 : the login item is returned (correctly)
  • When running a search, if I search for 1234 : no results are returned
  • If the phone number is under "Notes", searching for any part of the number, returns the result

Is this expected behavior? Am I missing a search operator for "contains", rather than "begins with"?
Thanks!


1Password Version: 8.6.0 (80600068, on BETA channel)
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: mac OS 12.2.1

Comments

  • viswiz
    viswiz
    Community Member

    It's a known problem of the current search implementation. Currently it doesn't search for substrings. It was partly addressed by adding a filtering function that can be used additionaly to search - available with the beta of mid February,

  • Hi @speedbird, thank you for letting us know about this. @viswiz mentioned that we've added a filter function in recent Betas - I'd agree this is the best way to approach your question right now. If you haven't yet, I'd recommend updating to the newest Beta and try the opt + cmd + f key combination. Does that help in this case?

    We are improving search as an ongoing project, and appreciate you letting us know about your use case so we can better understand how to help. I'll look forward to learning how the solution offered here works for you!

  • speedbird
    speedbird
    Community Member

    hi @PeterG_1P and @viswiz

    Thanks for your suggestions. Apologies, daft user here, not sure I'm using the workaround correctly.

    • I'm on the latest beta version
    • Please see attached a sample item
    • I'm trying to do a lookup for "1234" to locate this item
    • Using cmd+F:
    • Searching for +1347 returns the item
    • Searching for 1234 does not return the item
    • Using opt + cmd + F:
    • Searching for +1347 does not return the item
    • Also, searching for 1234 does not return the item

    Could you kindly let me know what I'm missing? Thanks.

  • Hey, @speedbird. I've just tested and it looks like you're correct, the filtering feature only works on certain things, basically what is displayed in the list view, rather than in the details on the right. While it does work with substrings, that's not going to help you if the data you're looking for is deeper inside the item.

    I'm sorry for the confusion. We've been tracking requests for improvement here and I've added your vote. It sounds like there are some complexities to overcome, but I think we can get there with some dedicated effort.

    ref: dev/core/core#9056

  • speedbird
    speedbird
    Community Member

    Noted, @rob. Thanks much.

  • volts
    volts
    Community Member

    I hadn't noticed the Find / Filter feature! I'm very happy to have it. I'm still hoping that Search gets substring functionality back, too. But this is very useful, thank you.

    From a discoverability perspective -

    • I didn't know Find existed
    • There's no GUI button to activate Find
    • The behaviors of Search and Find aren't obvious
    • The distinction between Search and Find isn't obvious
    • The verb "Find" doesn't imply "Filter" to me

    Find covers up other parts of the UI -

    • When Find is active, Sort options aren't accessible
    • After performing a Search --> Show all matching items -

      • Find hides the 2 results for "search string" text
      • The active Search string isn't visible
      • There's no indication both Search and Find are active
    • Search and Find must both be cancelled to view all items -

      • You cancel a Search by clicking the round ( x ) button to the LEFT
      • You cancel a Find by clicking the flat X at the FAR RIGHT
      • Performing a Search while Find is active can result in an empty list, but a new item displayed

    Misc -

    • Find doesn't update the list item count
    • Find is immediately below Search, but the field is different and font is larger
    • Command-Option-F doesn't return focus to the Find field if it is already open
  • Thanks for the usability feedback, @volts!

    I agree the Find feature can use some polish. I also didn't know about it until I saw Peter's post. I looked through our code history and found that we actually did have a UI control for it, but it was removed because it was "distracting and probably not the correct UX". The menu item and keyboard shortcut were left in place so that we can keep experimenting.

    I've passed on your feedback to the team so we can consider it as we continue defining this feature moving forward.

    ref: dev/core/core#14127

  • volts
    volts
    Community Member

    Thanks! The functionality is useful.

    I’m just very confused about the combination of Search and Find, why they’re both needed, and how they behave differently and interact together.

    But I’m often pretty slow. :-)

  • Your confusion is completely understandable. I hope we'll be able to create something that is both useful and comprehensible. :)

  • viswiz
    viswiz
    Community Member
    edited April 2022

    As much as I prefer the way Find works in contrast to Search it's confusing for me too. Even worse in the German translation both use exactly the same wording in the menu:

    version 80700045 nightly macOS

  • Heh, that's not great, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out, @viswiz!

  • Hi @speedbird:

    I just wanted to follow up and let you know about some improvements to substring search you'll see in today's nightly release (80901013):

    In this case, I have a fake phone number containing 555. While the phone field isn't searched in-line, if you choose "Show all matching items" from the search results, you'll see phone numbers searched, and match inside a phone number, not just at the start. Let me know how you get on with that!

    Jack

  • speedbird
    speedbird
    Community Member

    Hi @Jack.P_1P
    Thanks much, seems to work well!

  • viswiz
    viswiz
    Community Member

    @rob the translation issue is still not fixed using the current nightly on macOS

This discussion has been closed.