* Lisp Metadata Importer, a Spotlight Plugin.
fiddlerwoaroof's note: I took this code from
http://lemonodor.com/archives/001232.html and cleaned it up to work
with modern OS X/macOS: I removed the code to parse lisp files and
generate metadata and replaced it with code to parse Java files using
tree-sitter: it should be relatively easy to adapt this to use any
other tree-sitter parser.
* Lemonodor's README (extracted from README.pdf, typos mine :) ):
This importer plugin indexes files with .lisp, .lsp and .cl extensions
using the Spotlight search engine that was introduced by Apple in OS X
10.4. You might notice that even before you install this plugin that
some of your Lisp files have already been indexed by Spotlight. It is
possible that something on your system set the type of some files as
“TEXT”, in which case the default Spotlight text indexer will process
the files. This only happens on a file-by-file basis, though, whereas
the Lisp Metadata Importer instructs the system to index all files
with the extensions listed above, regardless of whether or not the
system already thinks they’re text files. The Lisp importer also does
some Lisp-specific indexing that you might find more useful than the
default text indexing.
** How do I install it?
Copy the Lisp Metadata Importer.mdimporter file into the
/Library/Spotlight folder.
** How do I uninstall it?
Remove the Lisp Metadata Importer.mdimporter file from the
/Library/Spotlight folder.
** How do I test it once it is installed?
Try indexing a single Lisp file using the mdimport command. When you
run mdimport with the –d1 flag it will tell you which plugin it’s
using, if any, to index the file. You should see a reference to the
Lisp Metadata Importer.mdimporter file. Once you’ve run mdimport, use
the mdls command to look at the metadata associated with the file. The
important things to look for are that the kMDItemContentType is
“com.lemonodor.lisp-source”, and that there are some attributes with
names that begin with “org_lisp”, like “org_lisp_defmacros” or
“org_lisp_defuns”.
#+BEGIN_SRC sh
lem:~ $ mdimport -d1 variables.lisp
2005-09-15 12:05:55.493 mdimport[6962] Import '/Users/wiseman/variables.lisp' type
'com.lemonodor.lisp-source' using
'file://localhost/Library/Spotlight/Lisp%20Metadata%20Importer.mdimporter/'
lem:~ $ mdls variables.lisp
variables.lisp -------------
kMDItemAttributeChangeDate = 2005-09-08 11:30:18 -0700
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2005-09-02 17:41:07 -0700
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2005-09-02 17:41:08 -0700
kMDItemContentType = "com.lemonodor.lisp-source"
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"com.lemonodor.lisp-source",
"public.source-code",
"public.plain-text",
"public.text",
"public.data",
"public.item",
"public.content"
)
kMDItemDisplayName = "variables.lisp"
# and on and on, until finally...
org_lisp_defclasses
org_lisp_defgenerics
org_lisp_definitions
foo,
"(setf foo)",
"oh-noe",
"*oh-no*",
"*hee-ho*",
"+thing+",
"i-dont-think-so",
"BRAIN-CELL",
"(RAT-BRAIN-CELL",
attack,
attack,
"(setf mood)",
"(setf mood)"
)
org_lisp_defmacros
org_lisp_defmethods
org_lisp_defstructs
org_lisp_defuns
org_lisp_defvars
= ("i-dont-think-so")
= (attack, "(setf mood)", "(setf mood)")
= (
= ("oh-noe")
= (attack, "(setf mood)")
= ("BRAIN-CELL", "RAT-BRAIN-CELL")
= (foo, "(setf foo)")
= ("*oh-no*", "*hee-ho*", "+thing+")
#+END_SRC
If you see those attributes then the importer is working correctly.
If the importer doesn’t seem to be working and you’ve double checked
to make sure you copied it to the correct folder, try the mdimport –r
trick in the next question & answer; it’s the equivalent of kicking a
malfunctioning jukebox.
** How do I index all my Lisp files?
Use mdimport again, this time with the –r flag, and passing it the
path to the Lisp plugin.
#+BEGIN_SRC sh
lem:~ $ mdimport -r /Library/Spotlight/Lisp\ Metadata\ Importer.mdimporter/
2005-09-15 12:41:38.650 mdimport[7169] Asking server to reimport files with UTIs: (
"dyn.ah62d4rv4ge8024pxsa",
"com.lemonodor.lisp-source",
"dyn.ah62d4rv4gq81k3p2su11uppqrf31appxr741e25f",
"dyn.ah62d4rv4ge80265u",
"dyn.ah62d4rv4ge80g5a"
)
#+END_SRC
** What exactly is being indexed?
The Lisp metadata importer indexes the definitions contained in a
file. This includes functions, macros, classes, methods, generic
functions, structures, defvars, defparameters and defconstants. It
also includes any object FOO defined by a form that looks like
(“defsomething FOO ...)”. In addition to definitions, the entire
contents of the file are indexed for full text queries.
** How do I search for something?
The GUI way is to hit Command-F in the finder to bring up a Find
window. Click on one one of the attributes and select “Other...”. to
see a list of other attributes: Choose one of the Lisp importer’s
attributes from the list that comes up (you can type “lisp” into the
search field on the upper right to filter out the non-Lisp
attributes):
Now enter the text you’d like to search for and watch the matching
files appear:
Some people have reported that the Lisp-specific attributes weren’t
available in the Find dialog until they re-launched the Finder (to
re-launch the finder, hit Command-Option-Esc and then select the
Finder in the “Force Quit Applications” dialog that pops up). The
non-GUI way to do Spotlight searches is to use the mdfind command. I
did this the other day when someone on IRC asked how to do
search-and-replace on a string. I knew I had written a function to do
that, but I couldn’t remember which project the code was in. (It
turned out I had a couple implementations lying around.)
The Spotlight query language used by mdfind is documented online by
Apple.
** What are the attributes I can search on and where do they come from in the Lisp file?
The following metadata attributes are defined by the Lisp Metadata Importer:
| Metadata Attribute | Defining Forms |
|----------------------+-----------------------------------------|
| org_lisp_defuns | defun |
| org_lisp_defmacros | defmacro |
| org_lisp_defclasses | defclass |
| org_lisp_defgeneric | defgeneric |
| org_lisp_defmethod | defmethod |
| org_lisp_defstructs | defstruct |
| org_lisp_defvars | defvar, defparameter, defconstant |
| org_lisp_definitions | Anything defined with a “(def...” form. |
|----------------------+-----------------------------------------|
In addition, the importer sets the kMDItemTextContent attribute to be
the entire contents of the file, so you can do full text searches.
** What shortcuts did you take?
Here are a few I can think of:
- The importer only indexes definition forms that are at the beginning of a line.
- It has a very simple, limited concept of symbol names and Lisp reader syntax, so it can easily become confused.
- I shouldn’t really use the org_lisp prefix for attribute names.
- I should try to coordinate with the people writing plugins for Ruby, Python and other languages so we can come up with a common set of source code metadata attributes.
** Who should you thank?
Justin Wight, Pierre Mai, Ralph Richard Cook and Bryan O’Connor all helped me to some extent. Thanks, guys!