Strangely, when you are searching there is no option to search all open documents. To achieve this you have to perform a search and replace instead. You perform a search and fail to find the string in the current file, then you have to click on the search and replace button at the very bottom left of Kate's window. This leaves you with a search bar already open and then another search bar with an additional unwanted replace field. Having two search fields open simultaneously is very messy and well, just a bit rubbish. Furthermore, the first search field may well be populated but the second search box remains statically empty. You have to retype the search string into the new field... This process just does NOT work. Solution: Have a simple pop up dialog box with a radio button option to allow the search to operate within all open files. Do away with the bottom search bar altogether. The search field in a new pop up dialog box will be automatically filled based upon the clipboard contents or last search regardless of whether it is a simple search or a search/replace requested.
Thanks for the report. Again my suggestion is to reassign the shortcut and just use the Search plugin :) This series of bug reports clearly shows that we do have a problem when it come to our search capabilities. Kate is built around KTextEditor which provides the "built-in" search bar and we have Ctrl-F assigned to that search bar. KTextEditor only knows about one document and it's search-bar only knows about that same one document. The KTextEditor component is used in multiple different editors that do not provide their own search capabilities, so the search bar has to be part of KTextEditor. But then we do have the Search plugin. This plugin again is not as minimalistic as the built-in search bar and requires a lot more space. Now I'm asking all developers what changes would it take to make the searh plugin a viable replacement for the built-in search and have Ctrl-F and F3 assigned to the search plugin by default in Kate? Should we add a minimalistic mode with only search?
I really love Kate. However, I was surprised at the state of the search utility in general. I think it needs an overhaul as part of the default offering. It is all well and good to suggest a plugin but the user's first experience of Kate will be the defaults. He/she won't know how to download/install/enable a plugin nor will they even know one exists. If it is just a trial of Kate they may assume Kate is as deficient in other parts as it is in search. It isn't a good advertisement. For usability's sake search needs to be slick and all encompassing and very easy to use. It should be the norm. The methods to implement search can be demonstrated by trialling other editors. They have done it just right. I don't have any favourites as they all seem to do it the same. They just do it right. In Kate Search is so clunky as to make it unusable. I found myself reverting to other editors just to do a simple search. Searching to find all occurrences of a variable in multiple tabbed .js documents. For me, that is a simple search. I couldn't do it in Kate. As soon as you revert to another editor then Kate has lost a user forever. I think this 'minimalistic' thing as a concept is flawed. Search requires certain key functions that I think I have outlined in my bug reports. I truly think they are the minimum required to get Kate up to scratch. The other editors out there in the Windows's world are Kate's competitors and they do this stuff without batting an eyelid. Kate is lovely, search is a bit naff.
I raised these points and others in a KATE forum post here: https://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=150648&p=393716#p393716 Post raised in the spirit that we can improve search on Kate. I am desperate to use Kate as my default editor and these search improvements are the only thing standing in the way. I am convinced that these are necessary to compete with other editors. Hopefully, you will find my reports and comments useful.
So what is your experience using the advanced search plugin? It is part of Kate by default, you only need to enable it.
If you can provide the information requested in comment #4, please add it.
Sorry Christopher, due to the inadequacies of search in general within Kate I stopped using Kate altogether and removed it from my Windows systems. I'll have to reinstall it on one laptop to test. I'll do so and test the plugin as you suggested. Question, once installed, what is the process to activate the advanced plugin?
It should already be loaded, but you will have to reassign the search shortcuts to the plugin if you want to use the "standard" shortcuts for searching. Settings-> Configure chortcuts.. Then go almost all the way to the bottom and re-assign shortcuts to the items under katesearch (Search in files and Goto next/previous match) You also can start a new search in a new tab if you want to keep the previous search results.
Reporter no longer uses Kate.