InstaSearch - Eclipse plug-in for quick code search

InstaSearch is an Eclipse IDE plug-in for performing quick and advanced search of workspace files. It indexes files using Lucene and keeps the index up to date automatically. The search is performed instantly as-you-type and resulting files are displayed in an Eclipse view.

Each file then can be previewed using few most matching and relevant lines. A double-click on the match leads to the matching line in the file.

Download / Installation

In Eclipse please install using the Eclipse Marketplace from the Help menu (how-to)

Alternatively you can install using the update site https://dl.bintray.com/ajermakovics/InstaSearch/

Java 1.7 or newer is required

(Add to favorites on Eclipse Marketplace.)

Use

Once InstaSearch is successfully installed, you'll see a nice little "InstaSearch" search tab appear at the bottom:

You can also click the Search menu option at the top --> InstaSearch...

Main Features

• Instantly shows search results
• Shows a preview using relevant lines
• Periodically updates the index
• Matches partial words (e.g. case in CamelCase)
• Opens and highlights matches in files
• Searches JAR source attachments
• Supports filtering by extension/project/working set

Search Tips

Lucene query syntax can be used for searching. This includes:

• Wildcard searches
  • app* initialize
• Excluding words
  • application -initialize
• Fuzzy searches to find similar matches
  • application init~
• Limit by location - directory, projects or working set
  • proj:MyProject,OtherProject application init
  • ws:MyWorkingSet dir:src init
• Limit by filename, extension or modification time
  • name:app* ext:java,xml,txt modified:yesterday
• Search by file name initials (e.g. FOS to find FileOutputStream.java)
  • name:FOS

To exclude some folders from search indexing, mark them as Derived in the folder's properties. There are also useful Eclipse Search Tips.

Note: Fuzzy search is started automatically if no exact matches are found

Building and Developing

Build using Maven from project root:

mvn install

To develop you will need Eclipse (3.7+) with Plug-In Development Environment (PDE) installed:

• Use File -> Import -> Existing Projects to import all instasearch projects
• To run or debug right click on 'instasearch' project and select Run As -> Eclipse Application

To use the plug-in in existing Eclipse installation do:

• Right click on instasearch project, Export -> Deployable plug-ins
• Choose an existing Eclipse installation directory. Restart

Authors/Contributors

Author: Andrejs Jermakovics

Contributors: Holger Voormann, solganik, on github

Contributions are very welcome so feel free to get in touch or create a pull request.

Acknowledgements

YourKit is supporting InstaSearch open source project with its full-featured Java Profiler.
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Java and .NET applications. Take a look at YourKit's leading software products:
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