Feature: Support for OR (logical OR) operator in tag search

[Pixel-Cube]

What feature or improvement do you think would benefit Files?

Feature: Enhanced Tag Search with Logical OR Operator

The current tag search functionality is powerful for finding items that match all of a set of tags (logical AND, e.g., tag:Important,ProjectX). This proposal is to add support for a logical OR operator, allowing users to find items that match any of a set of tags (e.g., tag:Important|Urgent). This brings greater flexibility and power to the file organization system, enabling users to perform broader, more inclusive searches with a single query.

Use Case:

• A user has tags for "Family", "Vacation", and "2024". They want to quickly see all photos that are either "Family" or "Vacation" related, regardless of the year. Currently, this requires two separate searches. With an OR operator, they could simply search for tag:Family|Vacation.
• A project manager uses tags like "Pending", "In-Review", and "Blocked". To get an overview of all active but not-completed tasks, they could search for tag:Pending|In-Review|Blocked in one go.

Requirements

To implement this improvement, the following changes are required:

1. Define OR Syntax: Introduce a new symbol (e.g., the pipe |) to serve as the logical OR operator between tag names within the tag: search filter.
2. Update Search Parser Logic: Modify the search query processing engine to correctly interpret the new OR syntax. The search logic should be updated to return items that match any of the tags specified between the | symbols.
3. Maintain AND Backwards Compatibility: Ensure the existing comma (,) separator continues to function exclusively as a logical AND operator to maintain backward compatibility for all user-created saved searches and habits.
4. Handle Mixed Queries (Stretch Goal): Ideally, the system should support combinations of AND and OR within a single tag: query. This may require defining operator precedence or using parentheses (e.g., tag:Important,ProjectA|ProjectB to find items tagged "Important" that are also tagged with either "ProjectA" or "ProjectB").
5. Update Documentation: The in-app tooltips and official documentation (like the help file provided) must be updated to clearly explain the new OR operator syntax and provide examples.

Files Version

4.0.11.0

Windows Version

10.0.19045.5608

Comments

• The current behavior of the comma (,) as an AND operator was confirmed through testing, as it is not explicitly detailed in the current documentation.
• The pipe | symbol is a widely recognized convention for representing OR in technical search contexts (e.g., in regular expressions, many databases, and other file managers), making it an intuitive choice for users.
• Implementing even the basic OR functionality (Requirement #1 and #2) would be a massive usability win. The mixed query support (Requirement #4) is a valuable but more complex secondary step.
• This enhancement would make the tagging system in Files exceptionally powerful and on par with professional-grade file management and productivity software.

[yaira2]

Thank you for your feedback. Can you please confirm if this is the same as #9711?

[Pixel-Cube]

感谢您的反馈。请问您能确认这是否与 #9711 相同吗？

Hi @yaira2, thanks for your reply! From what I understand, #9711 is about adding regex support in the search bar, while my request here is more about being able to use an OR operator when searching tags (e.g. tag:work OR tag:study). At the moment, tag search only supports AND with a comma.

I’m not very familiar with how the search bar is implemented internally, so I’m not sure whether enabling regex for general file searches in #9711 would also allow OR in tag searches. If full regex support does cover this case, then my request might already be included. But if not, I think this issue highlights a separate need — extending logical operators specifically for tag search — which could still be important to track.

Either way, I really hope this functionality can be supported in the future, as it would make tag search much more powerful and convenient.