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EagleFiler Feature List

The following is a partial list of EagleFiler’s features, so that you can quickly see how it works and how it’s unique:

General
  • Easy to install: just drag and drop a single application file. There’s no need to install a database engine, plug-ins, or script files to integrate with your other applications.
  • Easy to use, with a familiar three-pane interface—lots of power, without lots of cluttered options.
  • Makes efficient use of RAM and disk space.
  • AppleScript support, for automation and integration with other applications.
Importing
  • Can import any kind of file. EagleFiler has special support for displaying most common formats, and it can use Quick Look to display the others.
  • Just press a hotkey while in another application, and EagleFiler will intelligently import the Web page, mailbox, or file that you’re currently viewing.
  • Press the Quick entry hotkey to create a new file in EagleFiler from any application.
  • Store Web pages in the following formats: bookmark, PDF, PDF (single page), plain text, rich text, rich text with images, Web archive.
  • Import from any application by printing and choosing Save PDF to EagleFiler or by saving a file into EagleFiler’s To Import folder or directly into the library’s folder structure.
  • Move or save new files directly into the library folder, and EagleFiler will auto-import them when it does a Scan for New Files.
  • Import Web pages using bookmarklets.
  • Automatically import scans by setting your scanner software (Fujitsu ScanSnap recommended) to save its files in the To Import folder.
  • There are many other ways to import (e.g. drag and drop, services) so you can choose whatever’s easiest for the task at hand. Hold down the Option key when importing, and you can choose where to save the file and add tags, notes, and other metadata.
  • Automatically detects duplicate files to save disk space and help you see what’s already been imported.
  • Import from Evernote and convert its proprietary format to macOS’s standard rich text format that works with many applications.
Mail
  • First-class support for archiving e-mail. EagleFiler understands the content of messages and treats them as mail rather than as text or RTF files.
  • Import the selected mailboxes or messages simply by pressing a hotkey in Apple Mail, Entourage, Mailsmith, Outlook, or PowerMail.
  • EagleFiler retains the full message data, including attachments, read/flagged/replied status, and MailTags, so nothing is lost when moving mail into EagleFiler.
  • Speed up your mail program by moving older messages to EagleFiler.
  • Messages are converted from proprietary formats and efficiently stored using the standard “mbox” format and can be imported back into any mail program if desired.
  • You can also store messages as individual .eml files, for Spotlight searchability, and you can freely convert between the .eml and mbox formats.
  • Can display messages as plain text (with colored quote levels and clickable links) or as HTML.
  • Extract and convert your e-mail from Microsoft Outlook (or another proprietary mail client format) into standard mbox or .eml files.
  • Remove duplicate e-mail messages.
Organization
  • EagleFiler supports multiple libraries, stored wherever you want (hard disk, Dropbox, iPhone, iPad, iPod, USB drive, etc.).
  • You can open more than one library at a time, and more than one window per library.
  • Files can be organized with folders and tags, both of which can be nested.
  • Use the Go menu to quickly jump around to viewing different parts of your library.
  • Select a record, choose Copy Record Link, and paste the link into another application; click it to open the record in EagleFiler.
Editing
  • Create a new file with a single button or keypress and immediately begin typing. There’s no need to open a new window or go through a Save dialog box.
  • Use stationery (a.k.a. templates) to quickly create any type of new file. Stationery can automatically trigger AppleScripts to dynamically fill in the metadata for you.
  • RTF, text, OpenDocument, and bookmark files can be edited from within EagleFiler. Powerful text editing features include find & replace, spelling and grammar checking, smart links/quotes/dashes, data detectors, automatic text replacement, and case transformations.
  • For other types of files (e.g. Word, Pages), just double-click to open them in your favorite editor. The changes are automatically saved back into the EagleFiler library.
Storage
  • Your data and notes are stored in regular files using standard formats (RTF, PDF, Web archive, mbox, etc.), so there’s no lock-in or risk of database corruption, and it plays well with Time Machine.
  • Uses MD5 checksums to verify the integrity of all files in the library, for safe long-term archival.
  • Metadata (tags, titles, source URLs, etc.) goes into a Core Data SQL database for reliable storage and quick access.
  • EagleFiler automatically backs up the metadata and notes to XML property list files. In the rare event that the database file becomes damaged, you can import the files into a new library, and EagleFiler will build a new database and reconstruct all the metadata.
  • Tags are automatically synced with Finder tags and copied to OpenMeta and the Spotlight comments field to make them searchable and accessible to other applications.
Encryption
  • Libraries can be encrypted with AES-128 or AES-256 for secure, password-protected storage.
  • Encrypted libraries are stored using Apple’s disk image technology, so their contents are accessible on any Mac, whether or not EagleFiler is installed.
  • The entire library contents—including the metadata, indexes, and temporary files—are encrypted. Unencrypted data never touches the disk.
  • In other respects, an encrypted library works just like a regular one. It’s still fully searchable, and the files are still accessible to other applications (once you’ve entered the passphrase).
  • Unlike with FileVault, the contents of an encrypted EagleFiler library are protected from anyone who doesn’t know the passphrase, including other users on the same Mac.
Search
  • EagleFiler uses its own optimized indexes so that you can search the contents of your library faster than with Spotlight. Because EagleFiler doesn’t rely on Spotlight, you can search folders and volumes that are excluded from Spotlight, and you can still search even while your whole drive’s index is being rebuilt after restoring from a backup.
  • You can do exact searches across individual fields (title, filename, notes, tags, from, any recipient) as well as searches across the entire file contents, including e-mail attachments.
  • Searches can use phrases, wildcards, Boolean AND/OR/NOT, and grouping.
  • Do quick tag searches by selecting one or more tags at once.
  • Create your own smart folders and organize them into folders. Custom smart folders can contain an unlimited number of criteria, optionally using nested Any/All/None. You can define actions to occur when you create a new record in smart folder, or drag one there.
  • Matching search terms are highlighted in the document contents and in the records list. Use the Find panel or its keyboard shortcuts to search within a document and to jump from one highlighted occurrence to the next.
  • EagleFiler reads most files itself, so it can index text that Spotlight wouldn’t see (e.g. files attached to e-mail messages, invisible Web content, PDF annotations, Skim notes attached to PDF files). It automatically takes advantage of third-party Spotlight importer plug-ins to support custom file formats.
  • Since the files and notes are stored out in the open, they’re also searchable with Spotlight (for when you want to search your entire Mac at once), without the need for stub files in the Caches/Metadata folder.
  • EagleFiler’s search indexes are immediately available after syncing, restoring from a backup, or transferring your files to a new Mac; there’s no need to wait for it to reindex, as with Spotlight.
Metadata
  • For each file, EagleFiler records the document title, author/from, and source URL.
  • You can assign tags (a.k.a. keywords). Tags can have abbreviation symbols and colors, and they can be nested. Quickly assign tags by typing (with auto-completion), drag-and-drop, or by clicking on them in the Tag Cloud.
  • The Tags column in the records list compactly shows the abbreviation symbols for all the assigned tags.
  • Each file or mail message can have notes, which can include rich text, clickable links, images, and tables.
  • Each file and folder can have a colored label, which also shows up in the Finder.
  • You can copy links to EagleFiler records and paste them into notes or RTF files, or into other applications.
  • When importing via the capture key, EagleFiler can preserve metadata (e.g. tags, notes, titles, URLs) from the source application. This is often higher fidelity than using that application’s own export feature.
  • When importing an existing file, EagleFiler can import tags and notes from the file’s Spotlight comments.
  • EagleFiler can display and search Skim notes attached to PDF files.