Editing Sherlock (software) (section)

{{Short description|Defunct web search tool created by Apple}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2012}}

{{Infobox software
| name = Sherlock
| logo = SherlockLogo.png
| screenshot = Sherlock3.6.2.png
| caption = Sherlock 3.6, Movies channel
| developer = [[Apple Inc.]]
| discontinued = yes
| genre = [[File manager]]<br />[[Search engine]]
| license = 
| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20101129083317/http://apple.com/lae/sherlock/ www.apple.com/lae/sherlock/]
| latest_release_version = 3.6.2 (179)
| latest_release_date = 
| operating_system = [[Classic Mac OS]] [[Mac OS 8|8]] and [[Mac OS 9|9]], [[Mac OS X]] (prior to Leopard)
}}
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'''Sherlock''' is a now-defunct file and web search tool created by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] for the [[classic Mac OS|"classic" Mac OS]], and carried through to early versions of [[Mac OS X]]. Sherlock was introduced in 1998 with [[Mac OS 8.5]] as an extension of [[Finder (software)|Finder]]'s file searching capabilities. Like its predecessor—System 7.5’s revamped 'Find File' app, adapted by Bill Monk from his 'Find Pro' find program<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/mac_The_Macintosh_Bible_6th_Edition_1996/The_Macintosh_Bible_6th_Edition_1996_djvu.txt|title=The Macintosh Bible, 6th Edition|last=Judson|first=Jeremy|publisher=Peachpit Press|year=1996}}</ref>—Sherlock searches for local files and file contents on a Mac, using the same basic indexing code and search logic found in [[AppleSearch]]. Sherlock extended the system by enabling the user to search for items on the [[World Wide Web]] through a series of plug-ins, which employed existing [[web search engine]]s. These plug-ins were written as [[plain text]] files, so that it was a simple task for a user to write a Sherlock plug-in.

Sherlock was replaced by [[Spotlight (software)|Spotlight]] and [[Dashboard (Mac OS)|Dashboard]] in 2005 with [[Mac OS X 10.4]] Tiger, although Apple continued to include it with the default installation. Since most of the standard plug-ins for Sherlock provided by Apple itself no longer function, it was officially retired and removed in the release of [[Mac OS X 10.5]] Leopard in 2007.