> Nowhere in this document (nor in any other Spotlight resource I've been able to find) is it stated that filenames are the exclusive province of the content index; indeed, the fact that there exists a collection of kMDItemFS... metadata attributes refutes such a conclusion.

I never even so much as suggested that filenames are the exclusive province of the content index; I questioned the fact that you seemed to have done so:

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Your question to tacit, though, presumes that the indexed metadata is what we call the Spotlight index...

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Do you mean that every Spotlight search undertaken when indexing is enabled consists of both a lookup against previously-indexed metadata and a real-time search of filenames? And that when indexing is disabled, Spotlight only performs the latter? Or is it that Spotlight still performs both searches but returns no results from the former since there's no index? (Emphasis added)

As I read, and imply from, the Apple doc, Spotlight uses the indexed metadata for a file search and the Spotlight index for a content search, which would explain why my disabled, theoretically index-less Spotlight behaves as described.

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In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire