Unity dash - is there a command line (CLI) interface to perform a search?
Here is a script that might be helpful:
#!/bin/bash
for desktopFile in $(grep -irl "$1" /usr/share/applications/) ; do
grep --color=never 'Name=' "$desktopFile"
grep --color=never 'Exec=' "$desktopFile"
echo ''
done
Assuming you saved it as "searchapps", this is what it does:
$ searchapps disks
Name=Disk Image Writer
Exec=gnome-disks --restore-disk-image %U
Name=Disks
Exec=gnome-disks
Note that there might be other folders you'd like to search in addition to /usr/share/applications. You'd have to modify the script accordingly.