Configuring Search Properties

The server includes a search feature that allows users to search documents on the server and display results on a web page. Server administrators create the indexes of documents against which users will search (called collections), and can customize the search interface to meet the needs of their users.

Server administrators can customize the search query and search results pages. This might include re-branding the pages with a corporate logo, or changing the way search results appear.

The server provides support for multiple document search. Documents with different formats (such as HTML, ASCII, and PDF) can be indexed and searched against.

Search is enabled for a virtual server by enabling the search application included in the server.


Note - The Java web container must be enabled for search to be enabled.


After ensuring that Java is enabled for the virtual server you want to configure, enable search by performing the following steps:

  1. Click Configurations tab.

  2. Select the configuration from the configuration list.

  3. Click Virtual Servers tab.

  4. Select the virtual server from the virtual server list.

  5. Click Search tab.

  6. Under the Search Application section, click Enabled checkbox to enable the search application.

Other parameters, which you can configure are listed below:

Configuring Search Collections

Searches require a database of searchable data against which users will search. Server administrators create this database, called a collection, which indexes and stores information about documents on the server. Once the server administrator indexes all or some of a server's documents, information such as title, creation date, and author is available for searching.


Note - About Search Collections:


Adding a Search Collection

To add a new collection, perform the following tasks:

  1. Click Configurations tab.

  2. Select the configuration from the configuration list.

  3. Click Virtual Servers tab.

  4. Select the virtual server from the virtual server list.

  5. Click Search tab.

  6. Under the Search Collections tab, click New button to add a new search collection.

The following section describes the fields in the wizard pages for creating a new search collection:

  1. Step 1: Provide Search Collection Information

    1. Collection Name -- Enter a unique name for the search collection

    2. Display Name -- (Optional) This will appear as the collection name in the search query page. If you don't specify a display name, the collection name serves as the display name.

    3. Description -- (Optional) Enter text that describes the new collection.

    4. Path -- You can either create the collection in the default location or provide a valid path, where the collection will be stored.

  2. Step 2: Provide Indexing Information

    1. Directory to Index -- Enter the directory from which documents will be indexed into the collection. Only the directories visible from this virtual server can be indexed.

    2. Directory URI -- Enter the document root for the search collection.

    3. Pattern -- Specify a wildcard to select the files to be indexed.

      Use the wildcard pattern judiciously to ensure that only specific files are indexed. For example, specifying *.* might cause even executable and Perl scripts to be indexed.

    4. Subdirectories Enabled -- If you select this option, documents within the subdirectories of the selected directory will also be indexed. This is the default action.

    5. Default Document Encoding --

      Documents in a collections are not restricted to a single language/encoding. Every time documents are added, only a single encoding can be specified; however, the next time you add documents to the collection, you can select a different default encoding.

  3. Step 3: View the Summary

    1. View the summary and click Finish button to add the new collection.

Deleting a Collection

For deleting a search collection, perform the following tasks:

  1. Click Configurations tab.

  2. Select the configuration from the configuration list.

  3. Click Virtual Servers tab.

  4. Select the virtual server from the virtual server list.

  5. Click Search tab.

  6. Under the Search Collections section, select the collection name and click Delete button to delete the collection.

Scheduling Collection Update

You can schedule maintenance tasks to be performed on collections at regular intervals. The tasks that can be scheduled are re-indexing and updating. The administrative interface is used to schedule the tasks for a specific collection. You can specify the:

To schedule events for the collection, perform the following tasks:

  1. Click Configurations tab.

  2. Select the configuration from the configuration list.

  3. Click Virtual Servers tab.

  4. Select the virtual server from the virtual server list.

  5. Click Search tab.

  6. Click Scheduled Events tab.

  7. Under Search Events section, click New button.

The following table describes the fields in the New Search Event Schedule page:

Table 12 Field Description > New Search Event Schedule

Field

Description

Collection

Select the collection from the drop down list for which you need to schedule maintenance.

Event

  1. Re-index Collection--This scheduled event will re-index the specified collection at the specified time.

  2. Update Collection--You can add or remove files after a collection has been created. Documents can be added only from under the directory that was specified during collection creation. If you are removing documents, only the entries for the files and their metadata are removed from the collection. The actual files themselves are not removed from the file system. This scheduled event will update the collection at the specified time.

  3. Pattern--Specify a wildcard to select the files to be indexed.

  4. Subdirectories included--If you select this option, documents within the subdirectories of the selected directory will also be indexed. This is the default action.

  5. Encoding--Specify the character encoding for the documents to be indexed. The default is ISO-8859-1. The indexing engine tries to determine the encoding of HTML documents from the embedded meta tag. If this is not specified, the default encoding is used.

Time

The configured time when the event will start. Select the hour and minutes value from the drop down box.

Every Day -- Starts the event specified every day at the specified time.

Specific Days -- Starts the event specified at specific days.

1. Days -- Specify any day from Sunday to Saturday.

2. Dates -- Specify any day of the month from 1 to 31 as comma separated entries. For example, 4,23,9

Specific Months -- Starts the event specified at the specific time and month. Specify month from January to December.

Interval

Start the specified event after this time period.

1. Every Hours -- Select the number of hours from the drop down box.

2. Every Seconds -- Select the number of seconds from the drop down box.