Re: Question about enabling search and retrieval

["Connie Giordano" <connie -at- therightwordz -dot- com>]

This implies a bigger potential issue--you need to architect your document storage so you have a way to control it. Lots of documents in all sorts of formats across multiple servers sounds like a migraine in the making...

I have not used Flare yet, but I for a delivery I did last week, I used a relatively inexpensive search engine tool called Search Maker Pro, which creates an html search page and java script to enable full text searching. It indexes all the basic document types, and has an easy method for switching from absolute to relative links, which came in very handy when indexing the data dictionaries. I was able to locate all the documents with the exception of the data dictionaries in one folder, which made it easier to set up, but you are not restricted to a single directory.  It's not perfect, but it worked really well for this project and it might be worth looking into for your interim needs.

www.searchmakerpro.com



Connie P. Giordano
The Right Words
Communications & Information Design
(704) 957-8450 (cell)

www.therightwords.com
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."   - Walt Disney


>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Kapoor, Shelly <SKapoor -at- imf -dot- org>
>  Subject: Question about enabling search and retrieval
>  Sent: 07 Jun '07 15:36
>  
>  Hi
>  The application we are trying to document is large and has many
>  components.  For the biggest part, we have an online help system (in
>  Flare).  For the other parts, we have Word documents, HTML files, pdfs
>  etc.  All these information sources are scattered in various servers in
>  multiple locations.  We need a quick way to enable users to do a search
>  across these disparate, document types.  I've thought of something that
>  we can do as a pro tem measure.  Of course, for the eventual, final
>  release, we are looking at using XML and asking one of our developers to
>  help us create a document retrieval system using MS Access.  
>  
>  For now, here's what I am thinking of doing - tell me what you think
>  about it, and if there is a better way to do this.
>  
>  1.  Within the Flare project, create some sort of an index page
>  (HTML/XHTML) to each Word document and pdf document.  Include a short
>  summary of the content in the Word document.
>  2.  Compile the Flare project as usual.
>  
>  Now, when a user performs a search for a particular string that is part
>  of a Word document, the Flare search engine will list the associated
>  index page with a link to the actual document in a server somewhere.  I
>  am even thinking of adding keywords in the meta tag of the index page,
>  in cases where I can't provide a summary that has all the keywords that
>  can be associated with the document.  However, I am not sure if these
>  will be read by the Flare search engine.  I read on the Web that all
>  search engines look for the keywords in the meta tag, so I am hoping
>  this will work.  What do you think?
>  
>  Shelly
>  
>  
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>  
>  Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
>  printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
>  Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
>  http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
>  
>  True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
>  Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
>  documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>  
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

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