7.0

Understanding PlanetPress Search
This chapter explains how PlanetPress Search works and how to configure it to search one or more PlanetPress Image
archives.
There are three key points to understand with respect to how PlanetPress Search works:
1. Every search you perform is done on a search database that PlanetPress Search builds from the information in the
PDI files generated by PlanetPress Image.
Although the PDI file contains all the information PlanetPress Search needs to perform a search, PlanetPress Search
uses databases to eliminate the need to open and search individual PDI files, making searches faster and more effi-
cient. See "Search Database" (page 10) for help understanding databases.
2. You define the contents of a search database.
You specify the PlanetPress Image folders you want to include in the search database.
3. You can have as many search databases as you need.
For each search database you want to build, you first create a search profile and then build the database. A search
profile can reference exactly one search database, so each search database you want to build requires a separate
search profile. See "Search Profile" (page 9) for a complete description of search profiles.
Note that since PlanetPress Search searches the database and not the PDF and PDI files themselves, if the PDF files indexed in
the search database change, you must update the database to ensure searches yield accurate results. For example, if you
have a document that executes in PlanetPress Image on a weekly basis, you would also update the search databases that con-
tain the index information for that document on a weekly basis. See "Search Database" (page 10) and in particular "Updating a
Search Database: Refresh vs. Rebuild" (page 20).
Also note that you can configure PlanetPress Image to automatically add information to an existing search database when it
executes a document. If a record for the document already exists in the database, PlanetPress Image adds the index infor-
mation to the database. If the document does not yet exist in the database, PlanetPress Image adds a new record for the doc-
ument along with the index information for the document, to the database. This is useful when you want to eliminate the need
to refresh or rebuild the database from within PlanetPress Search. Consult the PlanetPress Workflow Tools User Guide
for more information on this feature.
In a network installation of PlanetPress Search, it is common to want to restrict access to search databases in order to ensure
the integrity of search results. See "Database Integrity in a Network Installation" (page 41).
Search Profile
A search profile is a file that contains information about a search database. PlanetPress Search uses the search profile to deter-
mine what database to search, and how to connect to that database. It also consults the search profile for information related
to updating and searching the database.
A search profile is a distinct file from the search database, and can exist in any folder. Search profiles use the .prf file name
extension. The ppsearch.prf file in the PlanetPress Search program folder is the default search profile.
There are several important points to understand with respect to search profiles:
l A search profile references exactly one search database. You can create many search profiles that reference the same
database but a single search profile cannot reference more than one database.
l You can create as many search profiles as you require.
l Create a Database During the Load of a Search Profile
Understanding PlanetPress Search
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