Creating an Index

• About the Indexing Process
• Creating an Index

About the Indexing Process

The process of indexing is straightforward using the JObjects QuestManager application.

1. Create an index profile file that stores information about the indexing operation, such as files to index, stop words, files to exclude, etc.
2. Index the files. Terms are stored in raw data files.
3. Optimize the index. The optimizer sorts and ranks index entries and prepares the index for use by the search applet.
4. Deploy the index, making it available through your browser.

Using QuestManager, the entire indexing-optimization-deployment cycle can be done automatically, and you can further define the indexing and optimization process to obtain optimal performance and file size ratios.

Creating an Index

1. Run QuestManager application

Windows platform: From the Start Menu, choose JObjects QuestAgent group, then QuestManager.

Other platforms: You should be able to find QuestManager launch script in the QuestAgent installation directory.

There is a short delay, after which the JObjects QuestManager window opens on your desktop.

Note: On higher resolution screens, QuestManager panels may not open to their full size. If the entire panel is not visible, drag on a corner of the panel to expand it.

2. In the JObjects QuestManager window, click the Create new index profile option, and then click the Next button at the bottom of the window. The Basic Settings window appears.

3. Enter the Profile/Collection Description and Documentation Root directory and specify its web site location, if one.

The Index Collection Description is a short description of your index.

The Documentation Root is the directory containing the files you want to index. You can type the full path or you can use the Browse button to find the directory on your hard drive.

If the files you want to index are already published to a web site or home page, check the This is a Web Site or Home Page root directory checkbox and enter the URL of the files to index. Otherwise, remove the check.

4. Click Next to proceed to the Index Control panel. This panel reports previous index builds, if any, and suggests what your next step should be.

The QuestManager Control Panel provides the main processing commands. The normal sequence is to:

1. Index specified HTML and TXT files and create raw index files
2. Optimize the index
3. Deploy the final index

By default, QuestManager automatically performs these operations in sequence when you click Start Indexing. You can also run each operation individually.

QuestManager commands include:

Command	Description
Start Indexing	Starts the indexer program and creates the raw full text index.
Optimize	Optimizes the index, based upon the Stop Words list and frequency parameters. This is an optional button that appears only when an index already has been built. You can use Optimize as many times as needed to on a given index.
Deploy	Outputs the index for use by HTML pages.
Settings	Allows you to edit index profile settings. See "Indexing Settings".
Save (As)	Saves the current index profile on your hard drive.
Exit	Exit QuestManager application.

5. Click Start Indexing.

QuestManager asks if you want to save changes in your index profile. Click Yes and save the profile using any valid filename.

Indexing status panel appears that shows the approximate time left for indexing, the file being indexed, and a progress bar. If you have many files in your profile, indexing can take several minutes.

Note: All problems found in your HTML or data files will be reported in the Message Console. You can switch to Message Console at any time while indexing is running.

6. When indexing is complete QuestManager will switch back to the Message Console.

If you have chosen to automatically optimize after indexing (default for new index profiles), optimization begins as indicated by the Running Optimization message in the status dialog box.

You can manually optimize the index, by clicking the Optimize button in the Control panel. When optimization completes, you are returned to the Message Console.

7. Click Deploy. QuestAgent displays the QuestAgent Deployment Manager panel.

8. Choose the template to use and the directory to receive the published output.

9. Click OK. QuestManager copies index files and creates HTML files as required. When complete, QuestManager displays a dialog box telling you what file to open in your browser.

10. Note the path and name of the HTML file, and then click OK to remove the dialog box.

11. Test the index. Use your browser to open the file specified in the dialog box. The exact file name depends upon the applet layout you chose to deploy.

12. If you want to make changes in the indexed file set, advanced options, stop words, or modify some other options you can return to the JObjects QuestManager window, open Settings panel, make changes, reindex files, and optimize the new index.