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Indexing with IFilters

Indexing with IFilters

Ifilters are third party plugins that let the Windows Indexing Service index different binary files (MS Office, PDF) so they become searchable. If IFilters are installed on the same machine that runs Enfold Server, the Plone website can show them in search results. Suppose a user uploads a .PDF or .ODT or .XLS file into Plone. If the machine running Enfold Server had a IFilter for PDF or .XLS installed, then Plone will be able to search through the text of these PDF and XLS files and include them in search results.

Generally you should try to install IFilters before installing Enfold Server. Then, after you install Enfold Server, it will recognize them. If you forget, or if you need to install an IFilter later, you can do this using Plone Site Setup.

  1. Install the application (such as MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc) on your machine before you install Enfold Server.
  2. Install the IFilter(s) on your machine before you install the Enfold Server application. The Adobe IFilter is included with the application itself (for versions 8 and later), so it doesn't require a separate install.
  3. Go to your Plone site and login as Zope Admin. Go to Plone Site Setup --> Addon Products.
  4. Remove the product named Enfold Server from the Installed list. (In this case, Enfold Server is actually just a product containing some Enfold customizations. Removing it here will not remove Enfold Server itself.
  5. Choose Enfold Server from the list of uninstalled products and click Install.

IFilters only allow uploaded binary files to be indexed. (They do not render them as web pages). If you want binary files such as MS Office docs to show up on web pages, you should instead use the Enfold Desktop product (which are available in free personal editions and supported commercial editions).

Setting up New IFilters

Because IFilters are installed on the Windows machine itself (and not through Plone), installing them is just a matter of running the .exe file on the machine. But for Enfold Server to recognize these IFilters, they need to be installed before you install Enfold Server.

However, Enfold Server has a utility to let you test the IFilter to make sure they are being recognized and catalogued correctly into Plone.

  1. Go to Plone Site Setup --> IFilter Integration.
  2. Upload file. (Try to make it a small file).
  3. After you press submit, you will see the text from this file appear on the resulting Plone page.

Will IFilter work with custom products?

Yes, as long it does nothing unusual with the catalog or the SearchableText field.

Can I install more IFilters?

Yes, any IFilter can be installed. Here are some of the ones we have found - none of these IFilters are tested, approved or supported by Enfold Systems in any manner.

Before IFilters can work with Office 2007 documents, you need to install the Office 2007 System Converter/Microsoft IFilter Pack. It is found at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=60C92A37-719C-4077-B5C6-CAC34F4227CC&displaylang=en). It is a free download for people with a licensed copy of Office 2007.

  • Adobe currently bundles a PDF iFilter with both Acrobat 8 as well as the free Adobe Reader 8.
  • IFilter Shop: a large number of IFilters including PDF, Zip, msg, XMP and Open Office.
  • IFilter.org: links to some free IFilters including mp3, Visio and CAB
  • JPEG iFilter: an IFilter for JPEG's

IFilter Shop: http://www.ifiltershop.com IFilter.org: http://www.ifilter.org/Links.htm Testing IFilters

You can test if the IFilter is working by going to the File Filtering screen in the Plone Control Panel and uploading the file that you expect to work. After you upload it, you should see the text from the uploaded file rendered on the web page (without formatting, usually).