How dtSearch Works on the Desktop

dtSearch is able to search through gigabytes of text in a second because it builds an index that stores the location of words in files. dtSearch automatically recognizes and supports all popular file formats, and never alters your original files.

Once dtSearch has built an index, search speed is usually less than a second, even through multiple gigabytes of text. Since you may sometimes want to search files that dtSearch has not indexed, dtSearch also does unindexed as well as "combination" searches.

Indexing

Indexing is easy — simply select folders or entire drives to index and dtSearch does the rest.

	Once dtSearch has built an index, it can automatically update it using the Windows Task Scheduler to reflect additions, deletions and modifications to your document collection.
	Updating an index is even faster, since dtSearch will check each file, and only reindex files that have been added or changed.
	dtSearch automatically recognizes and supports all popular file formats, and never alters original files.

Once dtSearch has built an index, it can automatically update it using the Windows Task Scheduler to reflect additions, deletions and modifications to your document collection.

Indexing, searching and document display do not in any way affect original files.

	When dtSearch does an indexed search, it searches directly on the index that it has built.
	An unindexed search, in contrast, searches directly through the documents.
	When dtSearch displays a retrieved document, it refers to the original document, using information in the index to locate hits; like indexing and searching, document display does not in any way affect the original files.

Searching

dtSearch has over two dozen indexed, unindexed, fielded and full-text search options. See dtSearch Spider for searching across the Web from within dtSearch Desktop.

dtSearch Desktop displays an HTML file retrieved by dtSearch Spider.

Features to assist in search formation include:
	a scrolling word list, providing instant feedback as you type in a search.
	a look-up word option, showing the effect on words retrieved with fuzzy, phonic, stemming or wild card searching activated.

Display

After a search, dtSearch will display a customizable list of all files retrieved in a search request. Simply click to sort (or resort) search results by "relevancy," name, date, or fields. A second window will display the currently selected document.

Some things you can do following a search:
	Browse all retrieved files (word processor, database, spreadsheet, email, Unicode, etc.) with Unicode, etc.) with highlighted hits.
	Browse HTML and PDF with highlighted hits as well as embedded links and images intact.
	Automatically un-ZIP and display files in a ZIP archive.
	Use multiple hit and file navigation options like "next hit," "previous hit" and "next document" to browse retrieved files.
	Do a second-level text search in a retrieved file.
	See an executive summary of your search results showing hits in context.
	Cut and paste text; export search results to another application.
	Launch a file in its native application.

"A powerful, flexible lifesaver" (Windows Mag), dtSearch does instant thesaurus/concept, natural language, fuzzy, phonic, boolean, proximity, field, numeric range searches through gigabytes of Word, WordPerfect, database, XML, HTML, PDF, ZIP, Office 2000 files 2000 files