Including Non-XHTML Files in WebHelp Plus Search

When end users perform a search in your online output, you can ensure that non-XHTML files (e.g. PDF, DOC, XLS) are included in that search. The files do not even need to be linked to any of the content in your Flare project. This feature is available if you publish WebHelp Plus output to a web server running Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).

For a complete scenario that illustrates these and other WebHelp Plus steps in a real-life situation, see WebHelp Plus Scenario.

How to Include Non-XHTML Files in Search

Enable WebHelp Plus Output If you want to take advantage of the advanced server-side features of WebHelp Plus (i.e., automatic runtime project merging, faster search, server-side search, searching of non-XHTML files), you must enable WebHelp Plus output. This includes performing the following tasks: (1) installing Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) and ASP.NET, (2) setting up the WebHelp Plus target and generating/publishing, (3) configuring IIS on the production server, (4) starting Microsoft Indexing Service or Microsoft Windows Search (depending on the operating system), and (5) enabling WebHelp Plus search. See Enabling WebHelp Plus Output.
Generate WebHelp Plus Output In Flare, generate a target using the WebHelp Plus output format. See Step 5: Building and Publishing Output.
Publish WebHelp Plus Output to Server Publish the WebHelp Plus output to your Microsoft IIS Web server.
(Optional) Add IFilter File types that are automatically supported for WebHelp Plus search include: Microsoft Office files, HTML files, and TXT files. For other non-supported file types, such as PDF documents, you can download and install a simple IFilter in order to include that file type in the search. To find and download the IFilter for the file type that you want to include, go to a website that provides these (such as http://www.ifilter.org) and follow the instructions for downloading IFilters. You must install the appropriate IFilters on the server where the output files will be published, and if you are testing WebHelp Plus output on your computer, you need to install the IFilter(s) locally as well.

Copy and Paste Non-XHTML Files to Appropriate Folder Copy all of the non-XHTML files that you want to be included in the search. Then paste them in the appropriate subfolder of the WebHelp Plus output that you published. By default, WebHelp Plus will find any files located in the project output folder, as well as the "AutoSearch" subfolder. Therefore, you can paste your extra non-XHTML files in the AutoSearch subfolder.

Note If you are testing WebHelp Plus output on your local machine, you need to view the output at least one time. When you view WebHelp Plus output on your local computer, Flare creates a special folder called "MCPreview" within your "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot" folder, and it places a copy of your WebHelp Plus output files in it. This enables you to test the advanced features of WebHelp Plus on your local machine. When testing this search feature on your computer, you need to place the non-XHTML files in the AutoSearch subfolder at this location (as opposed to the output folder that was generated where your Flare project is located).

Note If you are testing WebHelp Plus output on your local machine, you may need to wait a few minutes after viewing the output for the Indexing Service to fully scan your files. Otherwise, you may not immediately see the effects of the scan (e.g., searches of non-XHTML files, incorporation of merged output files) in the output. If you avoid performing other tasks during this period, the scanning of the files will be completed more quickly.

Note If you want to test WebHelp Plus on your local computer, the advanced search features of WebHelp Plus are not operable.

Note Flare's HTML5 Side and Top Navigation skins do not support runtime project merging.