Full-Text Retrieval (FTR) indexes files for searching based on properties or document content (including text) in files when an object is created, updated, or deleted. The actual locations of the text occurrences within the files are also identified. The files can be text files, word processing files (such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect), or CAD files (such as MicroStation, SmartSketch, or AutoCAD). However, only the text portions of the CAD files are indexed and available for searching.
The FTR Service provides three major functionalities:
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Data storage through a process known as FTR Indexing. For Full-Text Retrieval (FTR), FTR supports the indexing of objects if the class definition has the ISPFFTRItem interface instantiated and the property that needs to be indexed has the FTRindicator property set to True.
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Data retrieval through the process of FTR Searching. Once objects have been indexed in a collection, you can search on the indexed data to retrieve objects matching the search criteria.
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Providing a GUI that displays the class definitions enabled for FTR and the property definitions that can be indexed. This feature applies to Full-Text Retrieval (FTR) only.
These three basic features implemented for FTR Interface support in Full-Text Retrieval (FTR) are FTR Configuration, FTR Indexing, and FTR Search.
For more information on the FTR Scheduler, see How to Configure the Infrastructure Model.
Full-Text Retrieval creates an inverted index (a list of the individual words with locations in the files) and uses this index at search time. FTR allows you to perform the following tasks:
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Search for text remotely using a distributed client/server architecture
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Search using Boolean and wildcards
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Search documents in their native formats
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Search documents without having to know the formats
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Use common functionality on all supported hardware platforms
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Index on one platform and search on a different platform
Configuration with SmartPlant Foundation
FTR can be used as a stand-alone product or configured with SmartPlant Foundation. An administrator installs and configures FTR, then users can index objects (files) in a vault or project and can search for files, attributes, or document content (including text) in files. The search can include files in a project, text in a SmartSketch file, or a project name in various files.
Using FTR with SmartPlant Foundation:
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In SmartPlant Foundation, you can access the FTR Search command from the Find menu in the Desktop Client. The command allows you to search object properties (including file names) and content. For more information, see Searching in SmartPlant Foundation.
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In SmartPlant Foundation, you can configure the FTR server through the FTR Server Configuration command from the Administration menu in the Desktop Client.