Thunderstone Blog: Customized Search Engine & Search Software

May 2008 - Archive

CONTENTS

• Questions on Search
• Thunderstone Search Appliance Version 6.3 Released
• Quote of the Month
• Tech Tips: SYSUTIL and VXINFO
• Subscription/Unsubscription and Contacts

QUESTIONS ON SEARCH

As Web 2.0 technologies become more prevalent what does that mean for the role of search in the enterprise?

Web 2.0 technologies provide users the ability to create their own tools for organizing and finding information. While this can be a challenge for IT staff to set rules and create a framework for the applications, the ability for users to easily create applications will be used, and the challenge will be to make it easy for that content to be reused throughout the entire enterprise, rather than be stuck in an individual's application.

Enterprise search will evolve to allow more interesting queries using more data from the organization, and be able to consume data from and produce results in more formats to be used throughout the organization, and in individual applications users create. For example a user may create an RSS feed that publishes documents containing statistics about cancer, that another user combines with other feeds to aid their research.

One of the key challenges is that it can be more difficult to index the content in a Web 2.0 application, as AJAX and other technologies mean a single URL can house the entire application, and there is no good URL to visit for a search result. That requires care in designing the application to allow a search to work against Web 2.0 content.

To get your questions on search answered please email .

Thunderstone Search Appliance Version 6.3 Released

With New SOAP API and Single Sign-On Authentication Helper for Windows Environments

Thunderstone Software LLC has released Version 6.3 of the Thunderstone Search Appliance. The newest Appliance software enhancements improve the flexibility and ease of use of the Appliance in enterprise systems.

The updates apply to both the Thunderstone Search Appliance and the Thunderstone Parametric Search Appliance, include:

• DataLoad SOAP API
• Search SOAP API
• Single Sign-On Authentication Helper for Windows Active Directory environments whether using password, smart card, or other authentication mechanism.

The SOAP API allows users to more easily access the Appliance programatically for the purpose of loading data and searching. It should integrate easily into any development environment that supports SOAP.

The DataLoad SOAP API can be used to create custom connectors to push data from content repositories into the search appliance.

The Search SOAP API allows developers to bring results into their applications to show or manipulate how they want.

The Single Sign-On Authentication Helper lets the Appliance make use of ActiveDirectory based authentication schemes for results authorization, hiding results a user is not allowed to see completely from view.

If you have configured your Thunderstone Search Appliance to update automatically you should already have these available on your appliance, otherwise you can update the appliance manually to get these features.

If you have any questions about how these work please contact our support staff at or +1 216 820 2200.

Quote of the Month

"Thunderstone's approach is somewhat unique in basing its technology on a (SQL-compliant) relational database and full-text searches (allowing advanced pattern matching more traditional indexes find hard to cope with). This, and its relative speed, may be an advantage when using Texis as a search foundation to build applications on."

The Enterprise Search Report 2008
CMS Watch

Tech Tips: SYSUTIL and VXINFO

If you are writing a script that may need to run on multiple platforms then the <sysutil> and <vxinfo> functions can be useful for making your scripts more portable.

<sysutil> provides operating system independent ways of working with files, so the same code will work on Windows and Unix variants.

The <vxinfo> call lets you find out about the Vortex environment you are running in, which database is currently being used, where the software was installed, and which version of Texis is being used amongst others.

Used together these can improve the portability of your scripts and avoid headaches if they need to run elsewhere.

Feedback, suggestions and questions are welcome to

With New SOAP API and Single Sign-On Authentication Helper for Windows Environments

CLEVELAND, OH - May 27, 2008 - Thunderstone Software LLC (http://www.thunderstone.com), a long-time industry R&D leader in providing extremely robust search solutions for businesses, NGOs, governments and educational institutions, today announced that it has released Version 6.3 of the Thunderstone Search Appliance.

The newest Appliance software enhancements, which apply to both the Thunderstone Search Appliance and the Thunderstone Parametric Search Appliance, include:

• DataLoad SOAP API
• Search SOAP API
• Single Sign-On Authentication Helper for Windows environments (e.g. ActiveDirectory/SmartCard)

The SOAP API allows users to more easily access the Appliance programatically for the purpose of loading data and searching. It should integrate easily into any development environment that supports SOAP.

The Single Sign-On Authentication Helper lets the Appliance make use of ActiveDirectory based authentication schemes for results authorization.

The Thunderstone Search Appliance is a plug-and-play device combining the simplicity of a hosted service with the security and performance of a local solution. Built on Thunderstone's advanced Texis software, the Appliance can handle more than 1,000 typical queries a minute -- providing excellent value without adding administrative overhead.

The Thunderstone Parametric Search Appliance combines the flexibility and power of Texis with the ease of use of an appliance. It provides an easy way to create applications that combine full-text and structured data without programming.

About Thunderstone
Thunderstone Software LLC (http://www.thunderstone.com) pioneered simultaneous searching of both structured and unstructured data with the Texis relational database optimized for full-text search. Since 1981 Thunderstone has continued to develop its global reputation as provider of the world's most powerful, scalable and flexible enterprise search solutions.

Sales contact: Fred Harmon

+1 216 820 2200 ext.105

Media contact: Peter Thusat

+1 216 820 2200 ext.118

May 20 - 21, 2008 Conference in New York City

CLEVELAND, OH - May 16, 2008 - Thunderstone Software LLC (http://www.thunderstone.com), a long-time industry R&D leader in providing extremely robust search solutions for businesses, NGOs, governments and educational institutions, will participate as a Gold-Level Sponsor and exhibitor (Booth 8) during Enterprise Search Summit 2008, May 20 - 21, at the Hilton New York in Manhattan.

Enterprise Search Summit visitors to Booth 8 will have an opportunity to learn more about Thunderstone's entire line of enterprise search products, including:

• TEXIS -- Texis, the innovative development platform behind Thunderstone's entire line of enterprise search products, is the only fully-integrated SQL RDBMS that intelligently queries and manages databases containing natural language text, standard data types, geographic information, images, video, audio and other payload data.

• THUNDERSTONE PARAMETRIC SEARCH APPLIANCE -- The Thunderstone Parametric Search Appliance combines the flexibility and power of Texis with the ease of use of an appliance. It provides an easy way to create applications that combine full-text and structured data without programming.

• WEBINATOR -- The Webinator is a sophisticated Web index and retrieval package built on the Texis platform. It allows the Website administrator to create and provide a high quality retrieval interface to collections of web documents no matter where they reside.

• THUNDERSTONE SEARCH APPLIANCE -- The Thunderstone Search Appliance is a plug and play device combining the simplicity of a hosted service with the security and performance of a local solution. Built on Thunderstone's advanced Texis software, the Appliance can handle more than 1,000 typical queries a minute -- providing excellent value without adding administrative overhead.

About Enterprise Search Summit

Enterprise Search Summit (http://www.enterprisesearchsummit.com/) is an intense, in-depth, 2-day conference that covers how to develop, implement and enhance cutting-edge internal search capabilities. Attendees learn strategies and develop skills needed to make their organizations' content not only searchable but 'findable.' Enterprise Search Summit 2008 will emphasize 'extending search' as a major computing platform.

About Thunderstone
Thunderstone Software LLC (http://www.thunderstone.com) pioneered simultaneous searching of both structured and unstructured data with the Texis relational database optimized for full-text search. Since 1981 Thunderstone has continued to develop its global reputation as provider of the world's most powerful, scalable and flexible enterprise search solutions.

Sales contact: Fred Harmon

+1 216 820 2200 ext.105

Media contact: Peter Thusat

+1 216 820 2200 ext.118

March 2008 - Archive

CONTENTS

• Questions on Search
• Happenings
• Upcoming Events
• FREE Fose 2008 Expo Pass
• "Spring Training" Specials
• Tech Corner: DataLoad API;
• Updated Connector List
• Subscription/Unsubscription and Contacts

Questions on Search

When implementing an enterprise search solution one of the keys is effectively integrating the search solution into the other systems and workflows in the organization. What recommendations do you have as to how this can be achieved?

The first thing to consider when looking at integrating a search solution into existing systems and workflows is understanding the existing systems and workflows, and what is required of the search solution. A search solution should have the flexibility to be tailored to existing and future workflows. A well documented interface to the search solution will make it easier to integrate both from the data acquisition side, as well as being able to provide results where they are most needed.

Beyond that is ensuring that the search solution can meet the business requirements of the workflows. Some business requirements to consider there include security models ensuring only authorized people see sensitive information, being able to use all the available information including meta data, structured data from databases along with the unstructured information, how quickly new data should be available to searchers, and what type of searches are possible.

To get your questions on search answered please email .

Customer Quote

"I've used the software before while working at NASA a couple years ago, but I was also quite impressed by a couple new features such as the admin interface for indexing the site. Anyway, Webinator remains an amazing product -- very relevant search results without much effort and customizable scripts to still somehow improve on precision. People were really impressed with the generic script I downloaded to create a site index."

Michael Hohner
University of Winnipeg

Happenings

Thunderstone Software LLC was selected as "one of the 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management" by KM World.

John Turnbull (Thunderstone President & CEO) and Derek Matthews (Lead Knowledge Architect, Ariba, Inc.) co-presented a conference session entitled "Enhance Search With Structured Data: Bringing Together Business Intelligence and Search" at the AIIM 2008 Exposition & Conference in Boston.

John Turnbull (President & CEO) and Peter Thusat (Communication Director & CMO) conducted an analyst briefing with Roger Whitehead (Senior Analyst for Search and Collaboration, Bloor Research.)

Upcoming Events

FOSE

We will be exhibiting at FOSE, the largest trade show designed for government technology professionals in Washington DC April 1-3 2008.

The exhibition is open from 10am to 4pm daily at the Walter E Washington Convention Center and you can visit us at booth 2635.

Enterprise Search Summit 2008

The Enterprise Search Summit in New York City May 19-21 is focused on extending search as a major computing platform. It is held at the Hilton New York, and Thunderstone is a Gold Level Sponsor.

If you are going to be in town for any of these events please let us know and we can schedule some time to get together and make sure we are serving you as well as possible.

FREE Fose 2008 Expo Pass

You can attend the FOSE Exhibition for FREE, compliments of Thunderstone Software LLC. Be sure to visit Thundertone's booth 2635, April 1 - 3 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

Just register online (http://www.fose.com) using the VIP CODE: FEX169, and you'll receive a FREE, all-access pass to:

• the entire FOSE show floor
• keynote speeches
• all show floor education sessions.

Plus, when you enter the VIP CODE: FEX169 you'll also be automatically entered to win the VIP Attendee Package. (See FOSE.COM web site for details.)

Thunderstone's Fred Harmon and Peter Thusat look forward to seeing you at the FOSE 2008. Call us at +1 216 820 2200 if you'd like to schedule a time to meet with us at booth 2635.

"Spring Training" Discounts During April

Spring is upon us, although the snow on the ground in Cleveland suggests otherwise. Are your search users not getting the hits they want? Are your administrators having trouble getting the right data into the rotation or spotting where problems are?

Maybe your organization's Webinator or Search Appliance users could benefit from Thunderstone-provided training on how to maximize the value of search queries that utilize:

• Special pattern matchers (regular expressions, quantities, fuzzy patterns)
• Document similarity searches (Doc Surfing)
• In Context result listings, including within Acrobat Reader for PDF results
• Link reference reports
• Relevance ranking
• Proximity controls
• Natural language
• Set logic.

Or perhaps your Thunderstone search solution administrator(s) would like to learn more about:

• indexing multiple sites into one common index
• providing detailed verification and logging of document linkages
• indexing/updating documents while the database is in use
• allowing multiple databases at a site
• customizing Texis Web Script (Vortex) for complete flexibility
• collecting and analyzing query logs
• using a SQL query interface to the database for maintenance and reports
• allowing remote sites to be copied to the local file system
• running multiple index engines concurrently against a common database
• delegating administration selectively so that sub-administrators have access only to special settings and collections
• some feature, interest, need or concern that your organization wants to address in a special training session with Thunderstone's software engineers.

Call Fred Harmon at +1 216 820 2200 (or email him at ) and ask how you can save as much as ten percent (10%) on Thunderstone's customized training programs conducted this Spring.

Quote of the Month

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

George Bernard Shaw
Irish dramatist (1856 - 1950)

TECH TIPS: Search Appliance Data-LOAD API

While the most common way to index data with the Thunderstone Search Appliance is to crawl the data from a website, file server or database, you can also push data into the appliance using the DataLoad API.

The DataLoad API lets you create connectors from data sources such as content management systems to keep the appliance in sync with the repository. The search will reflect the updates you make in real time, so as soon as you add a document it will be searchable. Make sure to check our updated list of existing connectors in this issue or on our website before building your own to save effort.

The API is available both as an XML API using a simple HTTP POST with the data, or there is also a SOAP API available if you are creating a web services application. The Appliance Manual has full details on using the API.

The data you insert is comprised of all of the fields the appliance knows about, and you can choose to either insert the plain text of the document to be searched or the original binary file (e.g. PDF, HTML or MS Word,) and let the Appliance process the file normally.

When configuring the DataLoad API you need to make sure that the server that is sending the data to the Thunderstone Search Appliance has been configured as a Cluster Member in the System Wide Settings Page as the appliance will reject updates from unknown servers.

Updated Connector List

The Thunderstone Search Appliance is continually expanding the list of connectors. Connectors are now available for the following repositories:

• Microsoft SharePoint 2003, 2007
• EMC Documentum Content Server
• EMC Documentum eRoom
• IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 5.x, 6.x, 7.x
• IBM Websphere Portal 6.0 WCM
• IBM Websphere Portal 6.0 DM
• BEA Weblogic Portal 10.0
• Hummingbird Document Manager 5.1
• SAP KM Portal
• Interwoven WorkSite

Contact us for details on getting a connector or to find out when your system will be supported.

Feedback, suggestions and questions are welcome to