Knowledgebase & FAQ

IFilters for RecFind 6

Updated 23 January 2012

Introduction

RecFind 6 uses Microsoft’s Text Searching Engine for indexing metadata and attachments.

In order to index certain attachment file formats (such as PDF, MSG, DOCX, XLSX, etc) you need to obtain additional "IFilters" and in some instances also install additional Microsoft components.

To view the attachments currently supported by your Microsoft SQL Server installation, please refer to the appendix later in this paper.

This FAQ provides installation instructions and links to all the common IFilters used by a typically RecFind 6 user.

Installation Process

To install IFilters, perform the following:

Obtain the appropriate IFilters from the appropriate supplier. For example, Microsoft supplies IFilters for Microsoft Office file types, Adobe supplies the IFilter for PDF, etc. For common IFilters, please see Common IFilters.
Install the IFilters on to your Microsoft SQL Server (please see installation instructions supplied with the IFilters)
Start Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
In SQL Server Management Studio, connect to the instance in which you want to enable IFilters, and then run the following command in that instance:
```
use master
go
sp_fulltext_service 'load_os_resources', 1
go
sp_fulltext_service 'verify_signature', 0
go
reconfigure with override
```
Stop and restart the Microsoft FullText Search Server (msftesql) service. To do this, from Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services, highlight the "SQL Server FullText Search" service and click Restart. Alternative you may:
1. ```
At a command prompt, type the following command and then press Enter:
```
```
net stop msftesql
```
  Note: To stop the msftesql service for a specific instance, run the following command:
```
net stop msftesql$InstanceName
```
2. ```
At a command prompt, type the following command and then press Enter:
```
```
net start msftesql
```
  Note: To start the msftesql service for a specific instance, run the following command:
```
net start msftesql$InstanceName
```
Restart the SQL Server service. To do this, from Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services, highlight the "SQL Server (<instance name>" service and click Restart (and agree to restart and dependant services).

Note: the Microsoft document mentions that this is not required if using SQL Server 2008. Our testing indicates that the filters will not appear in the sys.fulltext_document_types list until you restart the SQL Server services.
Using the RecFind 6 DRM, for a Re-index.

Note: Process taken from Microsoft Knowledgebase Article # 945934.

To confirm correct operation of IFilters, please refer to the appendix.

Common IFilters

PDF - 32bit Systems

(bundled within the Adobe Reader - see iFilter Integration Documentation (Adobe Administration Guide)

PDF - 64bit Systems

V11 add-on: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5542
Note: Requires change to your Windows PATH environment variable (followed by a reboot of SQL server). Please refer to the ADOBE READER® AND ACROBAT® IFILTER CONFIGURATION documentation for more information.

Office 2010 Documents

Includes IFilters for the following formats: Legacy Office Filter (97-2003; .doc, .ppt, .xls), Metro Office Filter (2007; .docx, .pptx, .xlsx), Zip Filter, OneNote filter, Visio Filter, Publisher Filter, and Open Document Format Filter. Note: Also indexes MSG files despite not been mentioned in the documentation.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5CD4DCD7-D3E6-4970-875E-ABA93459FBEE&displaylang=en

Other IFilters (requires purchasing)

IFilter Shop

Appendix: Viewing supported file extensions

To view the file extensions currently indexed by your SQL Server FullText Search service, run the following command via SQL Management Studio:

SELECT * FROM sys.fulltext_document_types

Please note that before IFILTERS will appear you may need to restart the SQL Server FullText Search service and your SQL Server services.

Appendix: Special requirement for e-mail attachments

In order to search on the attachments to e-mails, Windows Desktop Search needs to be installed on the SQL Server. You do not need to configure the software, it just needs to be installed in order for the SQL Server FullText Search service to index attachments.

You can obtain this software from:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/getitnow.mspx

or if using Windows Server 2008 / R2, enabled the File Services role and select the Windows Search Service feature.

Note: There are IFILTERS available that remove this requirement (such as Msg IFilter from IFilterShop, however it must be purchased).

Updated 23/Jan/2012 to remove reference to separate MSG iFilter and to the Office 2007 iFilter. The Office 2010 now includes the MSG filter.

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