EndUserSharePoint.com: Can attachment file names be found through search?
The question of the day comes from Stump the Panel:
Do you know why SharePoint search skips the attached file name? The search does find the document content but if searched on document name, it returns nothing. Is there a way to include name in search?
I faced this issue when I tried searching an attached document name (to a list item).
Response from Chris Quick:
Odd, I can confirm this behaviour in SharePoint. I’m going to guess this has to do with where the attachment is stored. For example, when you store a document there is a table in the SharePoint Content Database that has documents. This is where the search indexer looks to index document content.
I’m guessing that SharePoint stores attachments in another table that is indexed differently. However, that would not explain why the content is indexed, but not the filename. I’m going to suggest that this is SharePoint’s default behaviour — and a possible oversight of the product development team.
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- EndUserSharePoint.com: Can attachment file names be found through search?
How about indexing the attachments of an InfoPath form? Neither the filename or the content of a document attached through an InfoPath file control is indexed. Any ideas?
The reason is the following
Yhen uploading a file into InfoPath using the File Attachment control, InfoPath saves not only the binary data, but at in a binary way extra information like name etc;
When SharePoint is indexing, he finds the the InfoPath xml file, he can read inside, but then the indexer finds a bunch of strange characters
Frederik
Frederik,
Can you think of anyway around this limitation? Does it require an iFilter for the binary data?
A work around is to use code.
You can strip the fix header of the File Attachments field and upload the document to a document libary.
Also you can add a link into the InfoPath form, this way the user can open the InfoPath form, click on the hyperlink.
Frederik Van Lierde
I’m hoping someone can help me with the following two options in Sharepoint 2007. I should preface this with the fact that I’m not a System Administrator for the servers that Sharepoint runs on, but I am a full Admin for my site. Here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish.
#1 To be able to add a search function that will search not only the whole site, but mainly the documents (their titles/filenames and content) within the sites document libraries.
#2 How to setup document multiple document centers/libraries that will allow for the updating of a document in one library to update the same document in its other linked locations.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Phillip – The best help I could give you is to rethink your Information Architecture. Why are you duplicating documents? Why are there ‘copies’ of the same document in multiple libraries?
Web parts are used to expose documents in multiple locations so you won’t have to duplicate information. This sounds like a planning issue more than an update issue.
For the search question, one of the basic foundations of SharePoint is the ability to search through the metadata of the libraries, which includes the file names and titles. Also, search has the ability to search within documents.
I think the first thing that needs to be done is for you to start with a site planning exercise to decide on how to structure your information so that it is not duplicated and can be easily accessed through search.
Thanks for replying. There will be team sites in which some documents will be shared between different teams and users based upon their functions and access. My goal is to also have that information searchable by leadership members as well. I very much appreciate your input. Would you happen to know how to accomplish these goals technically?
Phillip – The quick answer is to setup a central document repository where all shared documents and data are stored. All teams have access to that repository. If there are documents relevant to specific teams, those can be stored on the team sites or in a protected repository, depending upon who is maintaining them.
You might consider getting an Information Architect to look things over with you. For the money you will save in the long run, it will be a worth while investment. — Mark