Introduction

DocFetcher Server is an indexing and search server. Specifically:

  1. It is software that runs as a background process on a single server computer.

  2. It indexes the filenames and contents of files that either reside on the server computer or are accessible from the server computer through a network drive.

  3. It lets one or more clients connect to it via a web interface, through which they can run searches on the indexes and retrieve the result files.

The terms application and server will be used interchangeably to refer to DocFetcher Server: It is an application that runs on a server computer, and it acts as a server from the viewpoint of clients.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of indexing: It refers to the creation or updating of an index, and you can think of an index as a kind of dictionary that vastly accelerates file searches, at the cost of having to create and update the index.

This documentation covers all aspects of administering a DocFetcher Server instance, and was written with two audiences in mind:

  • The “beginners”, i.e., advanced computer users with little to no understanding of server-related concepts.

  • The “experts”, i.e., seasoned server administrators.

If you fall into the beginner camp, then after reading this documentation you will:

  • have an elementary understanding of server-related concepts,

  • be able to configure DocFetcher Server and get it running,

  • be able to create and update indexes,

  • be able to access DocFetcher Server’s web interface locally, i.e., via a web browser that runs on the same computer as the server.

What this documentation does not and cannot teach beginners are complex, sprawling subjects like how to access the web interface from another computer, how to integrate DocFetcher Server with other web server technology, and how to set up a web server from scratch. For subjects such as these, please refer to the abundance of learning resources on the web.

If you fall into the expert camp, then this documentation will probably make for light reading, at the end of which you will know pretty much all there is to know about managing a DocFetcher Server instance – mainly because the application is really not that complex compared to other web server technology, such as the Apache web server.