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Last Reviewed:  April 19, 2023

Share a dtSearch Index

If you use the dtSearch engine (formerly called "Advanced Search"), it's possible to share an index between all of your users as opposed to having each user generate their own index. This article describes how to set it up.

NOTE: The dtSearch engine is only available in FileCenter Professional.

Prepare the Network

On the network, set up a new folder to hold the indexes. Don't re-use an old one. This folder should NOT be in a cabinet.

Set Up the Index Owner's Machine

One machine needs to be the index "owner". This machine will be in charge of maintaining the index. On this machine:

  1. Go to FileCenter's Settings
  2. Select Search on the left
  3. Select Enable dtSearch and set the Default Search Engine to dtSearch
  4. Still in Settings, select dtSearch Indexing on the left
  5. Set the Root Path for Network Indexes to the folder you just created
  6. Select Enable Auto Indexing
  7. Select each of the network cabinets you want to index
  8. Establish a time for the indexer to run each day
  9. Click OK

You can optionally force the indexes to generate now:

  1. Go to the Cabinets button on the main toolbar
  2. Select the Indexing tab
  3. Put a checkmark next to each cabinet you'll be indexing
  4. Select Full for the Index Type
  5. Click Start Indexer

Now go to lunch while FileCenter builds the indexes.

Once indexing is done, go back to the Cabinets button on the main toolbar. Edit each of the cabinets you indexed and look at the Index tab. You'll see a path to the cabinet index. Note down this path.

Set Up Other Machines

Finally, go to each one of your other machines and do the following:

  1. Go into FileCenter's Settings > Search
  2. Make sure that Enable dtSearch is selected and the Default Search Engine is set to dtSearch
  3. Still in Settings, select dtSearch Indexing on the left
  4. Make sure Enable Auto Indexer is turned off
  5. Click OK
  6. Go into the Cabinets button on the main toolbar
  7. Select a cabinet and click Edit
  8. Go to the Index tab
  9. Set the Custom Index Path to the path you noted on the "owner" machine
  10. Repeat for any other cabinets

In a nutshell, you're generating and maintaining the indexes on one machine. On the other machines, you're pointing each cabinet to the shared index.

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