Descripton of the new Search feature in Office XP

The new Search feature in Office XP is a service that builds database catalogs of the Office files that are available on your computer's hard disk, in SharePoint Portal Server projects, and in SharePoint Web folders.

This article describes the Search feature.

Several enhancements have been made to the Search feature of Office XP. In earlier versions of Office, most programs have search features, such as Find and Replace. Office XP combines all the best sets of these features to create the new Search feature.

Search Architecture

Most of the new enhancements of the Search feature incorporate fast searching and the Indexing Service.

Fast searching is the revision of the Find Fast feature that was first implemented in Microsoft Office 95. Fast searching builds off the Indexing Service of Office XP to create database catalogs of the Office files that are available on your computer's hard disk, in SharePoint Portal Server projects, and in SharePoint Web folders.

The Indexing Service is a feature that was built off the Index Server technology of Microsoft Windows 2000 to create a better cataloging experience for fast searching, as well as to offer the ability to search any Office file for information contained in that file. For example, you can search for a specific word or phrase from one Office document and use the Indexing Service to search for that information in any file that is listed in your fast-searching file catalog.

NOTE: When the Indexing Service is creating the initial catalog and updating it, there may appear to be excessive hard disk activity.

Office XP also uses a new search API to perform searches on fast-searching-cataloged local drives, SharePoint Portal Server projects spaces, and SharePoint Web folders. Code is built into the API to allow use of the earlier Find Fast search capabilities to search any volumes that are not fast-searching-cataloged. This feature ensures correct search capabilities when files are added to your local computer that are not yet cataloged with fast searching. Find Fast code must also be used when you are searching network shares or removable media, because these locations are not cataloged with fast searching.

NOTE: When you search SharePoint Portal Server projects, SharePoint Web folders, and network shares, you may receive incomplete search results if you do not have the correct access permissions to perform a full search.

Basic Search Task Pane

The Office XP Search feature uses task pane technology in its user interface implementation. The task pane offers a couple of enhancements, such as providing more visual identification of files found.

User Interface Consistency

Because it uses the task pane, the Search feature looks the same in every Office program. This creates a smaller learning curve for you and thus offers a more productive work experience.

Running the Search Task Pane

To display the Basic Search task pane, do one of the following:

• On the File menu, click Search. -or-
  
  
• Click the Search icon on the command bar. -or-
  
  
• In the task pane, click Search in the drop-down list.

When you first install Office XP and use the Search feature, fast searching is turned off by default.

In order to use the fast searching capabilities of Office XP, first verify that the Indexing Service is installed, and then turn on fast searching.

Install Indexing Service

NOTE: You only need to perform this procedure on the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.

Fast searching does not need to be installed on a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer. Instead, Office XP uses the built-in search capabilities of Windows 2000.

You can install the Indexing Service in one of the following two ways:

• Install as part of the Office XP installation.
• Click the Install hyperlink in the Search dialog box.

To Install the Indexing Service as Part of the Office XP Installation

NOTE: You only need to perform this procedure on the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.

Fast searching does not need to be installed on a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer. Instead, Office XP uses the built-in search capabilities of Windows 2000.

1. Quit all Office programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
4. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click to select Microsoft Office XP product, where Office XP product is the name of the specific Office product being used. If you are using a standalone version of one of the Office programs, click to select the appropriate product in the list. Click Add/Remove.
5. In the Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next.
   
   This displays the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box.
6. Click the plus sign (+) next to the Office Tools, click the icon next to Support for fast searching, and then select the Run from my computer installation state from the shortcut menu that appears.
7. After you change the installation state for Support for fast searching, click Update.

NOTE: For more information about the different installation states, click Help in the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box.

Turn On Fast Searching

NOTE: You only need to perform this procedure on the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.

After you install the Indexing Service by using the Install hyperlink in the Basic Search task pane, this hyperlink is replaced with a Search options hyperlink.

1. Click Search options in the Basic Search task pane.
2. In the Indexing Service Settings dialog box, select Yes, enable Indexing Service and run when my computer is idle.
3. Click OK.

Fast searching is now turned on and will begin creating a catalog of Office files for your local hard disks.

Search in Multiple Applications

The Basic Search task pane, in correlation with the Indexing Service that is installed as part of Office XP, also allows you to search for information in multiple programs at once.

For example, in Microsoft Word 2002, you can search for "Nostradamus", but instead of stating that you only want to search the current document, you can tell the feature to search anywhere. This allows you to search any cataloged Office file for the information you want.

The biggest improvement made to the Search feature involves the way that you view your search results. Your search results are displayed in the Search Results task pane, similar to the way that Microsoft Internet Explorer displays search results.

The Search Results task pane replaces the Basic Search task pane as soon as you click Search or Go. The search results are cataloged by the locations of the found files. For example, all Outlook information is placed in the Outlook heading, and SharePoint Portal Server Projects are found under the SharePoint Portal Server heading.

Search Results Information

If you want more information about a file that you find in your search, you can rest your mouse pointer over the document name in the Search Results task pane. This displays a ToolTip with information about the text string that was found.

Search Results Actions

When you click to select a document or file in the Search Results task pane, the item displays an arrow on its right side. To display the Action menu, point to this arrow with your mouse pointer.

For additional information about the Indexing Service, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: