XML documents are missing from the search results when you search SharePoint Portal Server 2003

When you search a Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 portal site for XML documents that contain certain content, you receive inconsistent search results. The number of XML documents that is returned in the search results may vary. The following scenario demonstrates the symptoms that you experience:

1. You type a string in the Enter keyword(s) box on a Web page in the portal site, and then you click the Execute search button. The XML documents that contain the string are returned in the search results as expected.
2. You type the same string in the Enter keyword(s) box on a Web page in the portal site, and then you enclose the string in quotation marks. When you click the Execute search button, some XML documents are not returned in the search results.
3. You programmatically search the portal site by using the same string that you typed in the Enter keyword(s) box. The query that you use to search the portal site uses quotation marks around the string. When you run the query, some XML document are not returned in the search results.

Depending on how you perform the search, some XML documents may be missing from the search results.

This issue occurs because the XML filter in SharePoint Portal Server 2003 does not break words that are separated by XML tags in the XML document.

This problem was first fixed in a hotfix that is now contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest SharePoint Portal Server 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information

This problem is corrected in Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for SharePoint Portal Server 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After you install the service pack, follow the steps in the "How to enable the hotfix" section to set the FilterAggressiveBreak registry entry and to enable the hotfix.

Hotfix information

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 post-Service Pack 1 Hotfix Package November 5, 2004. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

How to enable the hotfix

To enable this hotfix after you install it, add the FilterAggressiveBreak registry entry to the following registry subkey, and then set the registry entry to 1:
To enable this hotfix, follow these steps. Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SPSSearch\Gathering Manager
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type FilterAggressiveBreak, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click FilterAggressiveBreak, and then click Modify.
6. Type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
7. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

When you set the FilterAggressiveBreak registry entry to 1, the XML filter breaks words that are separated by XML tags. If you do not want the XML filter to break words that are separated by XML tags, set the FilterAggressiveBreak registry entry to 0 (zero), or remove the FilterAggressiveBreak registry entry.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Service Pack 2.