No items are returned in the search results, and you receive a "No matching documents were found" error message when you search for content in PDF documents that are streamed from .aspx pages in SharePoint Portal Server 2003

Consider the following scenario in Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Content in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents is streamed from .aspx pages. When you search the portal site for this content, no items are returned in the search results. Additionally, you receive the following error message: You experience these symptoms even though the content that you search for exists in .pdf documents on the portal site.

This problem occurs if the .pdf documents that are streamed from .aspx pages are incorrectly indexed in SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Typically, SharePoint Portal Server 2003 uses the file name extension of the document that is being indexed to determine the correct filter to use. When a document is streamed from an .aspx page, SharePoint Portal Server 2003 ignores the ContentType property that may be specified in the stream. SharePoint Portal Server 2003 uses the file name extension of the .aspx page instead of the MIME type to determine the filter to use for indexing. Therefore, the streamed .pdf document is incorrectly indexed.

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 post-Service Pack 1 Hotfix Package December 21, 2004. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Add the Extension registry entry

To enable this hotfix after you install it, add the Extension registry entry to the following registry subkey, and then set the registry entry to ".pdf": 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. To enable this hotfix, follow these steps:

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\Classes\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/pdf
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value.
4. Type extension, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click Extension, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type .pdf.
7. Click OK, and then click Exit on the File menu to quit Registry Editor.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.