When you first open dtSearch the window layout and user preferences will be using the programs default settings.  We’ve found that modifying certain settings will increase the search capabilities and will make navigating and working with the program easier.  The system will remember your preferences so you only have to modify these settings once.

By default, the program is set to search document content, but not file or folder names and there are times when searching file and folder names can be helpful.  Additionally, the search results screen uses a top-bottom layout (the list of results will be on the top with a document preview on the bottom).  Since most documents have a portrait orientation, a side-by-side layout is generally easier to work with.  With Adobe Acrobat documents, there is an additional plug-in needed to be able to navigate through search results within the same document.

To change the user preferences, go to the “Options” menu and choose “Preferences”.

In the Preferences window, under “Indexing Options” place a check next to “Index filenames as text” (leave “Include path information” checked as well).

Next, go to “Search results” within the “Search Options” section and place a check next to “Checkbox” and “Type” within the “Items to include in search results” section.  Then under the “Window layout” section, select “Vertical split”.

Finally, select “PDF view options” in the “Document Options” section.  Look in the “Highlighting hits in Adobe Reader” area.  If the screen reads “A plug-in is needed…” then select the “Configure Plug-in” button and follow the screen prompts to install (if the screen reads the plug-in is installed then there is nothing more you need to do).

Once you have made the changes, click “OK”.  You will receive a message notifying you that the new window layout won’t appear until you close and restart dtSearch.

To see the changes, close dtSearch and re-open it.  You will see the window layout is in the side-by-side “Vertical split” view.  When you run a search, your search results will now appear on the left, with checkboxes and the document viewer on the right.  Within PDF documents you will now be able to use the hit navigation buttons.

Going forward, any new indexes you create will include the ability to search file and folder names.  If you wish to add this feature to any of your existing indexes, run “Update Index” from the “Index” menu.

For additional help with dtSearch, please use the “Help” menu or visit dtSearch.com.

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