Will dtSearch work with data hosted within cloud storage solutions such as Box, DropBox and OneDrive?
The short answer is: possibly.
dtSearch[1] is designed to work with localized content stored on disks that are visible through the Windows file system. Essentially this means that dtSearch will be able to index files that are saved to the local hard disk installed in your computer (or a connected USB disk drive).
Box, DropBox, and OneDrive can be configured to synchronize selected files or folders between the cloud storage and a local computer hard drive. Since dtSearch indexes local files, an index could be created that includes local copies of the cloud synced folders. As files are added to cloud storage, copies of the files are added to the synced folder on a regular schedule. When you update the dtSearch index (manually or via a scheduled update), it will recognize any new files within the synced folders and include them in the search.
While this may work well in theory, it is important to recognize that most cloud solutions offer a few different options for synchronization, and the settings selected affect the ability for dtSearch to work with the file.
For example:
Dropbox has “Online-only” and “Available offline” modes.
- “Available offline” makes a local copy of the files that are on the cloud storage and does not require you to have an internet connection to open them. If you want to use dtSearch with DropBox files, this is the option we recommend.
- “Online-only” allows you to see a list of the files, but local copies of the file are not downloaded by default. It’s possible that you may have cached copies of certain local files you opened recently, but it will not be consistent or reliable. We do not recommend trying to use dtSearch with this type of synchronization.
Box and OneDrive have similar options. These cloud storage solutions usually provide special icons to identify which files are saved locally on your computer and in the cloud. Below is a chart from Microsoft depicting file status in OneDrive.
It is important to understand the status of the files. While you may think that you are indexing all your client files, you may in practice only be able to index a small set of the files. Each cloud storage provider synchronizes files differently and it is important to understand how this is handled.
In summary, do not assume that because you have tried to index your cloud storage files that you have been successful. The files you want indexed must live outside of the cloud–either locally on your computer or on an external hard drive for dtSearch to work as expected.
[1] dtSearch only works on Microsoft Windows-based operating systems. It will not work with Apple based operating systems unless you are running a virtual Windows operating system. For more information about dtSearch please see previous blog posts here and here.