Searchable Document Database

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We have ~150 policies written in Word sitting on a share. It is difficult
for users to find the policy/information they want. We are trying to find a
way to make a searchable front-end for these documents. We know that we
could create a Lotus Notes database and insert the documents into it but I'd
rather find a Microsoft solution.

About 10 years ago I tried compiling Word documents into a Help File - it
worked for the pilot but failed miserably when we tried to scale it up. Is
this a possibility now that the help file format has changed?

We have MS SQL 2000 and Visual Studio 2005 expertise - if that helps.
 
I thin all you can create an addin which allows the user to select a policy
via a user form. All these ploci documents or their path can be stored on the
SQL server and the policy document can be returned to the user.

You can do this using Studio 2005 or even in word 2003.

alternatively, if you would like not to do any programming, create various
folders for different policy types, let all the policies be in template
format and you can set the temlplate location in word. so whenever users
click on New file based on template, they can directly go to a particulr
category and select the policy.

Regards,
Pranav Vaidya
 
We need the documents to be searcable. For example, we might want to search
for "Substance Abuse" The system should then list all the policies that
contain the search term in a live list ranked by frequency of the serarch
term. Users should then be able to click on a member of the live list to
open the document and the search term should be highlighted throught the
document.
 
I didn't know about being able to search the contents of a directory. Thank
you, I will find that handy. Sadly, it is far far beyond my users skill set.
 
Where would I go to learn more about this? Would we create & maintain our
docuements in Word and clone them as PDFs? What do you then do to get the
search functionality? Would we need to buy a few copies of the full Adobe
Acrobat or is something else needed?

--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


JoAnn Paules said:
This is the PRIMARY reason I prefer electronic documents in a .pdf file.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
Click to expand...
 
Yes, you create them in Word and then "print" them to a single .pdf file.
The new version of Acrobat has made combining multiple files quite easy. The
search function is built into the Adobe Reader. You only need as many copies
of Acrobat to cover the number of employees who would be doing the
"printing". Everyone else uses the free Reader.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


J. J. Campbell said:
Where would I go to learn more about this? Would we create & maintain our
docuements in Word and clone them as PDFs? What do you then do to get the
search functionality? Would we need to buy a few copies of the full Adobe
Acrobat or is something else needed?

--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


JoAnn Paules said:
This is the PRIMARY reason I prefer electronic documents in a .pdf file.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


J. J. Campbell said:
We have ~150 policies written in Word sitting on a share. It is
difficult
for users to find the policy/information they want. We are trying to
find
a
way to make a searchable front-end for these documents. We know that
we
could create a Lotus Notes database and insert the documents into it
but
I'd
rather find a Microsoft solution.

About 10 years ago I tried compiling Word documents into a Help File -
it
worked for the pilot but failed miserably when we tried to scale it up.
Is
this a possibility now that the help file format has changed?

We have MS SQL 2000 and Visual Studio 2005 expertise - if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thank you! We own a couple of copies of the full Adobe but they are very
old. I'll buy a couple of new ones to experiment with.
--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


JoAnn Paules said:
Yes, you create them in Word and then "print" them to a single .pdf file.
The new version of Acrobat has made combining multiple files quite easy. The
search function is built into the Adobe Reader. You only need as many copies
of Acrobat to cover the number of employees who would be doing the
"printing". Everyone else uses the free Reader.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


J. J. Campbell said:
Where would I go to learn more about this? Would we create & maintain our
docuements in Word and clone them as PDFs? What do you then do to get the
search functionality? Would we need to buy a few copies of the full Adobe
Acrobat or is something else needed?

--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


JoAnn Paules said:
This is the PRIMARY reason I prefer electronic documents in a .pdf file.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


We have ~150 policies written in Word sitting on a share. It is
difficult
for users to find the policy/information they want. We are trying to
find
a
way to make a searchable front-end for these documents. We know that
we
could create a Lotus Notes database and insert the documents into it
but
I'd
rather find a Microsoft solution.

About 10 years ago I tried compiling Word documents into a Help File -
it
worked for the pilot but failed miserably when we tried to scale it up.
Is
this a possibility now that the help file format has changed?

We have MS SQL 2000 and Visual Studio 2005 expertise - if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Should we assume that for some reason you have ruled out the obvious:

In the Open dialog click Tools on the [limited] toolbar & select Search. Use
the Advanced tab's features to specify the folder & use the content features
for search criteria?

This is assuming Word 2003/Win XP, but similar functionality should be
available regardless of versions.
 
Try it with the older version. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


J. J. Campbell said:
Thank you! We own a couple of copies of the full Adobe but they are very
old. I'll buy a couple of new ones to experiment with.
--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


JoAnn Paules said:
Yes, you create them in Word and then "print" them to a single .pdf file.
The new version of Acrobat has made combining multiple files quite easy.
The
search function is built into the Adobe Reader. You only need as many
copies
of Acrobat to cover the number of employees who would be doing the
"printing". Everyone else uses the free Reader.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


J. J. Campbell said:
Where would I go to learn more about this? Would we create & maintain
our
docuements in Word and clone them as PDFs? What do you then do to get
the
search functionality? Would we need to buy a few copies of the full
Adobe
Acrobat or is something else needed?

--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


:

This is the PRIMARY reason I prefer electronic documents in a .pdf
file.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


message
We have ~150 policies written in Word sitting on a share. It is
difficult
for users to find the policy/information they want. We are trying
to
find
a
way to make a searchable front-end for these documents. We know
that
we
could create a Lotus Notes database and insert the documents into it
but
I'd
rather find a Microsoft solution.

About 10 years ago I tried compiling Word documents into a Help
File -
it
worked for the pilot but failed miserably when we tried to scale it
up.
Is
this a possibility now that the help file format has changed?

We have MS SQL 2000 and Visual Studio 2005 expertise - if that
helps.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
The result can possibly be had using the Basic page rather than the
Advanced. Also, Windows provides a separate search feature which may be
somewhat easier to use: Start Button> Search> For Files or Folders... . This
is more in line with fundamental use of the Windows OS & basic directory
navigation model.

Either way, it sounds like some degree of training is going to be required.
FWIW, I'd find it more advantageous to have my users more thoroughly versed
in the use of the existing features of the software & operating system that
apply to a fairly universal range of needs rather than focusing on a
[redundant] customization that is available only in one program & for one
purpose... but that's just me :-)

At any rate, glad the new-found feature will provide some degree of use!

--
Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

J. J. Campbell said:
I didn't know about being able to search the contents of a directory.
Thank
you, I will find that handy. Sadly, it is far far beyond my users skill
set.

--
J. J. Campbell
MH/MR/SA
City of Alexandria, VA


CyberTaz said:
In the Open dialog click Tools on the [limited] toolbar & select Search.
Use
the Advanced tab's features to specify the folder & use the content
features
for search criteria?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
This is exactly what I used to do in Word 2003. However, now that I have
Word 2007, that feature is no longer available. Is this feature available in
2007? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kristina

CyberTaz said:
Should we assume that for some reason you have ruled out the obvious:

In the Open dialog click Tools on the [limited] toolbar & select Search. Use
the Advanced tab's features to specify the folder & use the content features
for search criteria?

This is assuming Word 2003/Win XP, but similar functionality should be
available regardless of versions.
Click to expand...
 
Search has been moved to Windows (where it is more efficient, anyway).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Kristina said:
This is exactly what I used to do in Word 2003. However, now that I have
Word 2007, that feature is no longer available. Is this feature available
in
2007? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kristina

CyberTaz said:
Should we assume that for some reason you have ruled out the obvious:

In the Open dialog click Tools on the [limited] toolbar & select Search.
Use
the Advanced tab's features to specify the folder & use the content
features
for search criteria?

This is assuming Word 2003/Win XP, but similar functionality should be
available regardless of versions.

--
Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

J. J. Campbell said:
We have ~150 policies written in Word sitting on a share. It is
difficult
for users to find the policy/information they want. We are trying to
find
a
way to make a searchable front-end for these documents. We know that
we
could create a Lotus Notes database and insert the documents into it
but
I'd
rather find a Microsoft solution.

About 10 years ago I tried compiling Word documents into a Help File -
it
worked for the pilot but failed miserably when we tried to scale it up.
Is
this a possibility now that the help file format has changed?

We have MS SQL 2000 and Visual Studio 2005 expertise - if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 

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