***> TO INSTALL THE DTSEARCH SYSTEM, UNZIP THE DTSEARCH.ZIP FILE, AND EXAMINE THE README FILE FOR SIMPLE GUIDE TO INSTALLATION... December 20, 1991 INFORMATION ABOUT DTSEARCH (ESPECIALLY FOR LIBRARIANS) Concisely, this shareware text-searching product is a knockout! It's definitely in a class with commercial text-searching programs. (Trust me, I've reviewed programs like Zyindex, AskSam, IZE, and Dragnet for magazines like InfoWorld and Databased Advisor. Also managed large databases on text database systems like Bib/SEARCH and STAIRS and BASIS.) Additionally, it's a heck of a shareware bargain. $59, cheap. Powerful freetext searching of separate ASCII and selected word processor files. The indexed files are unaffected, you can continue to use them for editing, printing, downloading, etc. dtSEARCH has BIG capacity (15,000 documents per index, multiple indexes possible). VERY natural query entry, with sophisticated Boolean search ability. Queries are obvious and intuitive, none of this "ss" or "adj" or other such cryptic vocabulary and syntax. Yet, the query language is sophisticated to the point where you can, for example, even do phrase searching with an included OR. F'r instance, the simple query (theodor or ted) nelson will find "Theodor Nelson" or "Ted Nelson". FAST, too. The above Nelson search took 2.47 seconds to find 3 hits in 2 documents in 600K of my wordprocessor files. Single term searches took .71 seconds! Nice KWIC display, with definable window sizes. Cut & paste, stored queries, proximity search, user-definable stop list, user-definable "fields" by proximity or word-range definitions, etc. Installation is no big deal. Use the INSTALL.EXE to automatically decompress and install dtSEARCH. I installed it on my 386SX/20 mhz in about 45 seconds. It took a total of 10 minutes (!) for me to identify and completely index the 600K of text files. Definitely a HEAVY-DUTY search engine! Real potential for library and information center applications, such as searching downloaded backfile, report texts, wordprocessing archives, etc. It's shareware, hey, so pass it along to patrons with text archive problems. You might also offer them a bit of librarian/ information professional consulting. $59 registration fee is a fraction of the cost of comparable commercial programs. Recommended for serious consideration. I append the author's description below. Ernest Perez, Ph.D. Access Information Associates eperez@utdallas.bitnet November 14, 1991 d t S e a r c h 1.11 DESCRIPTION AND AUTHOR INFORMATION Keywords: --------- TEXT DATABASE, DOCUMENT SEARCH, FULL TEXT RETRIEVAL, FREE-FORM DATABASE, WORDPERFECT, MULTIMATE, WORDSTAR, WORD, RTF, ASP SHAREWARE Category: --------- Text Database or Free-Form Database Very Short Description: ----------------------- Text retrieval program for WordPerfect, WordStar, Word, Multimate, RTF, and ASCII documents. Can perform indexed and unindexed searches (up to 15,000 documents per index); boolean, phrase, proximity, and segment searches; network support; built-in clipboard with editor; application "launcher". ASP Shareware ($59). Short Description: ------------------ dtSearch is a fast, powerful, and easy to use document search and retrieval program. Search features include: boolean, proximity, phrase, and field/segment searches; search macros; wildcards in any position in a search term; search with an index, without an index, or both ways. Indexing capacity: up to 15,000 documents per index; unlimited number of indexes. Other features: View retrieved documents in multiple overlapping windows; prepare and print search reports listing hits in context; cut, paste, edit, and print retrieved text; "launch" application that created a document. Supports the following file formats: ASCII text files, WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1, Multimate Advantage II and Multimate 4, Wordstar through version 6 (including WordStar 2000), Microsoft Word (including Word for Windows) and Microsoft Rich Text Format. Requires: DOS 3.2 or higher, 384k available memory, and a hard disk. Registration Information: ------------------------- Registration costs $59.00. Registered users will receive: a printed copy of the manual, the latest version of dtSearch, free technical support (by mail or CompuServe) for a year, and notices of updates or upgrades. Register through the Public (software) Library at: 1-800-242-4775. See ORDER.DTS for details. Telephone technical support for dtSearch is available from the Advanced Support Group, Inc. (ASG) at 1-900-88-HELP-8. As of August 15, 1991, the cost is $2.00 per minute; the first 24 seconds are free. For those who cannot use a 900 number, ASG can charge support fees to a credit card, and ASG also offers contract technical support for a fixed annual cost. Call 1-314- 256-3130 for more information about these options. Author/Publisher Information: ----------------------------- David Thede DT Software, Inc., 2101 Crystal Plaza Arcade, Suite 231 Arlington, VA 22202 CompuServe: 72607,3323 ASP Notice DT Software, Inc. is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not supply technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Long Description: ---------------- The purpose of dtSearch is to help you find documents quickly. dtSearch does this by building an "index" of your documents that stores location of the words in each document. Since you will sometimes want to search documents that you have not indexed, dtSearch can also search without an index -- it just takes longer. dtSearch is easy to use. You can access all of its features through a simple, pull-down menu interface. Extensive, context- sensitive help (with hypertext cross-references) is always available. dtSearch can build and use document indexes, so it can search large collections of text very quickly -- much faster than simple file search programs. Using dtSearch, an indexed search of thousands of pages of documents will only take a few seconds. dtSearch does more than just searching for text -- it can search for: * Combinations of words, such as "apple and (pear or grape)," * Words located near other words, such as "apple within 5 words of pear," * Words located in a specific segment of a document, such as "@ADDRESS contains oak drive," * Words that match "fuzzy" specifications, such as "appl*," which would match apple, application, apply, etc. These search features allow you to make very specific search requests, which can help to reduce the number of "false hits" you get in a search. If you are searching a large text database, this can save you a lot of time. dtSearch gives you unlimited searching capacity. One document index can store information about up to 15,000 documents, and you can have as many indexes as you need. When you do an indexed search, you can search multiple indexes by simply checking off the ones you want searched. dtSearch requires no "importing" or "conversion" of your documents. You simply check off the directories containing the documents to search or index, and dtSearch will do the rest. In almost all cases, dtSearch does not even need to be told what word processor you are using -- it will figure out the word processor format for each document. dtSearch can read, search, and index documents in the following formats: * ASCII or DOS Text * Microsoft Rich Text Format * Microsoft Word * Microsoft Word for Windows * Multimate Advantage II * Multimate version 4 * WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1 * WordStar through version 6 * WordStar 2000 dtSearch supports use on a network. dtSearch can search for documents on network drives and can store indexes on network drives. dtSearch permits multiuser access to indexes stored on network drives. dtSearch has many other features to make research easier, including: * search reports, which list all of the hits found in a search with a few lines of context; * application launching, so you can use your word processor to edit a document retrieved in a search without leaving dtSearch; * a built-in notepad, so you can easily cut and paste text from retrieved documents and then edit the text you have collected. Indexing and search performance will vary according to the type of computer, number and type of documents, and the amount of memory available. But to get an idea of how fast dtSearch is, here is an example: Equipment: 286 12 Mhz computer with PC-Cache, 1 Mb RAM Text Sample: 400 WordPerfect 5.1 documents totalling about 5.3 million bytes. Time to build index: 55 minutes Time to compress index: 28 minutes Size of index: 811,343 characters (15% of the size of the original documents) Search times: Simple word search: 0.71 seconds Complex search: 1.41 seconds Limits and Requirements 1. Program limits: Indexes * A single index may contain up to 15,000 documents * A single document may contain up to 60,000 words (about 300 double-spaced pages) * You can have up to 25 indexes in each index library, and you can have an unlimited number of index libraries. * You can have up to 25 macro or field definitions. * A noise word list can hold up to 200 words. Words after the 200th word in a list will be disregarded. * There is no limit on the number of words in an index or on the number of words starting with a particular letter. 2. Program limits: Searches * A single search request may involve up to 100 words, including wildcard matches. For example, if an index contained 75 words beginning with 's' and 75 words beginning with 't', then you could not search for "s* or t*" * A search word can be up to 32 letters long. * A search request can be up to 180 characters long. 3. Hardware requirements: * dtSearch will run on an IBM-compatible computer with at least 384k of memory available, a hard disk, and DOS version 3.2 or higher. * dtSearch 1.111 supports use on a local area network. See the manual for more information. 4. Document Types dtSearch 1.11 can search, index, and display the following file formats: * ASCII Text * Microsoft Rich Text Format * Microsoft Word through version 5.5 * Microsoft Word for Windows * Multimate 4 and Multimate Advantage II * WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1 * WordStar through version 6 * WordStar 2000