dtSearch PROS: Provides full control over indexing options, times, and managed content; offers excellent indexing options and searches many types of data (files, folders, websites, Outlook, and—using APIs—databases); provides instant search results CONS: Search interface is a bit cluttered; doesn’t let you change the storage location of existing indexes; lacks ability to export index definitions RATING: 5 out of 5 PRICE: Starts at $199 for a desktop license. Volume licensing is also available, and dtSearch provides other solutions that can be integrated with the product’s core search functionality. RECOMMENDATION: dtSearch is geared toward users who really need to search large numbers of documents and data, and for users who need complete control over indexing and search functionality. If you routinely need to navigate lots of documents and data in a hurry, I recommend dtSearch as a must-have solution. CONTACT: dtSearch · 301-263-0731 |
I admit it: I’ve been a skeptic of indexing and desktop searching solutions. I’ve installed solutions from Google, Microsoft, and others in the past but haven’t been all that impressed—mostly because I’ve been annoyed by application performance and the lack of control over what gets indexed and when. But dtSearch has made this skeptic a believer by providing easy-to-manage indexes and blazingly fast search functionality all rolled into one nice, tidy bundle called dtSearch 7 Desktop with Spider.
Easy Index Setup
Setup and installation of dtSearch is
straightforward and painless. I also found
that I didn’t need the Quick Start material in
the accompanying documentation because
dtSearch is very intuitive. Creating indexes is
actually a treat. Instead of using a treeview
structure representing drives, folders, and
files that you either include or exclude in an
index, dtSearch takes a cleaner approach
in which you explicitly add desired endpoints—
be they files, folders, or websites.
Adding these endpoints is simple, and
dtSearch gives you excellent control over
spidering options (e.g., how many links
deep to spider, which external links, if any,
to follow). Best of all, dtSearch realizes that
you might need to create different indexes
for different purposes and lets you create
multiple indexes as needed. I also find it
refreshing that dtSearch offers full control
over when indexes will be populated (or
updated) and lets you change compression
and filtering options to help fine-tune
indexes as needed.
Testing dtSearch
To put dtSearch through its paces, I pointed
it at a motley assortment of documents,
code, projects, and various other bits and
bytes that I’ve been dragging around for
years—including a large number of compressed
(or zipped) folders and archives.
Altogether, this bunch of data comprised
over 40,000 files and took
up more than 30GB of
disk space. Then, to make
things a bit tougher, I
forced dtSearch to index
this information over the
network by exposing it
as a mapped drive on my
test machine. Indexing
this mess took less than
90 minutes, but when it
was done I was amazed
at the kinds of things
that dtSearch ended up
indexing. Of course, I
didn’t really appreciate
this benefit until I started
searching for various terms, phrases, words,
and patterns. That’s when it became apparent
how much power I had at my fingertips.
I was also impressed at how quickly my
search results came back: no lag, no wait—
just instant results.
The only slightly negative thing I can say about dtSearch is that the search interface initially seems just a tad cluttered, as Figure 1 shows; this clutter is mostly because the application seems bent on displaying every possible search option to make sure users find what they’re looking for. In retrospect, I wonder whether I just didn’t have enough data to be able to harness all the search capability that dtSearch provides. In other words, if I had a few hundred gigabytes (or a terabyte or two) of data and documents, I’m sure that the seemingly cluttered UI wouldn’t be an issue. In fact, after I used dtSearch for about one hour to see if it would slow down, the UI really started to make a lot of sense—to the point that I was very comfortable with it despite its appearance.
Best for Complex Searches
My final analysis of dtSearch is that although
it’s powerful enough to meet casual desktop
search needs, it’s really targeted at users who
need to instantly navigate mountains of
data and documents. As such, dtSearch is a
little overpriced for casual or simple searches
(unless you’re a total control freak like me).
But for anyone surrounded by mountains of
data and documents, dtSearch is a must-have
solution that truly proves that the index is
mightier than the sword.