Indexing Fields

There are two ways to perform field searches: as non-indexed searches (in which case the database management system's SQL search is used) or as indexed searches (in which case the Laserfiche Full-Text Indexing and Search Engine is used). By default, all fields are non-indexed, but in some cases you may choose to index fields.

Note: Data fields cannot be indexed.

You can choose to index a field when you create the field, or you can modify existing fields to index them. In the Laserfiche Web Administration Console, you can index multiple fields at once. You can also unindex a field. Once a field has been marked as indexed, the documents containing that field must also be indexed in order to make the field value searchable. (Any documents containing the field that have already been indexed will automatically be added to the index queue to be reindexed.)

Note: When you index a field that already exists in your repository, all previously-indexed documents with that field will be added to the indexing queue to be reindexed. This may cause a delay in field searches returning values for that field until the indexing is complete.

If a field is indexed, when searches are performed in Laserfiche client applications, the search will be performed by the Laserfiche Full-Text Indexing and Search Engine. However, users can still choose to search for those fields using non-indexed search through Advanced Search Syntax. Any fields that you do not choose to index will only be searchable using non-indexed searching through the repository's database management system.

When to Index Fields

In general, fields should be indexed in the following circumstances:

• Fields that will contain long, nonstandardized content, such as notes or commentary, should be indexed to take advantage of search stemming, fuzzy search, and context hits.
• If a field has an width greater than 100 characters, as the full-text search engine can handle these fields more efficiently than non-indexed search.
• If your repository contains more than one million total field values (fields applied to entries and containing a value), indexing commonly-searched text fields can improve search performance.
• Number, date, time, and date/time fields should be indexed if they will primarily be searched in conjunction with a text field that is also indexed.

Fields should not be indexed in the following situations:

• If the field will generally contain relatively short, consistent values, such as names, department names, or document types, it is more efficient to leave the field unindexed.
• If a number, date, time, or date/time field will not primarily be searched in conjunction with a text field that is also indexed, it should not be indexed.
• If you want to take advantage of case and accent sensitivity options for a field, you should not index the fields, as these options do not apply to indexed searches.

Note: Using fuzzy search and search stemming features with field searches can dramatically increase the number of results for a search. Larger numbers of search results can lead to slower performance.