How do I optimize the full-text search of d.3 search (best practice)?

Summary

You can configure the search function in d.velop documents (d.3one, d.3 smart explorer) optimally for your organization. In this KB article, we present some options for optimizing d.3 search that have proven themselves in practice.

The preparation of the text corpus is of great importance for the quality of the search results and always depends on your requirements. Plan the requirement criteria for the search in advance with the people involved in your organization.

Furthermore, some settings can improve performance.

If you have further requirements for the provision of search results, you can find additional options in the d.velop documentation for d.3 search.

Important requirements

• You are using the latest version of the supported browsers. In addition to potential security risks due to outdated browser versions, the web interface may not display correctly (missing buttons).

• You need administrative access to the d.3 search web interface.

• The d.3 search processes must be restarted after configuration. During the restart of the processes, the full-text search is not available for a short time.

• Changing parameter values in d.3 search requires a downtime due to index generation. The downtime depends on the amount of data.

• You have basic administrative knowledge of d.3 search.

• You need administrative access to the server with d.3 process manager.

Solution

For example, if you expect better search results, you can check the following parameters in d.3 search and change them if necessary.

There are two ways to optimize the search results:

• Check start times in d.3 process manager.

• Check and change parameters in the d.3 search options.

Step 1 - Check the start times in d.3 process manager

Check the start times for d.3 search in d.3 process manager:

1. Open d.3 process manager on the d.3 search server with d.3 process manager in the start menu at d.velop > d.3 process manager. Alternatively, you can open the URL http://d-velop.local:3480/ in a browser. Switch to the d.3 process manager tab.

2. Check the start times of d.3 search and adjust the time so that the process for d.3 search is always executed.

Step 2 - Check and optimize the d.3 search options

In the next step, check the specified d.3 search options. If required, detailed information can be displayed by clicking on the info icon:

1. On the d.3 search server, open the URL http://d-velop.local:3480/ in a browser and switch to the d.3 search tab.

2. Click on Settings > Global in the navigation bar and go to the General section to open the options for the text body.

3. Deactivate WantHints.

4. Click on Save.

5. In the navigation bar, click on Settings > Document collection > [Repository name] > Corpus.ini:

   1. Go to the General section and activate CurrentVersionOnly.

   2. Go to the Search section and activate ExpandSearch.

   3. Set ExpandSearchMinResult to the value 20.

   4. Go to the Search section and activate ForceNoHints.

6. Click on Save.

7. In the navigation bar, click on Settings > Document collection > [Repository name] > Shaft.ini:

   1. Go to the Backup section to set the backup time.

   2. Adjust the time of the backup to a time other than 0:00, e.g. 0:10.

   3. Go to the Engine section.

   4. If required, deactivate ArchiveLogs to prevent the creation of logs on the hard disk for performance reasons. You can use logging in d.3 logview.

   5. Deactivate Autocorrect to prevent unintentional falsification of search results.

   6. Activate Autodefrag and Autorepair to prevent the risk of damage to the d.3 search database during the automatic backup.

   7. Adjust CacheSize to at least 1/3 of the database size. The easiest way to determine the database size is in the backup directory of d.3 search.

   8. Set FirstWildCard to 1. After changing FirstWildCard, the internal index is regenerated after saving. The process may take some time during which d.3 search is not available.

   9. Go to the Perflogs section.

   10. Increase all threshold values to a higher value, e.g. 500,000. By increasing the value, you improve the performance of the search, for example.

8. Click on Save.

For more information about optimizing the quality of search results and performance see the d.velop documentation for d.3 search.