logo

FTS PRO DOCUMENTATION

Version 1.5 - February 1, 2000

MainMenu

SEARCHING

If you plan to distribute your application using
Neuron, read the bottom of this page.

Once your index is created, you can allow users to access the search interface [from within any of your TBK files] by adding the FTSPRO.SBK book as a bound system book. Click here to learn how to bind a system book.

As soon as the system book is bound [normally meaning when your book loads], a new SEARCH menu will appear at both Reader and Author level...unless you set up the configuration setting to Not add a Menu - in which case you will only have a Search menu at Author Level.

At Author level this new menu will allow you to access the Configuration interface as well as the Search interface. However from Reader level, only the Search interface is available.

Before the Search interface appears, the .FTS file is automatically scanned for and located. In the event the index can't be found, an error will occur stating so.

Where does the .FTS file need to be placed?
The .FTS file must be in the SAME directory as the book currently loaded, or in a subdirectory called FTS.

Similarly, all of the books you have indexed into an .FTS file must also be in the same directory. If they are not, the navigation, by the FTS Seach interface, to the various books will fail.

FTS_INDEXBOOKNAME
In the event you have created several index files for different sets of books, you can specify which .FTS file to load. To do this, you must set a property called
fts_IndexBookName to the name of the index file. Do NOT specify a Path - as you have no control over the path.

Example: fts_IndexBookName = "INDEX.FTS"

This is a book property and must be set for each book in which you want this feature to occur. Note that this setting is also available from the configuration settings screen.

FTS_GENERALINFO
In the search interface, there is an Info tab which contains basic instructions for performing a search. If you would like to customize these instructions with your own comments, simply set the property
fts_GeneralInfo to the text that you want to appear. This is a book property and must be set for each book in which you want this feature to occur. Note that this setting is also available from the configuration settings screen.


Using Neuron:
As of version 1.5, you can now use FTS Pro in Neuron if you like. However because of the limitations of Neuron, you will not have as much flexibility as FTS Pro would normally grant you.

Please note the following when using Neuron:

1. No language files can be used as Neuron can't access these types
of files from a web server. This means that the FTS Search Interface
will have to appear in English.

2. When you link the FTSPRO.SBK system book to your project
books, ensure you do NOT use the FILE |Bound System Books
menu method of loading a system book. Instead you must manually
load the system book via code like this:

to handle enterBook
if "ftspro.sbk" is not in sysbooks
push "ftspro.sbk" onto sysbooks
end
forward
end

This is necessary because Neuron can't load Bound System Books
if they exist on a Web Server, but Pushing them onto the System
Stack works fine.

3. Because of Centering problems when navigating between books in
Neuron, it is best if your project is designed to run in Full Screen
mode.

4. Note that Neuron can't display a Menu Bar, and so your only means
of opening the Search Dialog is to make a button, and use:

SEND FTS_SEARCHFORTEXT