User:Beckley/Indexed Search Proposal: Difference between revisions
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== Using the OS Indexing Engine == | == Using the OS Indexing Engine == | ||
Recent OSes have indexing engines included or available for download. Windows Vista comes with [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/search-and-organization.aspx?tabid=1&catid=4 Windows Search], and it is available for [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=55c18cb3-c916-4298-aba3-5b98904f7cda XP as well]. Mac OSX has had [http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/features/spotlight.html Spotlight] for several versions now. For Linux there is [http://beagle-project.org Beagle], [http://www.gnome.org/projects/tracker Tracker], [http://strigi.sourceforge.net Strigi], [http://www.lesbonscomptes.com/recoll/ Recoll], and a number of others. There's even [http://desktop.google.com Google Desktop Search], which has versions for all 3 OSes. | |||
== Rolling Our Own == | == Rolling Our Own == | ||
Revision as of 23:41, 23 July 2008
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THIS PAGE IS A WORKING DRAFT | 
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| The page may be difficult to navigate, and some information on its subject might be incomplete and/or evolving rapidly. If you have any questions or ideas, please add them as a new topic on the discussion page. |
This is a proposal for integrating/adding indexed search functionality in to the Thunderbird email client.
Rationale
The current Search Messages feature in Thunderbird is very slow for users that have a normal amount of accumulated messages. Each time a user initiates a search, the individual mailbox files are opened up and searched for the matching text. This can wind up taking tens of seconds, even minutes to complete. Users have become accustomed to Internet search engines which provide near instantaneous results, and if the entire Web can be searched that quickly then we can do the same for a user's mail store.
Providing instant results will require the use of a indexing engine. Most recent operating systems come with an indexing engine, or make it available as a free download. However, there are reasons why it would be beneficial to include an indexing engine as part of Thunderbird. We will look at both solutions here.
Using the OS Indexing Engine
Recent OSes have indexing engines included or available for download. Windows Vista comes with Windows Search, and it is available for XP as well. Mac OSX has had Spotlight for several versions now. For Linux there is Beagle, Tracker, Strigi, Recoll, and a number of others. There's even Google Desktop Search, which has versions for all 3 OSes.