Index Server interacts with IIS, so that you can search a Web site for information through a query form. Because of this close interaction with IIS, Index Server borrows the model that IIS uses for querying an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data source.
The following diagram shows the query process for Index Server:
The next diagram shows a close-up of the .idq and .htx files:
As an alternative to creating a form with an .htm file and driving it with .idq and .htx files, you can create the entire query in one .asp file.
With a query form, you can conveniently search for a word or phrase anywhere in a set of documents. Just fill out the form, and execute the query. See the following sample query form:
Type your the word or phrase you want to search for into the Enter your query box, and click the Execute Query button to start a query. The results are then displayed on your screen.
With Microsoft Index Server, the administrator of a Web server can create customized forms to help clients find specific information from a set of documents. For example, a form can be tailored to search for a word or phrase (such as systems management), or for other properties such as the author or subject. You create a query form in standard HTML format, just as you would create any Web page. If you know how to write pages in HTML format, you can quickly put together a simple query form.