Full text search engines

atreyu

Hey,

I am currently evaluating full text search engines for a project that uses Oracle as the back-end db. The basic need is to have all the data (including, but not limited to, HTML files, office docs and PDFs) indexed and then to present an interface or API to query it. I haven't heard any specifics in regards to speed yet, but obviously the faster the better. I know that Sphinx and Oracle Text have been used in the past (I've personally never used either), but new blood is desired. I've used Google Desktop before, but wasn't crazy about it. I've read a little about OSS Open Search Server and it seems to be worth a second look. Has anyone worked with any of these or recommend any others?

saqman2060

Well speed will be an issue if your database is substantially large. It sounds like the auto-complete firefox and chrome use. I have not used Sphinx or Oracle but it you find something that is better, use it. Based on your explanation, full text search seems like a good solution. Let us know on your project's progress.

mpalmeruk

Hi atreyu,

have you checked out SoLR?? I've had a brief play with it and its pretty quick/powerful. Some pretty big sites use it behind the scenes too. - They've got a list of named users available and case studies.

Its got some cool features, caching (pretty important if speed is an issue), replication(awesome), distributed search, and it comes with a good suite of APIs for use with database integration.

http://lucene.apache.org/solr/

marc

clucene?

atreyu

Thanks guys - after I posted, I did some research and Lucene/SOLR shot to the top of my short list. It does look promising, I'll be giving it a test run. Any other experiences out there?

atreyu

marc wrote:

clucene?

Marc,
So clucene is faster than Lucene? Have you used it/do you think it is significantly faster?

marc

atreyu wrote:

marc wrote:

show previous quotes

clucene?

Marc,
So clucene is faster than Lucene? Have you used it/do you think it is significantly faster?

It's indeed faster. I don't have personal experience in coding rather than in checking the performance. Clucene is faster than lucene.

Coding wise... I have no idea which would better suit your needs though

Regards

jameslaws180

It is my dream to build a powerful search engine.