WebHelp searches and the Invalid token error

[rochfort]

My WebHelp project defines software objects. Some of the topics have headings that start with the names of the objects, character sequences like .IS, .AND, .OR and .XOR. Users want to be able search WebHelp for these topics.

WebHelp search doesn't seem capable of searching for words like is, or, are, or that. If I try, the Rank box says (No topics found). I suppose it's reasonable that WebHelp won't want to find these words, after all any document is likely to have hundreds of instances of the word the. But, in a case like this, most search engines say something like Searching for this word is not feasible, too many instances of this word exist.

All that aside, if I try to search for either and or or, my browser opens a dialogue window titled [Java Script Application] containing the message Invalid token.

WebHelp search does find XOR, .or, .is and .and.

I published WebHelp from Flare 4.0.16-4.9.2008:11:01. The Java message appears in either Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 3.0.1.

Has anyone else experienced the Invalid token Message? Does anyone have a workaround?

[Adrian Durand]

Hi,

I believe this may be caused by the "Stop Words" filter that is included in Flare.

A search of the Flare Help for 'Stop Words' help retuns the following:

Including Stop Words in Search
Flare has a "stop words" list behind the scenes that omits certain common words (such as "an" and "the") when users perform searches. However, if you would like those common words to be included in user searches, you can easily do so.

How to include stop words in search

Open the appropriate target.
Select the Performance tab.
In the Search Database section, click Include "Stop-Words" in Search.
Press CTRL+S or click to save your work.

Give this a go, and see if it returns the required results.

Regards

Adrian

[rochfort]

Thanks Adrian,

I would never have thought to search for Stop Words.

[jlmurfy]

When searching for 'not', 'or', and 'and', the search feature in HTML help returns a message indicating an Invalid Token. This is not due to the "Stop Words" list which has been included in the search build. If these three words are special or reserved, I am happy to instruct the users accordingly. Does anyone know of any other 'reserved words'?