MS SQL Basics Tutorial: Database Full-text Search

The standard Edition and Enterprise Edition versions of SQL Server 2000 provide the complex retrieval of strings in table data---full-text search (full-text searches). This feature needs to be added at installation time through custom installation options.

10.7.1 Full-text Indexes and catalogs

Full-text search is accomplished by using Full-text indexing (Full-text index). A Full-text index stores information such as the exact meaning of a string in the table's data and its position in the table's columns. Full-Text Search is the use of the information in the Full-text index to find rows containing a particular string of data.

A Full-text index is contained in a full-text indexed directory (Full-text catalogs), typically a full-text indexed catalog of one or more tables in the same database. A table can have only one Full-text index, so each table that has a Full-text index is subordinate to only one Full-text index catalog. A database can contain one or more full-text indexed catalogs, but a full-text indexed directory can only be subordinate to one database. Full-text indexed directories and Full-text indexes, although managed by SQL Server, are not stored in the database file, but are operating system files associated with the Microsoft Search Service.

When you use Full-text indexing queries, SQL Server sends the retrieval criteria to the Microsoft Search service. The Microsoftsearch service will find all the values that match the Full-text search criteria and return them to SQL Server SQL Server to determine which rows of data will be processed by the table. Therefore, you must start the Microsoft Search service to

Enables SQL Server to have full-text search capabilities.

There are two ways to start the Microsoft Search Service:

(1) Start with Enterprise Manager

You can start by right-clicking "Full-textsearch" in the Support Services Directory tree folder in Enterprise Manager and selecting "Start" from the shortcut menu. Start as shown in Figure 10-1.

(2) Start with the service management program in the operating system control Panel