Defining File Types for Indexing

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M-Files Server tries to index the contents of the most general file types when a new file version is checked in to M-Files Server. Indexing enables users to search documents and objects from M-Files using the words that can be found in the file content. This topic lists the files whose contents are indexed by default and tells how to add file types to be indexed and how to exclude file types from indexing.

Note: Metadata is always indexed regardless of whether the file extension is in the list of file types to be indexed or in the blacklist of file types not to be indexed.

The following table lists the extensions of files whose contents are indexed by default when dtSearch or Micro Focus IDOL search engine is in use.

Table 1. Extensions of File Types Indexed by Default
File Extension Information on File Extension
123 Lotus
CSV Comma separated values file
DOC Microsoft Word
DOCM Microsoft Word Open XML, macro-enabled document
DOCX Microsoft Word
DOT Microsoft Word template
DOTM Microsoft Word macro-enabled template
EML Email message
HTM Hypertext Markup Language file
HTML Hypertext Markup Language file
ICS Universal calendar file
KEY Apple
MSG Microsoft Outlook email message
NUMBERS Apple
ODF OpenDocument
ODG OpenDocument
ODP OpenDocument
ODS OpenDocument
ODT OpenDocument
ONE OneNote
OTG OpenDocument
OTP OpenDocument
OTS OpenDocument
OTT OpenDocument
PAGES Apple
PDF Portable Document Format file created by Adobe Acrobat or another PDF application
POT Microsoft PowerPoint template
POTX Microsoft PowerPoint template
PPT Microsoft PowerPoint
PPTM Microsoft PowerPoint, macro-enabled
PPTX Microsoft PowerPoint
PTM Microsoft PowerPoint, macro-enabled template
QPW Corel Quattro Pro
RTF Rich Text Format file
STC StarOffice
STI StarOffice
STW StarOffice
SXC StarOffice
SXD StarOffice
SXG OpenOffice
SXI StarOffice
SXW StarOffice
TXT Standard text document
WB1 Corel Quattro Pro
WB2 Corel Quattro Pro
WB3 Corel Quattro Pro
VDX Microsoft Visio
WKS Lotus
WPD WordPerfect
WPF WordPerfect
WRI Microsoft Write
VSD Microsoft Visio
VSDX Microsoft Visio
XLS Microsoft Excel
XLSB Microsoft Excel, binary format
XLSM Microsoft Excel, macro-enabled
XLSX Microsoft Excel
XLT Microsoft Excel template
XLTM Microsoft Excel, macro-enabled template
XLTX Microsoft Excel template
XML Extensible Markup Language data file
XPS Microsoft page layout
XSL XML style sheet

Using Blacklist in Indexing

If you do not want to use the default list of file types to be indexed, you can use the built-in blacklist instead. The blacklist contains a predefined set of file extensions specifying the file types that are not indexed.

Complete the following steps to set the built-in blacklist to be used in indexing:

  1. In M-Files Admin, go to the Advanced Vault Settings section.
    1. Open M-Files Admin.
    2. In the left-side tree view, expand an M-Files server connection.
    3. Expand Document Vaults.
    4. Expand a vault.
    5. Click Configurations.
    6. In the navigation area, click Advanced Vault Settings.
    7. Open the Configuration tab.
      Result:The advanced vault settings are shown.
  2. Expand Search > Full-Text Search.
  3. Set Use File Extension Blacklist Instead of Whitelist in Indexing to Yes.
  4. Click Save.

Defining Additional File Types for Indexing

In addition to either the list of file types to be indexed or the list of file types not to be indexed, you can define other file types to be indexed. Also, you can define some file types you do not want to be included in indexing. For example, you have the list of file types to be indexed, but you would like to exclude one of the file types from indexing. To exclude the file contents from indexing, you must define the file extension according to the following instructions.

To define file types to be indexed or not to be indexed:

  1. In M-Files Admin, go to the Advanced Vault Settings section.
    1. Open M-Files Admin.
    2. In the left-side tree view, expand an M-Files server connection.
    3. Expand Document Vaults.
    4. Expand a vault.
    5. Click Configurations.
    6. In the navigation area, click Advanced Vault Settings.
    7. Open the Configuration tab.
      Result:The advanced vault settings are shown.
  2. Expand Search > Full-Text Search > Files to Index or Files Not to Index.
  3. Click Add Extension.
  4. In the Extension field, enter the file extension, for instance dwg.
  5. Repeat the steps 3 and 4 for each file extension.
  6. Click Save to save your configuration.