Need to make a searchable doc

[DisgruntledVirus]

Anybody have any idea on what I can use to do this?

I want to use Excel, but don't know if it has the ability to tag entries and make it searchable. If I can't use Excel, anybody have any idea on what other way I can do this? I have thought about a web page, but I don't know if I can get the space to create a web based page (maybe like a wiki?).

 

[rootaxs]

How about creating the document in whatever application you like, then outputting it to PDF? The keywording/search is automatically done for you (Acrobat will search through the entire document, if the source had text in it).

You can also set-up bookmarks with it.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: rootaxs
How about creating the document in whatever application you like, then outputting it to PDF? The keywording/search is automatically done for you (Acrobat will search through the entire document, if the source had text in it).

You can also set-up bookmarks with it.

Not a bad idea, but PDF's seem to use a lot of system resources when they get large. I want to create something that is quick, and can open quickly. This is going to be used to document decisions made about errors we have found, and will be added to weekly. So a PDF type doc will grow to a fairly large size, which will make it slow.

 

[Phoenix86]

Someone should invent a searchable base for data contained in table format...

 

[wwswimming]

i'm pretty sure Flash has this ability, if the text is "switched on", so it's not just a vector
graphic.

might require a Flash player update, though.

 

[rootaxs]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Not a bad idea, but PDF's seem to use a lot of system resources when they get large. I want to create something that is quick, and can open quickly. This is going to be used to document decisions made about errors we have found, and will be added to weekly. So a PDF type doc will grow to a fairly large size, which will make it slow.

Hmm... then perhaps just sticking with the Excel sheet? Just place a note for "CTRL+F" for those not keen on using it but want to find certain terms.

For PDF docs, one thing i learned about it is to try tweak the settings. Also, when printing directly to Distiller, documents come out significantly smaller than if trying to "Print to PDF" or using a programs built-in PDF creator. I'm in the design sector and a good example is this one publication we create, it's about 40-50 pages full of text and graphics. With Distiller i can get it down to about 500k. Otherwise we end up with a 7-8mb file... and that's not even a press-ready file.