Google Search Appliance External Metadata Indexing Guide - Manual (Page 5)

Google Search Appliance: External Metadata Indexing Guide 5
When you index external metadata, it is searchable in the same way that other metadata is searchable.
For example, you can use the partialfields and requiredfields query operators to search for
documents with particular metadata. For more information about metadata queries and query
operators, see the Search Protocol Reference.
Metadata Indexing Configurations
The search appliance has default settings for indexing metadata, including which metadata names are
to be indexed, as well as how to handle multivalued metadata fields and date fields. For metadata that is
stored in the primary document, you can configure the settings by using the Index > Index Settings
page in the Admin Console.
The metadata indexing configuration options on this page are also applicable to external metadata. If
you make any changes to metadata indexing configurations and the external metadata, you will need to
submit the external metadata to the search appliance again.
For detailed information about metadata indexing configuration options, click Admin Console Help >
Index > Index Settings in the Admin Console.
Implementing External Metadata Indexing
To implement external metadata indexing, you need to identify where your metadata is and describe to
the search appliance how it relates to a primary document. Essentially, you need to answer the following
questions:
• Metadata: Where is the external metadata?
• Primary Document: Where is the primary document, and how does the metadata refer to the
primary document?
Your answers to these questions will determine which method of external metadata indexing you
should use. The methods for external metadata indexing can be grouped into three main categories:
• “External Metadata Stored in a Database” on page 6
If the metadata is stored in a relational database and references a primary document that is
accessible by one of the search appliance’s crawlers (web accessible URL, file system accessible URI,
BLOB in a relational database), then you can configure the search appliance to automatically index
the metadata and primary document, and associate them with one another as a single record in the
index.
• “External Metadata Pushed in a Feed” on page 9
If the metadata is not stored in a relational database or if the reference between the metadata and
the primary document is not easily described, you can generate a feed and push it to the search
appliance.
• “External Metadata Sent in an HTTP Header” on page 11
If the metadata is not stored in a relational database or if the reference between the metadata and
the primary document is not easily described, you can send the metadata in an HTTP header.
Within each of these categories, there are a variety of indexing scenarios. The scenario that you should
use depends on how your primary document is referenced and stored.