Table of Contents
Comparison of the regain variants
There are two variants of regain: The desktop search and the server search.
Funktional differences
The desktop search is meant for those who want to use regain on their workstation, or who want to give regain a try. The server search is meant for administrators of a web server, who want to integrate a search in their web site or intranet site. Such a search may also include documents that are not accessible over the web server. For example it is possible to offer a search for net drives.
So if you are not sure which variant you should download, take the desktop search.
The following table shows the differences of the two variants:
| regain desktop search | regain server search | |
|---|---|---|
| Best choice for newbies |  |  |
| regain crawler | | |
| regain search mask | | |
| Complete configuration of the crawler in one XML file | | |
| Simple configuration of the crawler over a web interface | | |
| Complete configuration of the search mask in one XML file | | |
| Customizable look of the search mask by JSPs | | |
| Integrated web server | | |
| Runs in a servlet engine (e.g. Tomcat) | | |
| Integration in the task bar | | |
Technical differences
The core of both variants is the same. Both include the crawler, which is needed to create the search index, and the search mask, which is needed for searching on a search index. Also the configuration of both variants is done on the same way: The XML files CrawlerConfiguration.xml and SearchConfiguration.xml, but the desktop search offers a web interface, that writes the most important settings to these two files.
The desktop search also comes with a small program that manages these two parts. This program integrates itself in the task bar and automatically starts the crawler, so the search index is updated regularily or whenever the configuration has changed. Furthermore it provides a web server, which is needed by the search mask in order to work.
At the server search the crawler is an independent program, which the administrator has to call by hand (or automated) in order to update the search index. Furthermore the admistrator has to run the search mask in a servlet engine. The web server is not delivered with regain.
Technically speaking the desktop search is a stand-alone application. That is an application that needs – aside from Java – no more programs to work. The server search is split in the crawler on the one hand, which is a stand-alone console application, and the search mask on the other hand, which is a .war archive that has to be integrated in a Java servlet engine (like Tomcat).
