SharePoint 2007: The Definitive Guide

Different Features of Search

So far we have taken a look at Search functionality from the end user's (and perhaps a power user/developer's) perspective. Now, switching to the IT professional or a business decision maker, we need to look at the features that make Search happen behind the scenes. From the overall feature perspective, there are some major features of Search that ship specifically with MOSS, and some that ship directly with Windows SharePoint Services. Following the direct comparison of the most important features, there are also some secondary and nontrivial features that are worth mentioning.

Warning

True wildcard search is not readily available within the basic User Interface, but it is supported via the APIs. Additionally, it is supported by some third-party tools, such as Ontolica.

Unlike the previous version, where WSS team sites were not capable of using the SharePoint 2003 Search, once a WSS site functions under the Office Server itself, it is capable of inheriting all of its features. Without the Office Server, the features are slightly limited (Table 27-7).

Table 27-7. WSS and MOSS Features

Common Features	WSS	MOSS
Index SharePoint Content	X	X
Index Web sites, Exchange, file shares, Notes, LOB		X
Rich Results	X	X
Alerts	X	X
RSS	X	X
Remove Duplicates	X	X
Scopes, Managed Properties		X
Best Bets, Results Removal, Query		X
Tabs		X
People Search, Knowledge Network		X
Business Data Catalog		X
Query API, Web Service	X	X
Admin API