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Q156754: Limit of 26 Catalogs with Microsoft Index Server

Article: Q156754
Product(s): Internet Information Server
Version(s): winnt:1.0,2.0; :
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbOSWin2000
Last Modified: 30-DEC-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Index Server versions 1.0, 2.0 
- Indexing Service 
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SYMPTOMS
========

If you try to use an Administrators page or submit a query with more than 26
catalogs directories under Microsoft Index Server, you receive the following
error message:

  Call failed for unknown reason 0x80041600 while processing the query

CAUSE
=====

This error message occurs if you have created more than 26 catalog directories.
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) version 1.0 has a limit of 26
catalog directories. This is a hardcoded limit and is currently viewed and
adequate for implementation.

You are discouraged from using multiple catalogs because 26 catalogs take
substantially more space than one catalog containing the same data. Both threads
and processes are unique to a given catalog. 26 catalogs will be 26 daemon
processes (Cidaemon.exe) and over 100 extra threads. This takes a large amount
of physical memory (RAM); therefore, it is not the optimal way to operate.

RESOLUTION
==========

Indexing Service:

This is not an issue in Windows 2000 Indexing Service. By default, a maximum of
33 catalogs can be created. You can modify this limit by changing the
MaxCatalogs registry entry in the following location:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Currentcontrolset\Control\Contentindex

Note: It is still not recommended to have multiple catalogs.

Index Server:

To control the directories that are being searched rather than creating unique
catalogs, Microsoft recommends that you use the CISCOPE and the CIRESTRICTIONS
flags.

The CiSCope flag indicates the topmost directory (either the virtual root or the
physical path) that will be searched in a given query.

NOTE: This parameter is not valid in Administrator pages and should only be used
in Queries.

The CiRestrictions flag can be used to limit your scope further and is the query
itself that is being processed.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Use the following information as an example.

In the Internet Service Manager, you have the following virtual directories
assigned:

Directory           Alias
--------------------------------
C:\InetPub\WWWroot  <Home>
C:\InetPub\Scripts  /Scripts
c:\MyFiles          /Myfiles
C:\OtherStuff       /OtherStuff

and the following directory structure.

C:\Myfiles\Cats
C:\Myfiles\Dogs
C:\MyFiles\Pigs
C:\MyFiles\Cows
C:\MFiles\Cows\Brown
C:\MyFiles\Cows\Spotted
C:\MyFiles\Cows\Green

To specify the appropriate CISCOPE and CIRESTRICTIONS, you should use the form
fields you will find in the sample query HTML document (found under Start,
Programs, Microsoft Index Server, Index Server Sample Query Form).

  <INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CiScope" VALUE="/">

This value will search all virtual roots starting at the topmost level.

If you wanted a search to start at the /Myfiles/Dogs directory, you can use
something similar to the following:

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CiScope" VALUE="/MyFiles/dogs">
or
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CiScope" VALUE="/MyFiles/Cows">
or
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CiScope" VALUE="/MyFiles/dogs/brown">
or
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="CiScope" VALUE="c:\MyFiles\Cown\Green">

The CiRestrictions flag normally contains the query parameters to search for
such, as in the following example.

<TD>
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="CiRestriction" SIZE="60" MAXLENGTH="100"
VALUE="">
</TD>

This is the Form Field that the user types their query into and will take the
text typed in to pass it to the IDQ file. This allows you to use a particular
IDQ for multiple queries by changing the HTML code, and the user can use the
appropriate HTML form for a particular scope in the query. Alternatively, you
can have the user type in the scope information and pass it similar to the way
the example passes the CiRestriction value.

For additional information, please see the documentation in the Online "Users
Guide" that outlines these flags and covers the methods described above.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbOSWin2000 
Technology        : kbIdxServSearch kbAudDeveloper kbIdxServ100 kbIdxServ200
Version           : winnt:1.0,2.0; :

=============================================================================

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