problems getting started with ASP.NET option

[bporter]

Greetings -
I'm very new to this, so please bear with me as I try to climb the learning curve . . .

I want to use Zoom Search with RoboHelp WebHelp output. I got started using the JavaScript option and that seemd to work fine. I got a search.js file and was able to open it, to search for terms and to get results. (At this point, I'm working only with the Zoom Search files - I haven't progressed to linking it to the WebHelp output itself.)

Next, I moved on to the ASP.NET option because we want to have context descriptions appear on the results page. One of our developers followed the instructions in the user guide to set up the server (installed the active controls). Then I ran the indexer and got the following files in the specified output folder:
- settings.zdat
- search_template.html
- zoom_dictionary.zdat
- zoom_wordmap.zdat
- zoom_pagetext.zdat
- zoom_pagedata.zdat
- zoom_pageinfo.zdat

Should there also be a search.aspx file? When I open the search_template.html file, all I see is the following text:

Search this site
Enter one or more keywords to search for using the Zoom Search Engine.
Note that '*' and '?' wildcards are supported.

The field for entering the search terms, the Submit button and the other search options are missing. Do I need to modify the search_template.html file in some way? I don't see anything in the user guide or the FAQs that addresses this issue for the ASP.NET option, so I'd appreciate any help that you can offer.

Everyone is looking forward to having better search functionality and excited about the capabilities that Zoom Search offers, so I really want to get this working as soon as possible. Thanks for your help!

[TheChris]

Yes, you do need an aspx page with the <ZoomASPX:ASPXSearch ID="ASPXSearch1" runat="server" /> Control where you want the results to show. The search_template.html page is just for the layout.

However, I found that leaving the search_template.html page as it is created by the Zoom Search program left me with allot of extra html markup. I'd recommend removing the HTML HEAD & BODY tags. They caused my search page to not validate.

I hope That Helps.

[Ray]

When you install the ASP.NET Server Control, you specify the folder which the search page is to be hosted in. The "search.aspx" file is created there (as part of the installation of the server control). You put the .zdat files in that folder. This is explained in the Users Guide for setting up the control, so it's worth reviewing the instructions.

[bporter]

Thanks for your feedback. I'll need to check with the developer who installed the control to find out which folder he specified. The other files are all going into the output folder specified as part of the configuration, but not the search.aspx. I looked at the user guide and see the section that describes that procedure. What if he skipped that step? Would we need to reinstall the control?
Thanks again for your help!

[Ray]

He couldn't have skipped the step. The files need to be installed somewhere. It might not have been installed in the folder you intended to use for the search control though, in which case, it might be easiest to uninstall and reinstall it where you want it. But most importantly, follow the instructions.