I-FIND does not attempt to control or create the data, so it is a non-intrusive system that works in parallel with the tools and processes at your enterprise. Should I-FIND be disabled, no mission-critical functionality is lost (although expect complaints from your many users who have grown accustomed to using I-FIND).

Extensions to I-FIND are essentially automated processes which are launched by I-FIND or via regularly scheduled batch programs. This can include the creation of plots or derivative data (such as PDF, IGES or VRML) files. The configuration of these tools varies at each enterprise.

I-FIND consists of 3 separate components:

• I-FIND Reports Generation
• I-FIND Web Interface
• I-FIND Extensions

Reports Generation

The report generation phase (figure 3 below) mines different data sources and creates the metadata lists for I-FIND to search. input can be a variety of data sources (CAD, MRP, etc.) output is: a standardized series of metadata reports searchable by I-FIND an index of the various reports available (ifind.tdmkey) gather data register reports  reports directory   figure 3. I-FIND report generation The report generation phase may easily be automated to run at regular intervals. On UNIX, a cron may be used. For NT, many utilities similar to cron exist. The ifind.tdmkey file contains the color settings, delimiter settings, and latest date for each report. It is created and updated by the ifind_reg.exe program, and referenced by ifind-plus.exe.

Web Interface

The I-FIND interface is a simple, clutter-free environment that accepts user searches, displays matching items, and launches user-specified process. I-FIND uses colors to distinguish data types and sources. The interface as shown here has returned results that are are in multiple data stores, hence the various colors. The URL for the I-FIND browser usually looks like:   http://localhost/ifind-bin/ifind-plus.exe I-FIND performs best with the latest versions of popular browsers, preferably versions 4.0 and higher.

Extensions

I-FIND Extensions is comprised of any specialized programs or scripts that launch processes within the enterprise. An example might be a user creating a PDF from the I-FIND interface. Upon receiving this command, I-FIND calls its PDF generation extension. This in turn starts the native program needed to create a postscript output, then the I-FIND PDF generation extension finishes the process by creating the PDF file and displaying it to the user.

WAMware offers several standard extensions to automate processes like this, and can work with you to create a customized process to match your needs.

Program Subsystems

The I-FIND program subsystems are contained in several directories. For the most part, you won't need to deal with any of this unless you are actually modifying the code.

The subsystem can be placed anywhere on your system, but shouldn't be moved once it is installed. Generally, the files are placed in a directory structure like /arbitrary_path/ifind/version/... (Example: /root/ifind/2.5/..)

Directories in the I-FIND program subsystem:

Directory	Web Server Alias	Description	Notes
associated	/ifind-assoc/	associated derived data (PDF, IGES, etc.)	I-FIND Extensions will need to write files here automatically.
bin	none	contains utilities and OS callable scripts	No changes should be required in this directory.
cgi-bin	/ifind-bin/	browser callable CGI programs	No changes should be required in this directory.
docs	/ifind-docs/	I-FIND documentation
images	/ifind-images/	images	Custom logos or images should go in here.
lib	none	program utilities	No changes should be required in this directory.
local	none	local modifications and administration files	ifind-param.pl - general setup
plotting	none	plotting utilities and definitions	Watermark definitions exist in this directory and may need to be changed.
reports	none	all report files, ifind.tdmkey	I-FIND Reports Generation will need to write files here automatically.
tmp	none	various temporary files and directories	This may be cleaned out regularly to minimize disk space requirements.
webwrite	none	registration information	I-FIND programs reference this information to determine registration status. This should be backed up to avoid losing license info.

Note: The web server aliases above are recommendations only; they may be anything you want them to be, but they must be correctly defined in ifind-param.pl to match the actual alias name.

Maintenance

Task	Required Actions
New I-DEAS version	Change $IdeasPath variable in ifind-param.pl Run mk_ideas manually and verify that it generates correct output. If no output is generated, call WAMware for assistance
New CAD versions	Script files may need to be updated for the actions to work correctly.
Change color index for data sources	Alter the hexadecimal RGB value in the /reports/ifind.tdmkey file.
Change image in upper left corner to company logo	Place the logo image (JPEG or GIF) into the images directory. The pixel size should be roughly 60x60, though this is not fixed. In /local/ifind-param.pl, alter the variable $CustomLogo to match your logo's filename. You may also change the $CustomLink variable to make the logo link to a desired website, such as the company intranet.
Display admin messages and local support info to users	Edit the /local/ifind-header.html file to include messages and support info (such as help or e-mail address links).

Troubleshooting

Problem	Possible Causes/Recommended Actions
Report generation asks for a registration password.	I-FIND has not been registered, or has been registered but has lost its registration information. Register I-FIND at http://www.wamware.com/products/i-find/reg/registermain.exe If I-FIND is already registered, check to make sure the webwrite directory has not been deleted, corrupted, or moved. The location of the webwrite directory is set in the ifind-param.pl file found in the local directory.
I-FIND doesn't display in a web browser.	Check to make sure the web server is running on the host machine. If error is something like "page cannot be found", verify that pathnames are correct in alias/scriptalias settings. If error is something like "page cannot be displayed", verify that I-FIND's cgi-bin directory is set to allow execute permissions.
I-FIND displays in a web browser, but there is no color-coded legend in the upper right, and it doesn't return search results.	Make sure CAD reports have been generated and registered properly. Check to verify that the reports directory has not been deleted, corrupted, or moved. The location of the reports directory is set in the ifind-param.pl file found in the local directory.
mk_ideas does not generate any output	Make sure the path to I-DEAS set correctly in mk_ideas.
I-FIND says that it found too many items matching my search, and that it had to abort.	I-FIND limits search results to approximately 500 items. The maximum number of hits is limited to the variable $MatchLimit defined in ifind-param.pl.  Setting this number too high may cause some browser/network configurations to lock up.