Extending Google Desktop with IFilter
Part 1 - Overview

What's that all about.

It is one of the most frequently asked questions: how can I extend Google Desktop searching with more file types. Alas, Google Desktop natively supports not as many file types as other desktop search solutions do but instead gives additional features.

One way to extend Google Desktop is to use IFilter drivers that allow indexing additional file types. What is IFilter? That's a special kind of driver able to retrieve content from files of a certain kind. IFilter drivers are used in Microsoft Desktop search, MS SharePoint and MS Indexing Services. So IFilter is a thing form Microsoft world.

Advanced GDS Toolbox adapts IFilter drivers and allows to reuse them with Google Desktop. Configuring IFilter drivers usage is simple. Use Settings | Drivers Settings menu to display drivers configuration dialog. There you will find to tab sheets: 'IFilter Drivers' and 'IFilter in Archives'. The first controls which of IFilter drivers will be used to index files on your disks while the second controls indexing files inside archives.

Using context menu for an item in filters list you can select or deselect all file extensions served by selected filter. Don't forget to turn on archives indexing if you select some of filters on 'IFilter in Archives' page. Just select archives to be indexed on 'Common Drivers' page.

Standard IFilter drivers

Microsoft ships several standard filters beginning from Windows 2000. These filters are serving the most common file types and can be used with Google Desktop as well:

• HTML filter - indexes asp, html and some other files.
• Plain Text filter - indexes txt, vbs, ini and files with other extensions.
• Microsoft Office filter - indexes such files as doc, ppt, xls files. In other words files created and used with applications included in Microsoft Office.

Are there any reasons to use standard filters outside archives?

Probably yes, if you want to extend Google Desktop beyond standard files indexing. By default Google Desktop doesn't index Microsoft Office template files like dot, pot and xlt files. Using IFilter drivers in Advanced GDS Toolbox it does perfectly.

There's an advanced trick is also possible. In old days the 'doc' extension was not used solely by Microsoft Word. Some of word processors used that extension to keep simple plain-text files. If you select doc extension in 'IFilter Drivers' tab and then add doc extension in plain-text driver settings page, Advanced GDS Toolbox will try to index a doc file using IFilter first and then if failed using plain-text driver. That way both MS Word files and plain-text files with 'doc' extension will be indexed well.