I have an External List over a products table in our database. I want to be able to build a search form over it via a full text search; in addition to being able to filter down on properties on my initial search.
For example, say I’m looking for DVDs under 10.00 in product DB. I want to be able to have a search box where I enter “DVD OR Movie”, but I also want to be able to have a price box where I could enter a max price of 9.99.
My impressions of SP2010 search solutions is that its easy enough to perform a full text search over an EL with Search Services, but at the same time being able to filter down by additional attributes doesn’t appear to be possible out of the box. I know with FAST, I can do a full text search; then filter down the results on the result page via each item’s properties. However, we’re building custom functionality on the results page allowing users to add an item from the search result set to another list; so I can’t use Search Services or FAST’s results page.
I’m thinking my best bet is CAML; but my readings on the subject lead my to believe CAML doesn’t support full text search. I could also try LinqToSharepoint; but that doesn’t support full text search either.
Given my circumstances, do I have any other options besides CAML or Linq? Any constructive input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Frank
On solution is to use the FAST FSIS product. This is the full version of FAST. It will require some extra configuration to index the data in the way you want. That version of FAST will allow you to explicitly define your fields.