Indexing and Reindexing

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Indexing and Reindexing

Actively used databases need frequent updating to keep the index and dictionary entries current. In Concordance, we refer to creating the database index as a full index, and refer to an index update as a reindex, which simply updates the database dictionary and its corresponding index.

Indexing versus Reindexing:

Indexing is performed when the initial database is built, and needs to be performed after every database modification, including changes in fields, punctuation or the stopwords list.  Indexing is an exclusive process.

Reindexing is performed when new records are added to the database or when there are new annotations and modifications to record content.  Reindexing appends new information to both the index and dictionary files.

Reviewers are typically not given indexing or reindexing privileges because of the sensitivity involved in running these processes. Concordance administrators must ensure that all data is reviewed and proper back-ups are made before indexing or reindexing the database.

IndexReindexMenu NeedsReindexing

Indexing Databases

There will be times when you need to perform full index updates to include modifications to the dictionary, stopwords list, and punctuation settings. This is an exclusive process and only the administrator can access the database at this time.

When performing a full index, please consider the following:

Perform a full index when all reviewers are logged out of Concordance, processing can take hours and impacts access to the system and work activity

When possible, plan to perform full indexes when it doesn’t impact regular work hours

Alert all reviewers of when indexing will occur and the timeframe for when the system may be available again

Verify that all reviewers are logged out of the system before you run this process

Consider performing full indexes for individual databases on separate machines

To index a database, select Index on the File menu.

Reindexing Databases

You can determine whether a database needs reindexing on the File menu and the Databases task pane. A database needs reindexing whenever the database dictionary is not current with the additions or changes that have been made to the database since the database was last indexed or reindexed. On the File menu, Concordance adds a check mark next to the Reindex command.  In the Databases Panel of the Navigation panel, Needs Reindexing is displayed for the Current Database.

When performing a reindex, please consider the following:

Run a query on edited records or those marked for deletion. To do this, on the Search menu, click Search for edited documents.

Select the Allow exclusive indexing check box on the Indexing tab in the Preferences dialog box to prevent reviewers from searching during a reindex.

To reindex a database, select Reindex on the File menu.

Database Indexing Time

Knowing the indexing time for databases can help you plan your indexing schedules.  Concordance logs the time it takes to index in the Concordance_<version>.log file located in C:\ProgramData\CloudNine\Concordance 10.

Concordance10Log

This example log file shows indexing in seconds, but realistically, your database is probably going to index in hours, not seconds.