Adobe Reader 7 Revealed: Working Effectively with Acrobat PDF Files

Acrobat Professional users have a utility (or program) called Acrobat Catalog that can create search indexes. Catalog is a menu command in Acrobat Professional offering users options for creating index files from folders or hard drives containing PDF files. The resultant search index file can be used with all Acrobat viewers. Search indexes offer you much faster results than when using the built-in search options and are especially helpful when you're searching through large volumes of PDF documents.

To use an index file in Adobe Reader:

1.

Press Ctrl/Command+Shift+F to open the Search pane. If you enabled preferences for always using advanced search options, the Advanced Search Options appear in the Search pane. If the Basic Options remain as a default, click Use Advanced Search Options.

2.

Open the Look In pull-down menu and choose Select Index. The Index Selection dialog opens.

3.

Click Add in the Index Selection dialog (Figure 7.13).

Figure 7.13. Click Add to add an index file to the indexes list.

4.

The Open Index File dialog opens. This dialog is similar to the Open dialog. Navigate your hard drive or CD-ROM to locate an index file. The only files you can select are index files that end with an .idx extension. When you locate an index file, select it and click Open. You are returned to the Index Selection dialog.

5.

All loaded indexes appear listed in the indexes list in the Index Selection dialog. Select a loaded index listed in the window.

6.

To review information about an index file, click the Info button.

7.

The Index Information dialog opens (Figure 7.14). The Description box displays information about the index file. You can verify that you are using the correct index by reading the description. After reviewing the description, click Close to close the dialog and return to the Index Selection dialog.

Figure 7.14. Click Close in the Index Information dialog to return to the Index Selection dialog.

8.

Click OK in the Index Description dialog. The index is loaded and ready for use with Adobe Reader Search.

9.

When you return to the Search pane, the Look In menu selection displays Currently Selected Indexes. All active index files are used when searching with Currently Selected Indexes. To perform a search, use all the search options you use when searching PDFs on your hard drive. Note that when you return to using Advanced Search Options and you want to search current active index files, select Currently Selected Indexes from the Look In pull-down menu. You don't need to return to the Index Selection dialog after an index file has been added.

Why is my index file grayed out and not usable?

When you load an index file in the Index Selection dialog, Adobe Reader links to the index file at a specific location on a hard drive or CD-ROM. If you move an index file to another location on your hard drive or delete the file, or eject the CD-ROM, Adobe Reader can't find the index file. Although the file remains listed in the Index Selection dialog, the index name, index path, and adjacent check box are grayed out (Figure 7.15).

Figure 7.15. Inaccessible index files are grayed out.

When you find an index file grayed out, select the file in the Index Selection dialog and click the Remove button. Then reconnect it with Adobe Reader by following the procedure for adding an index. Do this only for grayed out index files stored on your hard drive, however. If you use a CD-ROM, simply reinsert the CD, and the index file will again be accessible and no longer grayed out.

Index files are also temporarily unusable if the index file is not enabled in the Index Selection dialog. Be certain a checkmark appears in the box to the left of an index name to enable the index.

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