Zoom Search Engine FAQ - CD / DVD Search option comparison

Wrensoft has a number of different technical options that are available for adding a search function to a CD, DVD or USB key drive. This page briefly describes the options and compares the advantages and disadvantages of each.

The available solutions below apply to CD's, DVD's, USB drives and memory sticks. The process is the same in each case despite the media being different. Each of these options require the Zoom Search Engine.

The available options are,

  1. Use our FlyingAnt webserver on a CD with the CGI option. FlyingAnt is available as a seperate product.
  2. Use the Zoom Javascript option to fully run the search in a browser
  3. Use third party IE plugin DLL to use the ASP scripting language on a CD
  4. Use third party webserver software to use the PHP or CGI scripting language on a CD
  5. Use our free Zoom Front End software on a CD with the CGI option

The following table compares the available options.

 
FlyingAnt + CGI
Javascript
3rd Party IE Plugin + ASP
3rd Party server + PHP or CGI
Zoom Front End
Script option used
CGI
Javascript
ASP
PHP or CGI
CGI
Search Speed
Very fast
Slow
Medium
Medium
Very fast
Initial Startup time
Fast
Medium
Medium
Medium
Very Fast
Capacity
Huge
(Approx 10GB of content or 1000000 pages)
Low
(Approx 50MB of content or 2000 pages)
Medium
(Approx 1GB of content or 65000 pages)
Medium
(Approx 1GB of content or 65000 pages)
Huge
(Approx 10GB of content or 1000000 pages)
Space requirements on CD Low
(< 2MB)
Low Low Moderate
(> 30MB)
Low
Implementation
Mini web server
Fully contained in browser
Internet Explorer DLL plugin
Full Apache Web server
External application run from desktop.
Browser support
All
All
(Javascript support required)
IE only
All
Browser not required
Windows O/S support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mac OSX Support
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Linux Support
Yes
Most Distros
Yes
No
No
No
Exact phrase search
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Context from document
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Can run 3rd party PHP scripts from CD
No
No
No
Yes
No
Can run SQL database from CD
No
No
No
Yes
No
Wrensoft Tech. Support
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Technical knowledge required
Medium
Low
Medium
Medium
High
Source code available
Only CGI script
Yes
Only ASP script
Yes
Open source
Yes
Summary
Fast cross platform high capacity solution. RECOMMENDED
Low capacity but most compatible solution

 

Only recommended if you have additional 3rd party ASP scripts to run on CD
Only recommended if you have additional 3rd party PHP scripts or SQL to run on CD
Fast windows only solution that doesn't need a webserver.

 

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