Non searchable custom fields

[lawrencen]

Is there a way to have non searchable custom fields that can be outputed from the CGI script in xml form.Currently I am using the custom meta fields in my .desc files(I am indexing pdf documents) as a means of getting the custom field values that I need for a custom results page.

Also I have discovered there is a limitation to the size of the custom fields is there a way to increase the size.

[David]

For the first part of your question. If you define your own search form, then you can leave out any or all of the fields.

For the 2nd part. There are various limits and it isn't clear what you are refering to. Can you give us an example of what you are trying to do.

[lawrencen]

I am doing a pdf search, I have set up my own search form and set up my own custom results.

I am doing the search by sending the search keywords to search.cgi which I have configured to give out the results in XML form .I use the XML results and feed it to an asp vbscript that renders the results using the XML feed.

I have information in my database that links to the individual documents and I need this information for my custom results page, that is why I am using the custom meta fields for adding eg. documentId, briefDescription(this is a bit long maybe 250 chars) ,linkId etc so that I can get them from the XML results and use them for my custom results.

I need to use this information for my javascript code used on each individual result item(single Item from the results set ) eg. for opening up css modal boxes.

example of a field that I need to be long defined in one of the .desc files:
<meta name="briefDescription" content="blah blah....">

example of what I dont need to be searchable,but would want it to be outputed in the XML results.
<meta name="documentId" content="1">

[Ray]

Custom Meta fields of the TEXT data type can store a maximum of 255 characters per value. Are you saying you need this to be longer? I'm not quite sure what your question is.

But at this point, no, you can not increase that limit.

[lawrencen]

Thanks for the replies guys, yes I wanted the field to be longer , I guess I will have to think of an alternative.

I have an unanswered question of how I can add custom fields to the .desc files that are not searchable but can be retrieved from the results XML as I have explained before .

[Ray]

I have an unanswered question of how I can add custom fields to the .desc files that are not searchable but can be retrieved from the results XML as I have explained before .

This was answered here:

For the first part of your question. If you define your own search form, then you can leave out any or all of the fields.

For more information on how to define your own search form, see this FAQ:
Q. How do I define my own search form?

This way, you can omit the text boxes for the custom meta fields so that they are not searchable.

Alternatively, you could hide/suppress certain features of the defacto search box using CSS.

[lawrencen]

Thanks so much for the answers as I was a bit puzzled by the fact that when you add a custom meta field in the "Add/Edit Custom Meta field" section you have to be forced to select a search criteria method even though you do not want your field to be searched.