Share via

Manage metadata property mappings (Search Server 2008)

  • Article

Applies To: Microsoft Search Server 2008

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-04-06

Metadata property mappings map properties extracted from documents during crawls, called crawled properties, to managed properties that users can use in search queries.

For example, three different document types might have different names for the property identifying the author. One document type might name this property "author," another "writer," and a third "property3". You can map each of these crawled properties to the Author managed property so that when a user queries by author, appropriate results from the three document types are included. Searches can be performed only on managed properties, not crawled properties.

Note

Unless otherwise noted, the information in this article applies to both Microsoft Search Server 2008 and Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express.

To manage metadata property mappings, you must first open the Metadata Property Mappings page:

  • On the Search Administration page, under Queries and Results, click Metadata properties.

In this article:

Adding a managed property

Editing a managed property

Deleting a managed property

Mapping a crawled property

Adding a managed property

Add a managed property

  1. On the Metadata Property Mappings page, click New Managed Property.

  2. On the New Managed Property page, in the Property name box in the Name and type section, type the name of the new managed property.

  3. In the Description box, type a description of the property.

  4. Under The type of information in this property, select one of the following as appropriate for the property:

    • Text

    • Integer

    • Decimal

    • Date and Time

    • Yes/No

  5. In the Mappings to crawled properties section, select one of the following:

    • **Include values from all crawled properties mapped   **Select this option if you want values from all crawled properties to be mapped for a given document. A query for a property in a document in which all crawled properties are mapped returns a result if any of the crawled properties that are mapped match.

    • **Include values from a single crawled property based on the order specified   **Select this option if you want only a single value mapped. When multiple crawled properties are mapped to a managed property, the one that is chosen is the first in the list that has a value for a given document. You can reorder the list by using the Move up and Move down buttons.

  6. Click Add Mapping to add a mapping to the list.

  7. The Crawled property selection dialog box appears. Configure the settings as follows:

    1. On the Select a category menu, click either All categories or a specific type of document category (for example, Office or XML).

    2. In Select a crawled property, select a crawled property to map to the managed property that you are adding.

      Because the list of crawled properties is likely to be long, you can type the name (or the first part of the name) of the property that you are looking for in the Crawled property name box, and then click Find.

    3. Click OK.

  8. On the New Managed Property page, in the Use in scopes section, select the Allow this property to be used in scopes check box if you want the property to be available for defining search scopes.

    Tip   Only select this check box for those properties you intend to use in scopes. Each property set as a scope increases the size of the index, which you should avoid when possible.

  9. Click OK.

  10. In the message box advising that the changes do not take effect until after the next full crawl, click OK.

Note

Changes to the property mappings take effect on a document-by-document basis as soon as a document is crawled, regardless of the type of the crawl. A full crawl ensures that the changes are consistently applied to the entire index.

Editing a managed property

One reason that you may want to edit a managed property is to map a crawled property to it.

Edit a managed property

  • On the Metadata Property Mappings page, in the Managed Properties View list, click Edit/Map Property on the menu of the managed property that you want to edit.

    You can find information about the managed property settings, including how to add a new mapping, in the Adding a managed property section.

Deleting a managed property

Deleting a managed property has the following consequences:

  • Users no longer able to query by using this property.

  • If a scope uses this property in its rules, the scope is broken.

  • If custom search applications or Web Parts use this property, they are broken.

To delete a managed property:

  • On the Metadata Property Mappings page, in the Managed Properties View list, click Delete on the menu of the managed property that you want to delete.

Mapping a crawled property

You can map crawled properties to managed properties by editing the crawled property.

Map a crawled property

  1. On the Metadata Property Mappings page, click Crawled Properties.

  2. In the Crawled Properties View list, select the category to which the crawled property belongs.

  3. In the list of crawled properties, click Edit/Map Property on the menu of the crawled property that you want to edit.

  4. On the Edit Crawled Property page, in the Mappings to managed properties section, click Add Mapping.

  5. In the Managed property selection dialog box, configure the settings as follows:

    1. In the Select a managed property list, select a managed property, and then click OK.

    2. Click OK.

  6. On the Edit Crawled Property page, if you want to include values for the crawled property in the search index, select the Include values for this property in the search index check box. This option makes values for the crawled property searchable when a full-text search is used. Crawled properties are usually searchable only when a property-based search is used.

  7. Click OK.

  8. In the message box advising that the changes do not take effect until after the next full crawl, click OK.

    Note

    The changes actually take place on a document-by-document basis during the crawl.

See Also

Concepts

Manage settings to improve search results (Search Server 2008)