About Inso Filtering Technology

Oracle Text uses document filtering technology licensed from Inso Chicago Corporation. This filtering technology enables you to index most document formats. This technology also enables you to convert documents to HTML for document presentation, with the CTX_DOC package.

See Also: For a list of supported formats, see "Supported Document Formats" in this Appendix.

To use Inso filtering for indexing and DML processing, you must specify the INSO_FILTER object in your filter preference.

To use Inso filtering technology for converting documents to HTML with the CTX_DOC package, you need not use the INSO_FILTER indexing preference, but you must still set up your environment to use INSO filtering technology as described in this appendix.

To convert documents to HTML format, Inso filtering technology relies on shared libraries and data files licensed from Inso Corporation and Adobe Corporation.

The following sections discuss the supported platforms and how to enable Inso filtering on the different platforms.

Supported Platforms

Supported Platforms

Inso filter technology is supported on the following platforms:

• Sun Solaris on SPARC 32-bit and 64-bit (2.5.1 - 7)

• IBM AIX 32-bit and 64-bit (4.2 - 4.3)

• HP-UX 32-bit and 64-bit (10.2 - 11.0)

• DEC UNIX for Alpha/Tru64 UNIX (4.0)

• SGI IRIX 32-bit and 64-bit (6.3)

• Microsoft Windows
  • NT on Intel x86 (4.0)

  • 2000

  • Millennium

  • 98

  • 95

• Red Hat Linux for Intel x86 (5.2 - 6.2)

Environment Variable Location

All environment variables related to Inso filtering must made visible to Oracle Text. Set these variables in the following location:

• The operating system shell from where ctxsrv server is started. This makes the environment variables visible to the ctxsrv process, which does background DML.

  Note: Since indexing is a trusted callout instead of a safe callout, it is not necessary to set variables in listener.ora file. Any Inso-specific variables set in the listener.ora file is ignored by the INSO_FILTER object.

Requirements for UNIX Platforms

The following requirements apply to Solaris, IBM AIX, HP/UX, Digital UNIX, SGI, and Linux platforms:

• Ensure the *.flt files have execute permission granted to the operating system user running the Oracle database and ctxsrv server.

• Set the $PATH variable to include the location of the *.flt files, in particular to the location of the file isunx2.flt, and to $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib which is the location of the shared libraries for Inso filtering

• Set the $HOME environment variable to allow Inso technology to write files to a sub-directory (.inso) in $HOME directory.

• Access to a running X-Windows server is required to perform vector graphics image conversion.

Solaris, SGI, and Digital UNIX

Set the system's shared library path ($LD_LIBRARY_PATH) environment variable to include $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib.

IBM AIX

Set the system's shared library path ($LIBPATH) environment variable to include $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib.

You must include /usr/lib:/lib in $LIBPATH, because these directories are not searched by default once $LIBPATH environment variable is set.

HP/UX

Set the system's shared library path ($SHLIB_PATH) environment variable to include $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib.

Linux

Set the system's shared library path ($LD_LIBRARY_PATH) environment variable to include $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib.

Filtering Vector Graphic Formats

Follow these steps to filter vector graphic formats on UNIX platforms:

• Start an X server to filter vector graphic formats. If no X server exists (system detects no X libraries, such as Xm, Xt, and X11), vector graphic filtering is not performed. Vector graphic formats include CAD drawings and presentation formats such as Power Point 97. Bitmap formats include GIF, JPEG, and TIF formats as well as bitmap formats.

• Because the system depends on X libraries to perform vector graphic conversion, ensure that the system-specific library path environment variable for the X libraries is set correctly.

• Set the $DISPLAY environment variable. For example, setting DISPLAY=:0.0 tells the system to use the X server on the console.

OLE2 Object Support

There are platform dependent limits on what Inso filter technology can do with OLE2 objects. On all platforms when a metafile snapshot is available, Inso technology will use it to convert the object.

When a metafile snapshot is not available on UNIX platforms, Inso technology cannot convert the OLE2 object.

However, when a metafile snapshot is not available on the NT platform, the original application is used (if available) to convert the OLE2 object.