Voyager Search Glossary
Term | Definition |
Agent | The part of Vose that handles searching and indexing of Repositories (also Indexing Agent) |
ArcGIS | A Geographic Information System (GIS) created by Esri for using and analyzing maps and geographic data |
ArcGIS Online | Web application created by Esri for using and sharing geographic data |
ArcMap | Esri application to display, edit and query geographic data |
Authentication | The process of verifying a user and their privileges (permissions) |
Base Map | A map on which geographic information is displayed |
Bitmap | An image based on pixels. Commonly used Bitmap formats include PNG, JPG and GIF. GIS programs use bitmaps that encode geographic data in the pixel values as well as the pixel locations. |
Boosting | Boosting involves promoting specific query results so that they show up higher in tthe search results - includes Boost Queries and Boost Functions |
Bounding Box | The geographic coordinates for a rectangle that contains specific GIS data |
Cart | Contains one or more records that are available for Processing |
Connector | The software that scans files in a repository and reads basic information from specific file types |
Coordinate System | A system to help define where a location is in space. There are many types of Coordinate Systems, but the most commonly used are Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) and Projected Coordinate System (PCS) |
Discovery | See Scanning |
Display Templates | Customizable templates that control the appearance of different aspects of the Navigo UI, including the Search Results page, Details page, Filters and Sorting. The Flex Index can easily scale to contain very large data sets (10+ million recrods.) |
Esri | Creator of ArcGIS, ArcGIS Online and ArcMap software to use, display and analyze geographic information |
Extractor | The software that opens files in a repository and extracts detailed information to add to the Index |
Federated Search | Federation uses multiple, separate Voyager Indexes to create a single, searchable Federated Index |
File Type | See MIME Types |
Filters | Filters allow refining of search results by Format, Spatial Reference, Location etc. |
Flex Index | In Voyager 2.0, the Flex Index (based on SolrCloud) is centrally managed (by HQ) and comes with built-in fail-over and load-balancing. Content is organized into multiple logical pieces, or shards, that can be hosted on multiple machines. Shards are managed by Zookeeper. Indexing is handled by one or more Indexing Agents. |
FME | Feature Manipulation Engine - a platform for translating spatial data into other formats that can be shared by different applications |
Format | See MIME Types |
Gazetteer | A Gazetteer provides location information used to Geotag non-spatial data |
GCS | Geographic Coordinate System - GCS uses a grid on the surface of a 3D globe to identify locations. There are many types of GCS. See also PCS. |
Geodatabase | A database storing GIS information. Geodatabase files have .gdb or .mdb extensions. |
GeoPDF | A geospatial extension to the PDF file format, used to present GIS and mapping data in a standard PDF file |
Geospatial | Geospatial refers to data with a geographic or location component |
Geotagging | Geotagging adds location information (spatial references) to non-spatial data |
GIS | In the most basic sense, Geographic Information Systems use geographic data to create maps and produce spatial analysis |
GML | Geography Markup Language, based on XML |
HQ | The central component of Voyager 2.0 that manages Discovery, Indexing Agents and data repositories. Currently requires the presence of Voyager Server for Security and other management controls. |
Index | The set of searchable data derived from cataloging Repositories |
Index Shards | Logical partitions of the Index in SolrCloud and Voyager 2.0, composed of one or more replicas |
Indexing | The process of adding content to the searchable Index - includes Scanning and Extraction |
Indexing Agent | The part of Voyager 2.0 that handles searching and indexing of Repositories |
Indexing Pipeline | See Pipeline |
Java | Refers either to the Java programming language or the Java platform, a set of tools allowing for easy cross-platform application development |
JSON | JavaScript Object Notation is a minimal, text-based format used for exchanging data |
Layer | A data source such as a shapefile, geodatabase feature class or raster that defines how data should be symbolized on a map |
LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - a client-server protocol for accessing Directory Services over TCP/IP |
Location | A set of data, usually geographic in nature (Repository in Voyager 2.0) |
Lucene | An open-source Java library that implements indexing, analyzing and searching |
Metadata | Information that describes the content, quality, condition and other characteristics of data, separate from the data itself |
MIME Types | Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension is a standardized way of identifying files on the Internet based on their nature and format |
NLP | Natural Language Processing is a way of using computer systems to try and interpret text information in the same way that a person would |
OCR | Optical Character Recognition is the process of reading text from files such as scanned documents or images |
PCS | Projected Coordinate System - PCS transforms a 3D model and projects it onto a 2D surfaces such as maps or computer screens. There are many types of GCS, such as Mercator, Transverse Mercator and Gnomonic. All projections of a 3D globe onto a 2D surface introduce distortions in any map of the world, and the choice of projection becomes largely one of aesthetics. See also GCS. |
Pipeline | The Pipeline consists of a series of customizable functions that can be used to manipulate and transform data during the Indexing process |
Portal for ArcGIS | A map-centric content management system deployed within an organization's infrastructure |
Processing | Processing refers to the set of tasks that can modify, refine, delete or export input data in the Cart |
Query | A Query is a search request applied to the Solr Index |
Query Expansion | Query Expansion takes search term(s) and calculates other, similar terms using NLP. It then uses these expanded terms as well as your original search term when it executes a query. |
Raster | See Bitmap |
Record | Refers to a single file found in a Repository - the data on which an Index is built |
Regex/Regular Expressions | A Regular Expression (sometimes called regex) is a special text string for describing a search pattern |
Relevancy | When Voyager executes a query against an index, it lists more-relevant items at the top of the search results and less-relevant items at the bottom. |
Replication | A master-slave configuration that can improve reliability and fault tolerance, where the contents of a Master Index are replicated in Slave Indexes |
Repository | See Location |
SAML | The Security Assertion Markup Language is an open standard that allows security credentials to be shared by multiple computers across a network |
Saved Search | A saved Index query that can be re-used and shared with other users |
Scanning | The process of examing records to read basic information such as file name and file type. This is the initial phase of Indexing and is followed by Extraction. Also referred to as Discovery in earlier Voyager versions. |
Shapefile | A format for storing vector GIS data. Geographic features in a shapefile can be represented by points, lines, or polygons (areas). Shapefiles do not store topography, only layers. Each Shapefile has three required files: .shp (the main file), .shx (Index file) and .dbf (DBase table file) |
Single Sign-on | A process where the user only needs to sign on once to access multiple systems |
Snapshot | A copy of the information in the Index directory at a specific time, which can include additional information such as Saved Searches or Discovery Settings. Similar to a Backup. |
Solr | The open-source search platform underlying Voyager Search, built on the Lucene JAVA library |
SolrCloud | Distributed search and indexing solution using Index Shards managed by Zookeeper. Includes built-in failover and load-balancing |
Spatial Settings | Determines whether Voyager stores only bounding boxes or bounding boxes plus spatial geometry for Index records |
Vector Graphics | Vector Graphics are images described by mathematical formulas instead of individual pixels. Vector images are commonly in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format |
WFS | Web Feature Server - provides ability to query and manipulate geographic features. Transactions are in GML. |
WMS | Web Map Service - serves georeferenced maps (usually Bitmaps or Vector Graphics) across the network |
Worker | A Worker is a Java thread used to execute a task such as scanning or indexing |
XML | eXtensible Markup Language - XML uses markup to describe data content (vs data presentation) and does not use pre-defined tags as does HTML |