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Locate32 Live Search - a web GUI for Locate32

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lotusrootstarch:
Hi all,

Here I'm going to share with you a small web app I developed to access Locate32 search database over HTTP.

A little background/rant

I coded it out of frustration from all the fruitless efforts looking for a file-based indexing solution that both:
1. Indexes network share folders/mappings
2. Provides a web GUI for remote search queries.

I heavily rely on Locate32 to index, on a daily basis, all my mapped NAS drives across my residence. These individual NAS mappings contain significant amount of media files and folders (100K+) and are mapped in the same way as my DLNA server advertises to media devices (such as TVs, Blu-rays players, media players, iPads, Android tablets that supports DLNA or local streaming services).

With all the drives and multi-level nested folder structures advertised to the media devices by the DLNA server, navigating using remote control has becoming a major headache, in that the process itself is somewhat slow, really inefficient and unpleasant if you couldn't pinpoint where your stuff was.

This is the sad status of the current DLNA implementations - all the media are available to you for streaming, but you just might not know where they are.

To workaround this problem, I did frequent Locate32 searches on my PC prior to picking up the TV remote to make sure that I'll navigate to the right locations on first try, however the process of logging into RDP, waiting for the session to load and launching Locate32 program to do a simple quick search is somewhat discouraging. And when this process got repeated several dozen times a day, it proved itself unacceptable.

And imagine the trouble of maintaining a laptop in living room just for this process.


My small piece of solution - a web GUI for Locate32

on PC Chrome Browser
Locate32 Live Search - a web GUI for Locate32

on iPad
Locate32 Live Search - a web GUI for Locate32


How to deploy

1. Download and install Locate32

Daily builds of Locate32 can be found here: http://locate32.net/files/daily/

2. Create one or more databases and update schedules in Locate32

Locate32 Live Search - a web GUI for Locate32
Locate32 Live Search - a web GUI for Locate32

and note down the full path(s) to the database file(s).


3. Install an ASP.NET application server (such as IIS Express) or Turn on IIS with ASP.NET feature on Win 7 Ultimate

Win 7 Ultimate:


Make sure your web server is running before moving on.


4. Download the attached source code and extract the content into the root directory of your web server/site.


5. Modify only the bold text below in settings.aspx to allow the scripts to correctly communicate with Locate32:

<script runat="server">

   string Path_To_Locate32 = @"C:\Program Files\Locate\"; <-- update this with the Locate32 installation path
        
   string[] Locate32_Database_Locations = new string[] {
      @"C:\Locate32 DB\default.dbs",   <-- update this with the full path you noted down in Step 2
   };
   
</script>


6. Navigate to your new live search site and enjoy instant results!


Credits

This is my first ASP.NET project, and I could not have done it without the help of the following:
1. Various authors - who contributed code snippets used in this project
2. Google - for finding (1)
3. Krishean @ Donationcoder - for testing and offering great advice on C# coding.
4. Lanux128 @ Donationcoder - for testing and valuable feedback.


Misc

View silly pic below to see how this can fit into your home DLNA environment:
Locate32 Live Search - a web GUI for Locate32

cranioscopical:
Thanks for the carefully prepared briefing. Explanations are seldom as clear as this!

mouser:
Pretty cool!

bx1999:
This looks superb, is there anyway to make it work with a few Db files?
I have each network server on another file.

thanks!

lotusrootstarch:
hi bx1999,

sure thing. just add multiple dbs into locate32 in the settings

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