# Application Extensions

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Extensions help Agent Ransack in processing non-text based formats so that their underlying data is correctly retrieved and searched. The screenshot shows the configuration for the ZIP extension, which is used to read files in the ZIP format. The configuration shows that the ZIP extension should be used for all files with a .zip or .jar extension but could be changed to include any other zip based formats.

Safe Mode

An extension is normally run in the same process space as Agent Ransack since it is the fastest way for Agent Ransack to communicate with the extension. However, running the extension in the same process space does mean that if the extension has a catastrophic failure it can crash Agent Ransack. To avoid crashing Agent Ransack troublesome extensions can be run in 'Safe Mode', which causes them to run in their own process space, but it does mean that using the extension may cause Agent Ransack to run slightly slower.

Indexing Service Filter

While Agent Ransack provides extensions for some well known file types, e.g. DOC, XLS etc, it is sometimes faster to use Indexing Service Filters if they are available. The 'Use Indexing Service Filter' check box instructs Agent Ransack to try and find an Indexing Service Filter and use that instead of the Agent Ransack extension if one exists.

Note: Using an indexing service filter does not require the indexing service to be switched on merely that the filter is installed on the machine.

Exclude file type from content searches when not active

Some file formats, such as ZIP, do not include useful searchable binary data within them so there is little point in searching through the file if the extension has not been activated. To avoid wasting time searching through such file formats set the 'Exclude' flag.

Custom Extensions

User defined extensions using an external program to convert a given format into text will also be listed. Instructions on how to add user defined extensions can be found in the Custom Extensions topic.

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Help file version: 9.0
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