Enhanced Search with Text Excerpts and Context

Search Enhancement Update

We've significantly improved the search functionality in the Epstein Documents Browser with several key enhancements that make finding relevant documents much easier and more intuitive.

What's New

The improved search interface with text excerpts and context highlighting

Text Excerpts with Context

One of the most requested features - search results now show text excerpts around the matching content, giving users immediate context about why a document matched their search.

Features:
- 50-character context before and after each match
- Ellipsis indicators ("...") when text is truncated
- Search term highlighting in excerpts
- Smart positioning to show the most relevant context

Improved Search Reliability

Fixed critical SQL binding errors that were causing search failures and implemented robust error handling.

Technical Improvements:
- Fixed SQL parameter binding issues
- Added comprehensive error handling with detailed error messages
- Simplified OCR search queries for better performance
- Proper parameter extraction to prevent binding conflicts

Enhanced User Experience

Search results now provide much more information at a glance, making it easier to identify relevant documents.

UI Enhancements:
- Contextual excerpts displayed below file information
- Highlighted search terms using Bootstrap's <mark> styling
- Match type indicators (Filename vs Content matches)
- Responsive design that works on all screen sizes

Example Search Results

When searching for "juror", you now see:

File: DOJ-OGR-00000008.jpg [Content]
Path: Prod 01_20250822/VOL00001/IMAGES/IMAGES001
Excerpt: ...-1, 09/17/2024, 3634097 , Page7 of 26 prospective jurors completed a lengthy questionnaire, with several ...

This gives users immediate context about why the document matched their search, making it much easier to find the most relevant information.

Technical Implementation

Backend Changes

• Context extraction with 50-character windows around matches
• Smart ellipsis handling for truncated text
• Match position tracking for future enhancements
• Error handling with detailed JSON error responses

Frontend Changes

• Dynamic excerpt rendering with search term highlighting
• Bootstrap styling for consistent appearance
• Responsive layout that works on mobile and desktop
• JavaScript regex highlighting for case-insensitive matches

Database Optimization

• Simplified OCR search queries for better performance
• Proper parameter binding to prevent SQL errors
• Efficient text file reading with error handling

Production Monitoring

We've also added automatic server monitoring with crontab:

• Every 5 minutes the system checks if the server is running
• Automatic restart if the server goes down
• Logging of all monitoring activity
• Idempotent startup that won't interfere with running processes

Performance Impact

These improvements maintain excellent performance:
- Fast search responses with optimized queries
- Efficient text processing with minimal memory usage
- Smart caching of search results
- Background processing that doesn't block the UI

What's Next

We're continuing to improve the search experience with:
- Fuzzy search capabilities for better matching
- Search suggestions and autocomplete
- Advanced filtering options
- Search analytics and usage tracking

Stay Updated

Follow our project blog for the latest updates and feature announcements

Keep up with the latest developments:
- Feature announcements and technical updates
- Performance improvements and optimizations
- Behind-the-scenes development insights
- Community feedback and contributions
- RSS feed for automatic updates

Try It Out

Visit the search page and try searching for terms like:
- "juror" - See court-related documents
- "testimony" - Find witness statements
- "DOJ" - Browse Department of Justice documents

Each result now shows you exactly where your search term appears in the document, making it much easier to find the information you're looking for.

These search enhancements are part of our ongoing commitment to making government documents more accessible and searchable. The improvements are now live in production and ready for use.