ORION Uses dtSearch to Find the "Smoking Gun"

ORION Scientific Systems, which develops software for the intelligence and law enforcement communities, has found the perfect way to put the dtSearch Text Retrieval Engine through its paces. ORION has placed the dtSearch Text Retrieval Engine, which instantly searches through gigabytes of text, at the heart of its new analytic tool, ORIONMagic".

ORIONMagic, is a Windows-based law enforcement application, designed to search through massive amounts of fragmentary investigative material, to instantly find the one or two "smoking guns." ORIONMagic takes the users through all the steps of information gathering: from the creation of search criteria and selection of sources, through the organization and analysis of the results, to the creation of reports and and analytical charts.

ORIONMagic allows the user to organize multiple search parameters into a matrix format resembling a spreadsheet, and perform massively parallel searches from a single command. Magic populates the matrix with cross sectional search results, and presents them in a format amenable to instant text and graphical analysis. On board databasing options further allow users to select and categorize data elements for relational analysis, automatically create link diagrams using ORION's JavaLink"product, and automatically generate reports. The user can also save both the parameters and the results of these searches, and recall them for future reuse.

After performing the matrix search, the user can select a results set by clicking on any cell in the matrix. ORIONMagic lets the user sort search results by number of hits, name, date, or size of the file. The user can then view the result set in text mode or in Microsoft Internet Explorer with the key words highlighted.

dtSearch's Text Retrieval Engine provides maximum flexibility, with over two dozen text search options, allowing analysis of all popular file types, said Bill Morris, Director of Research and Development for ORION. ORIONMagic and the dtSearch Text Retrieval Engine can run on a PC, LAN or Intranet/Internet.

We found dtSearch provided efficient searching and optimized index structure, said Mr. Morris. We looked at several search engines that are out there, and have even developed our own. But, we found that dtSearch excelled in performance over multiple gigabytes of data.

dtSearch's many different search options, such as adjustable fuzzy, stemming for root word derivations, numeric range, proximity, complex boolean logic, and relevancy-ranked natural language also made dtSearch the best choice, said Mr. Morris. ORION also liked dtSearch's support for all the latest file formats. It was a one-stop-shopping solution, said Mr. Morris.

While dtSearch's specialty lies in performing very fast searches over gigabytes of text, ORION's specialty lies in organizing the output of a search, gleaning the most pertinent results from a search. ORION does this through concept overlays that make the most sense out of search results-also helping to better organize the actual items for which the user searches. Concepts enable the user to create complex search criteria using combined and weighted terms. This directs you to the key information of interest save you time from looking though useless search results.

ORION plans to use ORIONMagic in a wide variety of research, law enforcement, and data mining purposes, such as helping different government departments and agencies synthesize investigative results. ORION's highly successful gang tracking software, GangNet, and its highly flexible Investigations tools are already in use in nine US states as well as the state of California. ORION hopes to expand on this success with ORIONMagic. ORION sees the applicability of ORIONMagic, including the dtSearch component, to any field demanding searching and sifting through massive quantities of data. "dtSearch has been super responsive in its support," adds Mr. Morris.