Q: How do I use a different stop list with ixBuild?
A: The -s option to ixBuild is intended to allow you to create stop lists. Unfortunately it doesn't work correctly and should not be used. This is problematic if you have a very large directory tree of files that have a lot of common words in them. In extreme cases, ixBuild can gobble up all available VM.
As a workaround, you should be able to create the effect of a stop list by writing a program that replaces /usr/bin/pword. This program should call the original pword and filter out all words that you don't want, for example by using sed. See the man page for pword, as well as the release notes (IndexingNotes.wn and IndexingPaper.wn), for further details on indexing.
