Internet Data Query Files

Internet Data Query files (files with an .idq extension) for Index Server (together with the form parameters) specify the query that Microsoft Index Server will run. The .idq file is divided into two sections:

Names section
Query section

The names section is optional, and need not be supplied for standard queries.

This part of the documentation contains the following topics:

Names Section: Defines nonstandard column names that can be referred to in a query.
Query Section: Explains the parameters that can be used in a query.
Effect of Parameters on Query Performance: Tells how to set parameters for the best performance.

Note All paths to .idq files must be the full path name from a virtual root, not a relative path or a physical path. In other words, all paths must start with a forward slash and cannot contain “.” or “..” components. See the following examples:

Valid Paths
/scripts/myquery.idq
/iissamples/issamples/query.idq

Invalid Paths
c:\iissrv\scripts\myquery.idq
scripts/query.idq
/samples/../scripts/example.idq

You must put the .idq files into a virtual directory with Execute or Script permission. You cannot put .idq files into a virtual directory pointing to a remote Universal Naming Convention (UNC) share.

Note Index Server does not support physical paths longer than the Windows NT shell limit (260 characters).