Seeking Relatively Future-Proof HTML File Browser to be Burnt on CD With Archive

February 9, 2004 5:03 PM

Making an searchable HTML archive ... without a server? Can it be done? More inside.

I've got a massive mail archive I made with mhonarc (which generates HTML). I'd like to burn it to CD, but is there any simple way to make it searchable right off the CD? I know InDesign's help system does it so there's at least one method -- but is it within the reach of mortals?

posted by bonaldi to computers & internet (5 answers total)

Win XP and OSX can search within text files for keywords, why not just use that?
posted by machaus at 5:14 PM on February 9, 2004

That's an option, but I'd like this to be as future-proof as possible, so that if I dig it out in 20 years all I'll need is a web-browser and a drive that'll read CDs[1] to get at it. Needing a javascript browser is acceptable. Java probably isn't.

[1] ignoring CD lifespans - I may well keep rearching it as formats age and change.
posted by bonaldi at 5:19 PM on February 9, 2004

Take a look at Greenstone, which is designed for creating digital libraries very easily. I'm pretty sure you can use HTML files in your "library" and make them searchable. You need an internet connection to build the library (once you download the program), but--with a plugin you can download--you can create a CD or other offline database. I'm certain there are other options, but Greenstone's really neat, regardless.
posted by arco at 5:53 PM on February 9, 2004

"WebExe enables you to convert a single HTML page, or group of pages, into one single, self-running EXE file with an integrated browser."

This includes a search function. I find the program esthetically unappealing and thing it generates feels slow to me, but its an option. Another would be to convert them to a compiled help format, I don't know if this works on anything but MS systems, but it has built in search.
posted by Grod at 9:08 PM on February 9, 2004

This is a little bit askew from what you're asking for, but you might be interested in Zoe. I haven't used it myself, but it looks really cool.
posted by adamrice at 7:27 AM on February 10, 2004