Knowledge Discovery 25.4
Knowledge Discovery Expert

# View Documents

The View component allows you to view documents in a Web Browser. View uses File Content Extraction to extract the contents of files of various different formats, and convert it into HTML output.

View can return the contents of Web pages and local files in a browser-friendly, consistent format. It rewrites links to other pages and separate files such as images, so that all requests for subfiles return to View. You can also apply templates to the output.

This component allows you to generate previews of documents to display in a search user interface. You can use the reference of a search result to find the original document and convert it into a preview. View can also return the original document.

TIP: You can use the View page in the Control section of Knowledge Discovery Admin to view your documents.

## View Cache

When View converts a document to HTML, it stores the converted output in a cache. HTML conversion can be an intensive process, so caching can save a lot of processing time when documents are requested repeatedly.

You can control the size of the cache, and the length of time that items are stored in the cache. You can use the Overview tab on the Status page in Knowledge Discovery Admin to reset the View cache and delete all the files from the cache directory.

## Highlight Documents

View can communicate with the Content component to highlight specified terms in the document that it converts. It adds specified HTML tags to the result HTML to highlight the matching terms.

For highlighting, Knowledge Discovery uses normal linguistic processing (for example stemming, to highlight all related terms), and can use Boolean and proximity rules to decide when to highlight a particular term. The behavior depends on the configuration of the Content component.

## Document Access

Users can use the View component to access files through HTTP, HTTPS, network shares, or the local file system. By default, users cannot view local files, for security. However, you can configure allowed directories in the local file system, which users can view files from.

Depending on your system, you might also need to configure SSL options, or a Web proxy.

## Troubleshoot View Conversions

You can test the File Content Extraction conversion of a particular file in an isolated environment, by using the `cnv2html` command-line tool. For example, this test can distinguish between file permission errors, and problems with unsupported formats.

Related Topics

- Distribute View Servers

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Version 25.4 | Last updated October 2025

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Product: Knowledge Discovery 25.4

Topic Title: View Documents