Verity to search for PDF files on Net

Verity is going to help Adobe Systems leverage the increasing popularity of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) as an electronic publishing format by providing a search tool that can look for PDF files over the Net.

Adobe offers a plug-in module called Amber for Netscape Navigator 2.0 that lets users view PDF files from within the browser. Although the Adobe Acrobat software that generates PDF files already supports Verity search capabilities, those capabilities have not been available over the Internet.

With the upcoming Verity add-on search tool for Acrobat, indexes of PDF files created using the Acrobat Catalog software will be accessible to any user with the Amber plug-in. The add-on program will also let users download documents one page at a time.

Verity said the add-on will be available in the second quarter for a 90-day free trial offer

Adobe's PDF stores documents created in nearly any kind of application and lets users distribute them electronically while maintaining all the formatting of the original. PDF has become a de facto standard for electronic distribution of documents, outdistancing competition from Novell's Envoy and No Hands Software's CommonGround.