The ABAQUS PDF documentation includes a compiled search index (index_v66.pdx) to enable accelerated collection-level documentation searches. Searching this index is much faster than searching all the text in the individual books. If possible, you should use this approach for searching the ABAQUS PDF documentation.
Adobe Reader 6.0 for Windows platforms provides the indexed searching capability. The following earlier versions of Adobe Reader also provide indexed searching:
Acrobat Reader 5.1 with Search and Accessibility
Acrobat Reader 5.0.5 with Search and Accessibility
Acrobat Reader 4.05 with Search
Note: To use indexed searching, you must open Adobe Reader 6.0 from your desktop rather than from within your web browser.
The index name associated with the index_v66.pdx file is ABAQUS V6.6 PDF DOCUMENTATION. A search of the ABAQUS V6.6 PDF DOCUMENTATION index produces a results list with links to the occurrences in the individual books.
By default, when you click the 
icon on the toolbar or select Edit
Search in Adobe Reader 6.0, the basic search options are displayed in the Search PDF pane and you can search the current PDF document or search a folder containing the entire PDF collection. To search an index, you must use the advanced search options.
Use the following procedure a search of a PDF index:
Display the search pane in one of two ways:
Select EditSearch from the main menu bar
Click the icon on the toolbar
The Search PDF pane appears.
Select advanced search options in one of two ways:
Click Use Advanced Search Options at the bottom of the search pane.
Set the advanced search preference option by selecting EditPreferences from the main menu bar. In the dialog box that appears, select Search from the list on the left. Select the option Always use advanced search options, and click OK.
In the search field labeled What word or phrase would you like to search for?, enter the word or phrase that you want to find.
Click the arrow to the right of the Return results containing field, and select one of the following options:
Match Exact word or phrase
This search option finds the exact form and the plural form of each word that you type in the search field. The option searches for the entire string of characters, including spaces, in the order in which they were typed. For example, searching for element will find
element, elements
Element, Elements
ELEMENT, ELEMENTS
Match Any of the words
This search option finds any of the words that you type in the search field as well as different forms of each word. For example, searching for metal plasticity will find
metal plasticity, Metal Plasticity
metal, Metal
plasticity, Plasticity
viscoplasticity, Viscoplasticity
Click the arrow to the right of the Look In field, and select Select Index.
The Index selection dialog box appears.
In the Index selection dialog box:
Select the ABAQUS V6.6 PDF DOCUMENTATION index.
Once the index has been selected, Adobe Reader saves the selection.
If the index is not listed, click Add, locate the index_v66.pdx file, and click Open.
Verify that no other indexes are selected.
Click OK to close the Index selection dialog box.
Select any of the additional search criteria:
Note: Some of the search characteristics available in Adobe Reader to refine a search are not appropriate for ABAQUS documentation searches.
Whole words only
This search option matches the exact form of each word that you type in the search pane. For example, searching for element will find
element
Element
ELEMENT
Proximity
This option finds search terms that are within 900 words of each other. This option is available only for multiple document searches or index definition files and if Match All of the words is selected.
Case-Sensitive
This option finds only occurrences of the words that are in the same case as the word or words you type in the search field.
Stemming
This option finds words that contain part (the stem) of the specified search word or phrase when searching in the current file or Acrobat indexes. For example, stemming will find instances of the search word that end in "ing," "ed," "x," "ion," and so on.
Note: An exception is the ending "er." Words ending in "er" are excluded from the search results.
execute, executes
executed
executing
executable, executables
execution
Click Search.
The search pane displays a list of the results nested under the document names and paths.
Sort the search results as desired by clicking the arrow to the right of the Sort by field and selecting the option of your choice.
To expand a list of results for a document, click the plus (+) sign next to a document name.
Click an item from the results list to display the PDF page. Continue clicking items in the results list, or select EditSearch ResultsNext Result to see the next occurrence.
