Ya, hello.

Basic problem: Drupal 4.7 installation
I need to search the content in files/ and other sources that I have on my system.

Ignore for the now how to scan and build the indexes. I have other tools for that (I hope).
In addition to files/, I will be building about 3-4 different indexes. Tools archive areas and other project directories that my group maintains.

My problem is how can I search it in Drupal? Has somebody extended Search to use other tables already, or have a primer? I can understand complex code, but would like it if the Search team or others had some hints first as to what would be best to modify.

The first query in do_search() specifying {search_index} or somewhere else?

Or should I make a separate search module/page?