skoldpadda -
Here's something to feel good about: customizing your search
is definitely do-able.
If it were up to me, I would continue with the method I
detailed in
a
previous post, where we examine the filenames before displaying
them in the search results. I even left in a bit of script for
developing context, based on the path, for just this kind of
problem.
In this scenario, the Webhelp search continues unmolested,
but you filter the results based on either the filename prefix
(useful if you've added the state name to the beginning of each
topic) or on the containing WebHelp folder (say you've created your
output with topics in folders based on the state name, such as
webhelp\ak\dress_code.htm, and webhelp\fl\dress_code.htm). Then, if
the search phrase specifies a state, test for the prefix or folder,
and display only those that match. Otherwise, display them all.
Provide the script to your in-house developers, and they can
run with it.
Good Luck!