OLE DB provider "Search.CollatorDSO" returns "Command was not prepared"

Question

Has anybody been able to connect to Windows Search Service using the OLE DB Provider for Search in SQL Server? Below you'll find the error message I keep stumbling upon when configuring a Linked Server in Management Studio.

OLE DB provider "Search.CollatorDSO" for linked server "TESTSERVER" returned message "Command was not prepared.".
Msg 7399, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
The OLE DB provider "Search.CollatorDSO" for linked server "TESTSERVER" reported an error. Command was not prepared.
Msg 7350, Level 16, State 2, Line 2
Cannot get the column information from OLE DB provider "Search.CollatorDSO" for linked server "TESTSERVER".

I'm aware more people have been struggling with this problem over the last few years, but I haven't found a solution so far.

Answer 1

For reasons known only to Microsoft*, the Windows Search catalog is not accessible to SQL Server as an OLE DB datasource. The only feasible workaround for this issue is to create a CLR function and use it as a wrapper for querying the search catalog. A ready-to-run example can be found at http://www.nesterovsky-bros.com/weblog/2011/03/04/callingwindowssearchfromsqlserver2008.aspx.

*My best guess is that the search service is only partially SQL-compliant, in that it extends SQL-92 and SQL-99, but does not return the metadata or contain much of the functionality expected of a data source by SQL Server.