This section describes the interaction between the IStartPage EnumerationDepth, FollowDirectories, and HostDepth properties.
If FollowDirectories is True, Search performs a file crawl; if FollowDirectories is False, Search performs a Web link crawl.
File Crawls
Search pays no attention to the HostDepth property when performing a file crawl. However, the value of the EnumerationDepth property determines whether Search crawls beyond the start address specified by the URL property. The following table shows the possible values for EnumerationDepth in a file crawl and what they mean.
| Value | Description |
| -1 | Search crawls all subdirectories under URL |
| 0 | Search only crawls the URL directory |
| N, where N > 0 | Search crawls up to N directories under URL |
Web Link Crawls
Search uses both the HostDepth and EnumerationDepth properties when performing a Web link crawl. If both HostDepth and EnumerationDepth are -1, Search only uses site rules when crawling URL.
The following table shows the possible values for HostDepth in a Web link crawl and what they mean.
| Value | Description |
| 0 | Search only crawls the current site |
| N, where N > 0 | Search follows up to N site hops |
The following table shows the possible values for EnumerationDepth in a Web link crawl and what they mean.
| Value | Description |
| 0 | Search only crawls the current page |
| N, where N > 0 | Search follows up to N page hops |