diff --git a/src/doc/user/usermanual.sgml b/src/doc/user/usermanual.sgml
index 52c8d8b1..a573fd52 100644
--- a/src/doc/user/usermanual.sgml
+++ b/src/doc/user/usermanual.sgml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
       Dockes</holder>
     </copyright>
 
-    <releaseinfo>$Id: usermanual.sgml,v 1.8 2006-03-30 10:31:03 dockes Exp $</releaseinfo>
+    <releaseinfo>$Id: usermanual.sgml,v 1.9 2006-04-04 12:37:51 dockes Exp $</releaseinfo>
 
     <abstract>
       <para>This document introduces full text search notions
@@ -817,9 +817,12 @@
         <variablelist>
 
           <varlistentry><term><literal>topdirs</literal></term>
-            <listitem><para>Specifies the list of directories to index
-            (recursively).</para>
-            </listitem>
+            <listitem><para>Specifies the list of directories or files to
+            index (recursively for directories). The indexer will not
+            follow symbolic links inside the indexed trees. If an entry in
+            the <literal>topdirs</literal> list is a symbolic link,
+            indexation will not start and will generate an error.</para>
+            </listitem> 
           </varlistentry>
 
           <varlistentry><term><literal>skippedNames</literal></term>
diff --git a/src/index/indexer.cpp b/src/index/indexer.cpp
index b66ec25d..46c0ea49 100644
--- a/src/index/indexer.cpp
+++ b/src/index/indexer.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #ifndef lint
-static char rcsid[] = "@(#$Id: indexer.cpp,v 1.28 2006-04-04 09:34:10 dockes Exp $ (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes";
+static char rcsid[] = "@(#$Id: indexer.cpp,v 1.29 2006-04-04 12:37:51 dockes Exp $ (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes";
 #endif
 /*
  *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ bool DbIndexer::indexDb(bool resetbefore, list<string> *topdirs)
 
 	// Walk the directory tree
 	if (m_walker.walk(*it, *this) != FsTreeWalker::FtwOk) {
-	    LOGERR(("DbIndexer::index: error while indexing %s\n", 
-		    it->c_str()));
+	    LOGERR(("DbIndexer::index: error while indexing %s: %s\n", 
+		    it->c_str(), m_walker.getReason().c_str()));
 	    return false;
 	}
     }
@@ -267,11 +267,13 @@ bool ConfIndexer::index(bool resetbefore)
     string topdirs;
     if (!m_config->getConfParam("topdirs", topdirs)) {
 	LOGERR(("ConfIndexer::index: no top directories in configuration\n"));
+	m_reason = "Top directory list (topdirs param.) not found in config";
 	return false;
     }
     list<string> tdl; // List of directories to be indexed
     if (!stringToStrings(topdirs, tdl)) {
 	LOGERR(("ConfIndexer::index: parse error for directory list\n"));
+	m_reason = "Directory list parse error";
 	return false;
     }
 
@@ -285,10 +287,26 @@ bool ConfIndexer::index(bool resetbefore)
     for (dirit = tdl.begin(); dirit != tdl.end(); dirit++) {
 	string dbdir;
 	string doctopdir = path_tildexpand(*dirit);
+	{ // Check top dirs. Must not be symlinks
+	    struct stat st;
+	    if (lstat(doctopdir.c_str(), &st) < 0) {
+		LOGERR(("ConfIndexer::index: cant stat %s\n",
+			doctopdir.c_str()));
+		m_reason = string("Stat error for: ") + doctopdir;
+		return false;
+	    }
+	    if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
+		LOGERR(("ConfIndexer::index: no symlinks allowed in topdirs: %s\n",
+			doctopdir.c_str()));
+		m_reason = doctopdir + "is a symbolic link";
+		return false;
+	    }
+	}
 	m_config->setKeyDir(doctopdir);
 	if (!m_config->getConfParam("dbdir", dbdir)) {
 	    LOGERR(("ConfIndexer::index: no database directory in "
 		    "configuration for %s\n", doctopdir.c_str()));
+	    m_reason = string("No database directory set for ") + doctopdir;
 	    return false;
 	}
 	dbdir = path_tildexpand(dbdir);
@@ -315,6 +333,7 @@ bool ConfIndexer::index(bool resetbefore)
 	m_dbindexer = new DbIndexer(m_config, dbit->first, m_updfunc);
 	if (!m_dbindexer->indexDb(resetbefore, &dbit->second)) {
 	    deleteZ(m_dbindexer);
+	    m_reason = string("Failed indexing in ") + dbit->first;
 	    return false;
 	}
 	deleteZ(m_dbindexer);
diff --git a/src/index/indexer.h b/src/index/indexer.h
index 0ae6ab67..5f1ced05 100644
--- a/src/index/indexer.h
+++ b/src/index/indexer.h
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  */
 #ifndef _INDEXER_H_INCLUDED_
 #define _INDEXER_H_INCLUDED_
-/* @(#$Id: indexer.h,v 1.12 2006-04-04 09:34:11 dockes Exp $  (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes */
+/* @(#$Id: indexer.h,v 1.13 2006-04-04 12:37:51 dockes Exp $  (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes */
 
 #include <string>
 #include <list>
@@ -53,10 +53,12 @@ class ConfIndexer {
     virtual ~ConfIndexer();
     /** Worker function: doe the actual indexing */
     bool index(bool resetbefore = false);
+    const string &getReason() {return m_reason;}
  private:
     RclConfig *m_config;
     DbIndexer *m_dbindexer; // Object to process directories for a given db
     DbIxStatusUpdater *m_updfunc;
+    string m_reason;
 };
 
 /** Index things into one database