|
Understanding how to search will make a huge difference in the results you are seeking. Here are some tips to help: |
|
General Information on Searching
|
|
Unless you are using a Boolean or Advanced User Search, you do not need to enter an operator (and / or / " sign). The searches are not case sensitive as the search terms are automatically converted to lower case. Otherwise, it would be case sensitive.
|
|
Normal Search
|
|
The Normal search is an "AND" search. However, it does not require you to actually enter the word AND. For instance, if you enter "Red Green" using a Normal search the program will show results for "Red <and> Green" in the same document. This means BOTH words must be in the document to produce a result. If no results are found it will automatically try an "OR" search. Similar to an "AND" search the "OR" search will show any document with one or the other of the two words.
|
|
Near Search
|
|
Just like it sounds, the Near search searches documents for words within 3 words of each other. The program will automatically insert the Near operator for you. You do NOT need to put the word Near in your search term. For instance, if searching for "Red Green" (not Red <near> Green) the following sentance would be a match: "See the red ball and green hoop." However, the following sentance would NOT be a match: "See the red ball and the big green hoop" because the the word red is not within 3 words of the word green.
|
|
All Of The Words
|
|
Exactly the same as the Normal Search above. It is an AND search.
|
Any Of The Words
|
|
Exactly the same as the Normal Search above but exclusively an "OR" search.
|
|
In The Same Sentence / In The Same Paragraph
|
|
Finds words that are in the same sentence or the same paragraph. It is very helpfull in refining a search to display only relevent information. You do not need to enter an operator. For example, a search on "Bank Account" using a Normal Search (AND Search) it would yield any document that contains those two words. This doesn't mean that they are necessarily relevent. If the begining of the document talked about a Credit Card Processing Account and the end of the document talked about various banks the credit card processor supports then it doesn't have anything to do with "Bank Accounts". By using "In The Same Sentence / In The Same Paragraph" searchs you have a much better chance of getting the information you were really looking for. Also see Near, Exact Match and Advanced User searches.
|
|
Exact Match
|
|
An "Exact Match" Search automatically finds the EXACT phrase (in the exact same order and yes, spaces count) you are looking for in a document. It will automatically enclose your search term in quotes so it is not necessary to do so. Please keep in mind that the same results can be found by doing an Advanced User search and enclosing your search term with quotes. This way if faster so you do not need to spend time typing in the quote signs.
|
|
Boolean Search
|
|
A Boolean Search is the "manual" way of doing a search. Basically the operators (and / or etc..) are NOT automatically entered for you. For example, a Boolean search typed exactly like this "Red <and> Green" will produce almost the same results as a Normal search on "Red Green". The benefit of a doing a Boolean search is that you may now begin to use wildcard or special operator fields. These fields are listed below.
Note: the Boolean Search is very similar to the Advanced User Search in that you must enter the operators yourself. The main difference is that a Boolean search is not automactically enabled with the <Stemming> and <Many> operators below. To use those operators you must enter them manually when doing a Boolean Search. An Advanced User (probably not the best description) Search automatically enables the <Stemming> and <Many> operators below.
|
|
Advanced User Search
|
|
Identical to the Boolean Search above except that the <Stemming> and <Many> operators are automactically enabled. See operator chart below.
|
| Special Operators for use with Boolean and Advanced User Searches. |
| Operator/Wildcard | Syntax | Definition |
| <AND> | keyword <AND> keyword | Both words must be in the document. |
| <OR> | keyword <OR> keyword | One or the other words must be in the document. |
| <NOT> | <NOT> keyword | Eliminates documents that are found in the keyword. |
| <CASE> | <CASE> keyword | Makes the search case sensitive. |
| <MANY> | <MANY> keyword | Ranks documents based on density of search term in the document. |
| <STEM> | <STEM> keyword | Finds the root of the word searched. i.e. it would find "process" in "processing" . Advanced User search has STEM and MANY enabled automatically." |
| <NEAR/3> | keyword <NEAR/3> keyword | Finds words that are within 3 words of each other. You may change the 3 to whatever you want. |
| <WILDCARD> | <WILDCARD>keyw* | Finds any document with words that start with "keyw" . Same as * or ? below. |
| <SENTENCE> | keyword <SENTENCE> keyword | Find words in the same sentance as each other. |
| <PARAGRAPH> | keyword <PARAGRAPH> keyword | Find words in the same paragraph as each other. |
| * | key* | Wildcard that stands for anynumber of letters in a word and would find any documents with words that start with "key" . |
| ? | keywor? | Wildcard that stands for an 1 letter in a word. Will find any documents with words that start with "keywor" . |
| { } | {gr, frag, deodor}rant | Allows you to specify any number of word fragments. May be used aty the begining, middle or the end. This would find grant, fragrant or deodorant. |
| [ ] | f[eao]ster | Same as { } above but one character at a time. This would find fester, faster or foster. |
| - | f[a-o]ster | Allows you to place rangers within square brackets. This is the same as
f[abcdefghijklmno]ster . |
