You can search for any word or phrase on a Web site by just typing the word or phrase into a query form
and clicking the button to execute the query (for example, the Execute Query button on the sample query form).
Searches produce a list of files that contain the word or phrase no matter where they appear in the text.
This list gives the rules for formulating queries:
Multiple consecutive words are treated as a phrase; they must appear in the same order within a matching document however the words of the phrase may be separated by other words. i.e. a search on "world wide web" would return an entry containing the words "world", "wide" and "web" but not consecutively.
Check the "exact phrase" checkbox to execute a search that will only return entries with the exact phrase entered. i.e. a search on "world wide web" with the "exact phrase" checkbox checked will only return entries containing "world wide web" exactly as entered.
Do not use quotes (example: "continental philosophy") with the exact phrase search unless you are searching for a phrase that includes the quotes.
Queries are case-insensitive, so you
can type your query in uppercase or lowercase.
You can search for any word except for those in the exception list (for English, this includes a, an,
and, as, and other common words), which are ignored during a search.
Words in the exception list are treated as placeholders in phrase and proximity queries. For
example, if you searched for "Word for Windows," the results could give you
"Word for Windows" and "Word and Windows," because for is a noise word and appears in the
exception list.
Punctuation marks such as the period (.), colon (:), semicolon (;), and comma (,) are ignored
during a search.
To use specially treated characters such as &, |, ^, #, @, $, (, ), in a query, enclose your
query in quotation marks (").
To search for a word or phrase containing quotation marks, enclose the entire phrase in quotation marks and then double
the quotation marks around the word or words you want to surround with quotes. For example, "World-Wide Web or ""Web"""
searches for World-Wide Web or "Web".
You can use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) and the proximity operator (NEAR) to specify additional search
information.
The wildcard character (*) can match words with a given prefix. The query esc* matches the terms "ESC," "escape," and so on.
Free-text queries can be specified without regard to query syntax.
Vector space queries can be specified.
Boolean and Proximity Operators
Boolean and proximity operators can create a more precise query.
| To Search For |
Example |
Results |
| Both terms in the same page |
access and basic
—Or—
access & basic |
Pages with both the words "access" and "basic" |
| Either term in a page |
cgi or isapi
—Or—
cgi | isapi |
Pages with the words "cgi" or "isapi" |
| The first term without the second term |
access and not basic
—Or—
access & ! basic |
Pages with the word "access" but not "basic" |
| Pages not matching a property value |
not @size = 100
—Or—
! @size = 100 |
Pages that are not 100 bytes |
| Both terms in the same page, close together |
excel near project
—Or—
excel ~ project |
Pages with the word "excel" near the word "project" |
Hints:
You can add parentheses to nest
expressions within a query. The expressions in parentheses are
evaluated before the rest of the query.
Use double quotes (") to indicate that a Boolean or NEAR operator
keyword should be ignored in your query. For example, "Abbott and Costello" will match pages with
the phrase, not pages that match the Boolean expression. In addition to being an operator, the
word and is a noise word in English.
The NEAR operator is similar to the AND operator in that NEAR returns a match if both words being searched
for are in the same page. However, the NEAR operator differs from AND because the rank assigned by NEAR
depends on the proximity of words. That is, the rank of a page with the
searched-for words closer together is greater than or equal to
the rank of a page where the words are farther apart. If the searched-for words are more than 50
words apart, they are not considered near enough, and the page
is assigned a rank of zero.
The NOT operator can be used only after an AND operator in content queries; it can be used only to exclude pages that match a previous content
restriction. For property value queries, the NOT operator can be used apart from the AND operator.
The AND operator has a higher precedence than OR. For example, the first three queries are equal, but the fourth is not:
• a and b or c
• c OR a AND b
• c OR (a AND b)
• (c OR a) AND b
Note:
The symbols (&, |, !, ~) and the English keywords AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR work the same way in all languages supported by Index Server.
Localized keywords are also available when the browser locale is set to one of the following six languages:
| Language |
Keywords |
German |
UND, ODER, NICHT, NAH |
French |
ET, OU, SANS, PRES |
Spanish |
Y, O, NO, CERCA |
Dutch |
EN, OF, NIET, NABIJ |
Swedish |
OCH, ELLER, INTE, NÄRA |
Italian |
E, O, NO, VICINO |
Wildcards
Wildcard operators help you find pages containing words similar to a given word.
| To Search For |
Example |
Results |
Words with the same prefix
|
comput* |
Pages with words that have the prefix "comput," such as "computer," "computing," and so on |
Words based on the same stem word
|
fly** |
Pages with words based on the same stem as "fly," such as "flying," "flown," "flew," and so on |
Free-Text Queries
The query engine finds pages that best
match the words and phrases in a free-text query. This is done
by automatically finding pages that match the meaning, not the
exact wording, of the query. Boolean, proximity, and wildcard
operators are ignored within a free-text query. Free-text
queries are prefixed with $contents.
| To Search For |
Example |
Results |
Files that match free-text
|
$contents how do I print in Microsoft Excel?
|
Pages that mention printing and Microsoft Excel.
|
Vector Space Queries
The query engine supports vector space queries. Vector queries return pages that match a list of words and phrases.
The rank of each page indicates how well the page matched the query.
| To Search For |
Example |
Results |
Pages that contain specific words
|
light, bulb
|
Files with words that best match the words being searched for
|
Pages that contain weighted prefixes, words, and phrases
|
invent*, light[50],bulb[10], "light bulb" [400]
|
Files that contain words prefixed by "invent," the words "light," "bulb," and the phrase "light bulb" (the terms are weighted)
|
Components in vector queries are
separated by commas.
Components in vector queries can be
weighted by using the [weight] syntax.
Pages returned by vector queries do
not necessarily match every term in the query.
Vector queries work best when the
results are sorted by rank.
|
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