Advanced search options

Advanced search options

We can use advanced search options to control the scope of the search from any of the applications in Connections.
When performing an advanced search, we can search for single terms, such as test or hello, or phrases, such as "test search" or "hello world". Note that to search for a phrase, we must enclose the phrase in double quotation marks ("). Search is not case-sensitive. We can further refine the scope of the search by combining search terms with Boolean operators to create a more complex query. We can also perform wildcard searches, and group search terms using parentheses to form sub-queries.

Wildcard searches
A wildcard is a character that can be used to represent one or more other characters in a search term. Search supports single and multiple character wildcard searches within single terms, but not in phrases. We cannot use the question mark (?) or asterisk (*) wildcards as the first character of a search string.

Single character wildcard searches
To perform a single character wildcard search, use the question mark (?). The Search application looks for terms that match when the single character is replaced by another character.
For example, if you enter te?t as a search string, the results might include information containing the terms text and test.

Multiple character wildcard searches
To perform a multiple character wildcard search, use the asterisk (*). This type of search looks for zero or more characters.
For example, if you enter test* as a search string, the results might include information containing the terms test, tests, and tester.

Search operators

Use the following operators to control the scope of the search.

Operator Description
OR Use the OR operator between two words to search for content containing either word.
For example, if you enter car or motorcycle, Search returns information containing either car or motorcycle.
AND Use the AND operator to search for content where both terms exist anywhere in the text of a single document. By default, a space between keywords is treated as an AND operation.
The double ampersand (&&) operator can be used as a synonym for the AND operator.
For example, to search for information containing the text car and motorcycle enter the following query:
"car" AND "motorcycle"
+ Use the plus sign (+) to combine search words. The plus sign operator is similar to the AND operator, but it applies only to the word immediately following it.
For example, to search for information that must contain car and can contain motorcycle, enter the following query:
+car motorcycle
NOT Use the NOT operator to exclude a word from your search. Results containing the word immediately following the operator are excluded by the search.
The exclamation point (!) and minus sign (-) can be used as synonyms for the NOT operator.
For example, to search for information containing car but not motorcycle, enter one of the following queries:

car NOT motorcycle

car -motorcycle

Use the NOT operator, exclamation point (!), or minus sign (-) with a single term returns no results.

Grouping
Use parentheses to group search terms in clauses and further refine the scope of the search.
For example, to search for information containing plane and car or plane and motorcycle, enter the following query:
(car OR motorcycle) AND plane

Special characters
When the search term contains one of the nonalphanumeric characters listed here, escape the character by using a backslash ( \ ) before the character or by enclosing the search term in double quotation marks ("). Use a backslash before using any of these characters:
+ - && || ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ * ? : \ If we do not perform this escape operation, Search interprets the characters as being part of the query instructions.
For example, to search for information containing the text string cat + dog and you enter cat + dog as the search term, Search looks for any data containing both the word cat and the word dog. This result is because the plus sign (+) is a reserved operator with a predefined meaning. To search for information containing the actual text string cat + dog, use one of the following queries:

cat \+ dog

"cat + dog"

Parent topic:
Performing an advanced search

Related:

Advanced searching

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Operator	Description
OR	Use the OR operator between two words to search for content containing either word. For example, if you enter car or motorcycle, Search returns information containing either car or motorcycle.
AND	Use the AND operator to search for content where both terms exist anywhere in the text of a single document. By default, a space between keywords is treated as an AND operation. The double ampersand (&&) operator can be used as a synonym for the AND operator. For example, to search for information containing the text car and motorcycle enter the following query: "car" AND "motorcycle"
+	Use the plus sign (+) to combine search words. The plus sign operator is similar to the AND operator, but it applies only to the word immediately following it. For example, to search for information that must contain car and can contain motorcycle, enter the following query: +car motorcycle
NOT	Use the NOT operator to exclude a word from your search. Results containing the word immediately following the operator are excluded by the search. The exclamation point (!) and minus sign (-) can be used as synonyms for the NOT operator. For example, to search for information containing car but not motorcycle, enter one of the following queries: car NOT motorcycle car -motorcycle Use the NOT operator, exclamation point (!), or minus sign (-) with a single term returns no results.