|
Searching
Displaying Records after
a Search
Using the Browse List
Troubleshooting
It's easy to find the
information you want!
- Type query criteria or click the Browse List
hyperlink.
If you fill in more than one box, results must meet all criteria.
Example: Find documents that contain the word "marketing"
AND have a file date of 10-11-98.
- Click "Search".
- Documents that meet
your criteria are displayed as a report.
- To change the way documents appear, pick a form from the droplist
(either Sort by Date or Sort by Title).
Finding words and phrases
Type the word you want
to find (computer) or type a phrase (blue harvest moon) to find those
words, in that order. To find variations of word stems, type an asterisk
at the end of one or more words (comput* tech*). Use the symbols &
/ ! between words or phrases to represent Boolean AND, OR, NOT. Include
a space before and after the symbol. Use the proximity operators w#
(within) and p# (preceding) to find words near each other.
See examples below.
| Type this… |
To find… |
| sales
meeting |
a phrase
(those words, in that order) |
| sales
/ marketing |
either
word (or both) |
| sales
& marketing |
items
that contain both words (items that contain just
one of the words will be ignored) |
| health
policy ! medical benefit* |
“health
policy” but not “medical benefits” |
| sales
p5 market* |
“sales”
preceding “marketing” by 5 words or fewer. You can include
an asterisk at the end of either word. Do not string
together phrases (clinton w5 white house). |
| sales
w5 marketing |
“sales”
within 5 words of “marketing” (before or after). Do not
include phrases. |
Words joined by &
/ ! are evaluated in left-to-right order: red & white / blue
finds items that are red and white, or items that are blue. Use parentheses
to control evaluation order: red & (white / blue) finds items that
are red and white or red and blue.
Finding a Date
To find a date, use any
reasonable format, including but not limited to the examples shown below:
| 31-Dec-98 |
Dec 31, 1998 |
1998 Dec |
Dec 98 |
December 1998 |
12-98 |
Do not use a forward
slash to separate date elements unless you surround the date with quotation
marks ("12/31/98").
You can use the symbols
& / ! between dates to do AND-OR-NOT searches. For
example, May 1998 / June 1998 finds all dates in May
or June 1998.
You can do less than,
greater than, and range searches for dates (see below).
Doing less than, greater
than, and "between" searches
You can search for items
greater than or less than a certain value, or within a range. This is
most commonly done when searching for dates, but may also be done when
searching for values or text. Use the symbols shown below. When used with
a partial date, these symbols search from the beginning of the date (first
day of the month or year). A range consists of two values, low and high,
separated by a colon. Include spaces around the colon.
| Symbol |
Meaning |
Example |
| < |
less
than (before) |
<
1998 finds dates before January 1, 1998 |
| <= |
less
than or equal to |
<=
6-15-98 finds dates on or before June 15, 1998 |
| > |
greater
than (after) |
>
1998 finds dates after December 31, 1997 |
| >= |
greater
than or equal to |
>=
500 finds values greater than or equal to 500 |
| : |
between |
1997
: 1998 finds dates from Jan. 1, 1997 through Dec. 31, 1998 (inclusive)
200 : 300 finds values between 200 and 300 (inclusive) |
Using the Browse List
If a search form includes a Browse List hyperlink, click it
to display a dialog that shows words you can search for. This eliminates
trial-and-error searching and makes searching easier.
Using a Regular Droplist
If a search form includes
a droplist next to a box, you can open the list and select one item for
which to search. To clear the box, open the list again and select the
blank line at the very top of the list.
A term is a complete
item, with no additional text before or after. To search for a term, precede
it with an equal sign (=). For example, =john smith finds only that complete
term (does not find just "john” or just "smith" or
that phrase embedded in other text).
Case and Punctuation
Case in query criteria
is usually ignored (a search for joe smith finds Joe
Smith). Punctuation is also ignored, except for the and-or-not symbols
(& / !) and the colon for range searches ( :
). If you want these characters to be interpreted literally,
use quotation marks ("Smith & Wesson")
or replace the punctuation with a space (Smith Wesson).
NOTE: In some cases,
the Webmaster may have specified that punctuation and case are not
ignored. This is often the case when searching for a URL. If a query does
not find the records you expected, try surrounding the URL with quotation
marks ("http://www.inmagic.com").
A successful search finds
one or more records, which are displayed in your web browser as a report.
Use the browser controls as you normally would, to browse, print, go back,
etc. You can also:
- Change the report's
appearance - Select a form from the droplist on the page.
- Jump to other locations
- Click links on the report to display more detail or jump to other
pages.
- Display additional
pages - Click the Next and Previous buttons on the report page.
If a search form includes an Index button, you may click it to display
the entire database entries for that search field. This eliminates trial-and-error
searching and makes searching easier. Please note that the Index provides
the full catalog list in the Title, Author and Subject fields and may
take a few seconds to load. A pop-up window will appear. In the window
you can enter the word or words you are searching for or scroll through
the alphabetical listing and select the item you want and click on "Select."
You may select "word" or "term" searching. Word searching
will show individual words in the field as a separate item to be searched.
Term searching will search the entire field as one item.
Having trouble with a search? Some of the most common problems are listed
below. If you don't find an answer here, take a look at WPMSG.ASPX,
which lists error messages in alphabetical order.
I got
the message "Unable to recognize as a correctly formed query."
The program cannot understand
the search criteria. Possible problems include:
- Typographical errors
- Mismatched quotes or parentheses
- Extra Boolean search symbols (e.g., you should have typed car
/ auto instead of car / auto / )
- Missing quotation marks around symbols that can be misinterpreted. For
example, search for "http://www.inmagic.com".
If you cannot determine what caused the error, try a simpler search
(e.g., just a word in a box) to see if it works. If the search form includes
a Browse List hyperlink, use them to construct the query, instead of
typing criteria. If even simple searches don't work, contact the webmaster
for
the site.
I found
too many records.
If you used an asterisk,
omit it and try an exact search instead (search for computer technology
instead of comp*).
Try using a Boolean symbol
(& / !) between words to construct more precise queries.
For example, to find articles about mythology, not cartoons, search for
hercules ! cartoon.
If the item you're searching
for includes punctuation, substitute spaces for punctuation (search for
db textworks, not db/textworks) or surround the item
with quotation marks ("db/textworks").
If you're searching for
a date, don't use a forward slash between date components (for example,
search for 12-12-98) or else surround the date with quotation
marks ("12/12/98").
I didn't
find any records.
Examine
the contents of the search form (especially if it is longer than the screen)
to verify that you don't have query criteria left over from a previous
search.
If you are not sure of
the spelling, use an asterisk after the first few characters (colo*)
or separate several possible spellings with a forward slash (search for
color / colour).
If you did a complex search, try simplifying it to eliminate confusion.
If the search form has the Browse List hyperlink, use them to view and
paste
items to search for. This eliminates guess-work.
If you are searching
for a URL, try typing it all in lower case.
If your
search includes Boolean symbols (/ & !) or range
searches (:), put spaces around the symbols.
Do not
use words (and, or, not) for Boolean operators. You must use symbols (&
/ !).
Try using /
instead of & between words. Using /
means either word can be present (john / paul finds John
or Paul). Using & means both words must be present
(john & paul will not find just "John"
or just "Paul").
Remember
that range searches involving partial dates start from the beginning of
the range. For example: <1998 means "before Jan.
1, 1998."
If the
search form includes an "Enter password:" box, use a password
that provides access to the fields you are searching. Contact the site's
webmaster for a password.
When
I try to display records or change forms, I get the message, "Your
current query has expired. Perform the search again."
The query set file that stored your search results has expired, so you'll
have to do your search again. If this message occurs frequently, contact
the webmaster for the site.
Troubleshooting: Browse List
Having trouble using the Browse List? Some of the most common problems
are listed below. If you don't find an answer here, take a look at WPMSG.ASPX,
which lists error messages in alphabetical order.
The Browse List on a search form don't appear or don't work.
The Browse List are an option that the administrator may have included
on a search form. They provide access to a dialog that allows you to
browse
indexes.
The Browse List dialog is empty.
Try selecting a different field from the "Field" drop-list
in the Browse List dialog. If the drop-list does not contain any other
fields,
the textbase may be inaccessible, missing, or damaged. Contact the site's
webmaster.
To verify that the problem is with the Browse List (and not with the
search screen), do a simple search in the same search box. If the search
does
not work, then the problem is not specifically with the Browse List.
Search technology
supplied by Inmagic, Inc. http://www.inmagic.com.
|