Grouping Characters

The grouping characters control operator precedence by grouping query terms and operators in a query expression. The grouping characters are:

Grouping Character	Description
( )	The parentheses characters serve to group terms and operators found between the characters
[ ]	The bracket characters serve to group terms and operators found between the characters; however, they prevent penetrations for the expansion operators (fuzzy, soundex, stem).

The beginning of a group of terms and operators is indicated by an open character from one of the sets of grouping characters. The ending of a group is indicated by the occurrence of the appropriate close character for the open character that started the group. Between the two characters, other groups may occur.

For example, the open parenthesis indicates the beginning of a group. The first close parenthesis encountered is the end of the group. Any open parentheses encountered before the close parenthesis indicate nested groups.