Range Search Processing (Repository)

Both basic and blocking queries can be configured to perform both exact searches and range searches. The following topics describe how different configurations of exact and range searches are processed.

• Basic Query Range Searching

• Blocking Query Range Searching

Basic Query Range Searching

Range searching for basic queries is configured in the search page section of the Enterprise Data Manager file by tagging the field with a “choice” attribute. When you specify a field for range searching, two corresponding fields appear on the EDM with “From” and “To” appended to the name (for example, a field named “Date of Birth” would display two fields: “Date of Birth From” and Date of Birth To”). You can also define a field for both exact and range searching by defining the field twice for the search page, once with the choice attribute set to “exact” and once with it set to “range”. In this case, three fields appear on the EDM: one with the given field name, one with “From” appended to the name, and one with “To” appended to the name.

Table 3 describes the queries formed for different exact or range search scenarios. Table 4 describes the queries formed for combination exact and range search scenarios.

The following variables are used in these tables:

• field_name is the field name as specified in the search page section of the Enterprise Data Manager file (the field named field_name is used for exact searching)

• value is the value entered into the exact search field

• value_from is the value entered into the field_name From field

• value_to is the value entered into the field_name To field

Table 3 Standard Range Queries

In the following table, when field_name is populated but not used in the WHERE clause, its value is used for weighting purposes. These cases are marked with an asterisk (*).

Table 4 Combination Exact and Range Queries

Blocking Query Range Searching

Blocking queries are configured in the Candidate Select file, and, if the blocking query is used on the EDM, in the Enterprise Data Manager file. In order for the fields defined for range searching in the blocking query to appear on the EDM, the fields must be configured correctly in the Enterprise Data Manager file.

In addition to the standard range searching (described under Basic Query Range Searching), blocking queries support constant and offset range searches, allowing you to specify default upper and lower offset values or to specify upper and lower constant limits. Using offsets adds the specified values to the actual field value to determine the range on which to search. Note that this means the lower offset value should be a negative number and the upper offset value should be a positive number in order to create a valid range. You can also define a combination of a constant upper limit with lower offset value or a constant lower limit with an upper offset value.

Blocking Query Offset Values

When upper and lower offset values are defined, the application searches for values that are greater than or equal to the field value plus the lower offset value (which is typically a negative number) and less than or equal to the field value plus the upper offset value. You do not need to define both an upper and a lower offset value.

Table 5 describes the queries formed for different exact or range offset search scenarios. Table 6 describes the query formed for combination exact and offset range search scenarios.

The following variables are used in these tables:

• field_name is the field name as specified in the search page section of the Enterprise Data Manager file (the field named field_name is used for exact searching)

• value is the value entered into the exact search field

• value_from is the value entered into the field_name From field

• value_to is the value entered into the field_name To field

• lower is the lower offset value

• upper is the upper offset value

Table 5 Standard Offset Range Queries

In Table 6, the field configuration in the Enterprise Data Manager file defines the field twice for searching, once with the choice attribute set to “exact” and once with it set to “range”.

In the following cases, when field_name is populated but not used in the WHERE clause, its value is used for weighting purposes. These cases are marked with an asterisk (*).

Table 6 Combination Offset Range Queries

Blocking Query Constants

When you define upper and lower constants for a field, these values are used for the WHERE clause of the query if no data is passed in as search criteria for that field. They are also used when only one of the “from” or “to” fields is populated. You do not need to define both an upper and a lower constant value. If you define only an upper constant value, only a “less than or equals” clause is used in the query; if you define only a lower constant value, only a “greater than or equals” clause is used in the query.

Table 7 describes the queries formed for different exact or range constant search scenarios. Table 8 describes the query formed for combination exact and range search scenarios.

The following variables are used in these tables:

• field_name is the field name as defined in the search page section of the Enterprise Data Manager file (the field named field_name is used for exact searching)

• value is the value entered into the exact search field

• value_from is the value entered into the field_name From field

• value_to is the value entered into the field_name To field

• lower is the lower constant value

• upper is the upper constant value

Table 7 Standard Constant Range Queries

In Table 8, the field configuration in the Enterprise Data Manager file defines the field twice for searching, once with the choice attribute set to “exact” and once with it set to “range”.

In the following cases, when field_name is populated but not used in the WHERE clause, its value is used for weighting purposes. These cases are marked with an asterisk (*).

Table 8 Combination Constant Range Queries

Blocking Query Offset and Constant Combinations

You can use a combination of offset and constant values to define range searching for a field.Table 9 describes the query formed for combination offset and constant search scenarios.

The following variables are used in these tables:

• field_name is the field name as defined in the search page section of the Enterprise Data Manager file (the field named field_name is used for exact searching)

• value is the value entered into the exact search field

• value_from is the value entered into the field_name From field

• value_to is the value entered into the field_name To field

• lower is the lower constant or offset value

• upper is the upper constant or offset value

In Table 9, the field configuration in the Enterprise Data Manager file defines the field twice for searching, once with the choice attribute set to “exact” and once with it set to “range”.

In the following cases, when field_name is populated but not used in the WHERE clause, its value is used for weighting purposes. These cases are marked with an asterisk (*).

Table 9 Combination Constant and Offset Range Queries