Simple Searches

Contents:

• Performing a Simple Search
• Searching Within a Category
• Search Syntax

The iPlanet Compass Server index contains an entry listing the title, author, and keywords for every document in the index. From the Search page, you can seek those documents with entries that contain the words or phrases you want.

Simple searches look for the terms that you specify anywhere in the document's entry. If you search for the word wheat, the server locates any document written by anyone named Wheat and all documents that contain the word wheat in the title, description, or keywords.

Searches are case-insensitive if all upper or lower case. If mixed case is used, the searches are case sensitive. You can also use Search Syntax to specify otherwise.

If search for more than one word, the way you separate the words determines how iPlanet Compass Server performs the search.

• Words separated by spaces. If you enter sales report it will search for entries that contain both the word sales and the word report at any place in the index entry, in any order. Only those entries that contain both words somewhere in the entry will be listed. For example, both "March Sales Report Summary," and "Report on March Sales." will be found.
  
• Words enclosed by quotation marks. If you enter "sales report" it will search for index entries that contain those two words in that order. For example, it will find "March Sales Report Summary," but it will not find "Report on March Sales." Two or more words grouped together for a search in a specified order are called a search phrase.
  
• Words separated by commas. If you enter sales, report it will search for entries that contain both the word sales and the word report at any place in the entry, in any order, using any capitalization. For example, it will find "March Sales Report Summary," "Report on March Sales," and "Report From Iron Mountain, sales."
  

See Searching for a table showing how different ways of entering search criteria affects your results. See also Basic Search Principles and Rules for additional information on how to search.

To create more specific searches, such as searching for a word in a particular document field such as title or author, or complicated searches on various combinations of search criteria, use iPlanet Compass Server's search syntax.

To search for documents in the iPlanet Compass Server, follow these steps:

1. In the text box, type the words describing the information you want to find.

For example, to find press releases, type
    "press release"
(Note the use of quotation marks. If you omit the quotes, your search will find all documents with the word "press" in them and all documents with the word "release" in them.)

2. Click the Search button. 



This generates a document list of those documents that match your search phrase.


• See Document Lists and Working with Document Lists.
  
• See Adjusting Your Search for information on how to expand or narrow down your search.
3. To view a particular document in the list, click the item's title.
   
4. To see additional sets of results (for example, the results numbered 11 through 20), click one of the left or right page arrows at the top or bottom of the list. The right-pointing arrow takes you to the next set of results. The left-pointing arrow takes you to the previous set.

Tip: When searching, don't enter plural forms such as "press releases" because the server will only find documents with releases (plural) in the title or keywords. If you enter release (singular), the server will list entries with both release and releases.

Sometimes the best way to find the documents you want from the iPlanet Compass Server is to combine searching and browsing. You will generally do this when neither a search of the entire server nor browsing categories sufficiently narrows the search results.

To search within a category, follow these steps:

1. Click the name of the category you want to search in.


2. Click the Search in <category> button.


3. Enter your search criteria in the text box.


4. Click the Search button. iPlanet Compass Server now searches only within that category.

This displays a document list of the documents in the category.

As described above, you can search for documents with entries that contain:

• Any one of the words you specify
• All of the words you specify
• The words you specify in the order you entered (a phrase)

You can combine these criteria in the same search. You can also use other kinds of criteria and operators to specify complex and sophisticated searches. There are two ways to perform complex or multiple term searches:

• The easiest is to use the Advanced Search page built into iPlanet Compass Server.
  
• The second way is to type the formal query syntax into the search box yourself.