Using Boolean Search

This section describes how to enable Boolean search for record search and dimension search.

About Boolean search
The MatchBoolean search mode implements Boolean search, which allows users to specify complex expressions that describe the exact search criteria with which they would like to search.
Example of Boolean query syntax
The complete grammar for expressing Boolean queries, in a BNF-like format, is included in this topic.
Examples of using the key restrict operator
This topic uses examples to explain how to use the key restrict operator (:) in queries that contain Boolean search.
About proximity search
The proximity operators, NEAR and ONEAR, let users search for a pair of terms that must occur within a given distance from each other in a document.
Proximity operators and nested subexpressions
This topic contains examples of using proximity operators with nested subexpressions.
Boolean query semantics
This topic discusses the meaning of AND, OR, AND NOT, and other operators allowed in Boolean search queries.
Operator precedence
The NOT operator has the highest precedence, followed by the AND operator, followed by the OR operator. You can always control the precedence by using parentheses.
Interaction of Boolean search with other features
The following table describes whether various features are supported for queries that execute a Boolean search (including the proximity operators).
Error messages for Boolean search
Syntactically invalid queries generate error messages described in this topic.
Implementing Boolean search
Except for proximity search, no Forge or Dgidx configuration is required to enable Boolean search mode.
URL query parameters for Boolean search
To specify a Boolean search query, use the Ntx (for record search), and Dx (for dimension search) URL query parameters.
Methods for Boolean search
This topic contains examples of code in Java and .NET for obtaining Boolean search information in the ESearchReport object.
Troubleshooting Boolean search
If you encounter unexpected behavior while using Boolean search, use the Dgraph -v flag when starting the MDEX Engine. This flag prints detailed output to standard error describing its execution of the Boolean query.
Performance impact of Boolean search
The performance of Boolean search is a function of the number of records associated with each term in the query and also the number of terms and operators in the query.