Understanding Search Categories
Search Categories are essential for the Search Framework. Search categories:
Organize search definitions into manageable, logical groups of data.
Are required for searches. Search queries run only against search categories, not search definitions. A search definition must be a member of a search category before it can be searched.
Enables users to focus searches to help refine results and restrict searches to a particular set of search indexes. For example, users can run searches against categories like Customers, Purchase Orders, or Products, rather than running a search against all indexes in the search engine.
Allow users to search across several different groups of data simultaneously. For example if you were looking for a particular Item ID, with a Search category containing multiple Search Definitions, you can search across purchase order, sales orders and inventory at one time.
Provide improved search performance and results by limiting the number of indexes searched.
Note: Search queries cannot be run directly against search definitions. Search queries can only be run against search categories.