Database Search Tips

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You can search any of the database fields listed on the search page:

• To search the default field, type your query and then click Search.

• To search a different field, type the name of the field before the query, and then click Search.
  Examples - type @Author Smith to match records with the word Smith in the Author field, type @documentID > 1000 to find all records with a documentID column greater than 1000, or @all soccer to find records with the word soccer in any indexed field.

At its simplest, a search query can be just a word. But with the tips below, you can refine your search to give you more complete results.

• Look for a phrase.
  Example - type sports events to find the exact phrase sports events. Since the search is not case-sensitive, this is equivalent to Sports Events.

• Look for two or more words at once by using the AND operator.
  Example - type sports AND events to find records that have both the word sports and the word events anywhere.

• Look for words that are close to each other by using the NEAR operator instead of the AND operator. When you use NEAR, the closer together the words are, the higher the rank of the page, so the higher it appears in the list of search results.
  Example - type sports NEAR events to match records where the word sports is within 50 words of the word events.

• Look for synonyms or similar words by using the OR operator. Note that if you don't use the OR operator and search using multiple words, the words are treated as a phrase.
  Example - type dogs OR puppies to find the word dogs or the word puppies, but not necessarily both.

• Limit your search by using the AND NOT operator to exclude words.
  Example - type surfing AND NOT the Internet to find all instances of surfing, as long as surfing is not followed by the phrase the Internet.

• Use double quotes if you want to use AND, OR, NOT, or NEAR literally.
  Example - type "houses near parks" to find records with the phrase houses near parks. Without the double quotes, this query would use the NEAR operator instead of the phrase.

• Use a single asterisk (*) to look for words that begin with the same letters.
  Example - type key* to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on.

• Use a double asterisk (**) to look for all forms of a word.
  Example - type fly** to match fly, flew, flown, and flying.
  Example - type key* to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on.

• For numeric fields, use one of the following operators: equals (=), less than (<), greater than (>), less than or equal to (<=), or greater than or equal to (>=).
  Example - type @department = 63 to match records with the department field set to 63.

• For date fields, search for a date range or use the relative date values: years (-ny), months(-nm), weeks (-nw), or days (-nd).
  Examples - type @DateEntered < 98/12/01 AND @DateEntered > 98/10/31 to find records with a DateEntered field value in November 1998, or type @DateEntered < -1w to find all records with a DateEntered field value within the last week.