The Search provides two methods for specifying queries:

When your query results in a large number of matching documents, the Search divides the results into separate pages for display. You can click on a specific page number to see the links on that page, or use the Next or Previous links to navigate through the pages in sequence.

For a simple search, or an advanced search with ranking, the Search displays a maximum of 200 search results regardless of how many documents matched the query.

Using the Simple Search

With Autonomy's internet-style query parser (IQP), users can search entire documents or parts of documents (zones and fields) using a command syntax similar to the syntax used in many Web search engines.

Search Terms

In a search form enabled with Autonomy's IQP, users can enter words, phrases, and plain language. Autonomy's IQP does not support the Autonomy query language (VQL).

Words

To search for multiple words, separate them with spaces.

Phrases

To search for an exact phrase, surround it with double quotation marks.

A string of capitalized words is assumed to be a name. Separate a series of names with commas.

Commas aren't needed when the phrases are surrounded by quotation marks.

The following example searches for a document that contains the phrases "Nova Scotia" and "Rural Team".

Nova Scotia "Rural Team"

Including and Excluding Search Terms

You can limit searches by excluding or requiring search terms, or by limiting the areas of the document that are searched.

A minus sign (-) immediately preceding a search term (word or phrase) excludes documents containing the term.

A plus sign (+) immediately preceding a search term (word or phrase) means returned documents are guaranteed to contain the term.

If neither sign is associated with the search term, the results may include documents that do not contain the specified term as long as they meet other search criteria.

Query Syntax

The query syntax is very similar to the syntax users expect to use on the Web. All queries produce valid results; therefore, be careful to form your query to produce the results you expect. Queries are interpreted according to the following rules:

• Individual search terms are separated by whitespace characters, such as a space, tab, or comma, as in the following example:

  dairy barn

• Search phrases are entered within double quotes, as in the following example:

  "dairy barn" cow

• Exclude terms with the negation operator, minus ( - ), or the not operator, as in the following example:

  dairy barn -cow

  or

  dairy barn not cow

• Require a compulsory term with the unary inclusion operator, plus ( + ), as in the following example:

  barn cow +dairy

  This example requires the term dairy to be present.
• Require compulsory terms with the binary inclusion operator, and, as in the following example:

  barn cow and dairy

  This example requires both the term cow and dairy to be present.

Pass-Through of Terms

Search terms are passed through to the VDK-level and are interpreted as autonomy Query Language (VQL) syntax. No issues arise if the terms contain only alphabetic or numeric characters. Other kinds of characters may be interpreted by the locale. If a term contains a character that is not handled by the locale, it may be interpreted as VQL; for example, a search term that includes an asterisk ( * ) would be interpreted as a wildcard.

Using the advanced search

Search tips