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The askSam
Web Publisher supports powerful searches.
This document describes the syntax for entering searches.
Boolean
Searches
askSam
allows the use of the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to combine
the elements in your search.
Enter:
golf and tennis and beach
Find:
documents containing the words golf,
tennis,
and beach
Enter:
golf tennis beach
Find:
documents containing the words golf,
tennis,
and beach
This search is identical to the first
search.
Enter:
Florida or Hawaii or California
Find:
documents containing the word Florida,
Hawaii,
or California
Enter:
not expensive and not crowded
Find:
documents which do not contain the words expensive
and crowded
Enter:
red white or blue
Find:
documents containing red
and either the word white
or the word blue.
Enter:
red and white or blue
Find:
documents containing either red
and white
or the word blue.
Wildcard
Searches
Your
Searches can include the wildcard symbols * and ?. The * replaces
multiple characters (up to 80). The ? replaces a single character.
Enter:
German*
Find:
Germany, Germanic, Germans, ...
Enter:
*CAD
Find:
AutoCAD, NiCad, ...
Enter:
80?86
Find:
80286, 80386, 80486, ...
Searching
for Phrases
When
you enter two words in a search, the Web Publisher retrieves all
documents containing these two words:
Enter:
Windows Write
Find:
With XYZ for Windows you can write mail merge letters.
To find words directly next to each other, place square brackets
[ ] around the phrase.
Enter:
[Windows Write]
Find:
The Readme file was written in Windows Write.
Fuzzy
Searching
A
fuzzy search helps you locate information when you're not sure of
the spelling
Enter:
{fuzzy} Kathy
Find:
Documents containing either Kathy, Kathi, or Cathy
Note: Search commands such as FUZZY must be entered in curley
braces { }. This tells askSam that the word FUZZY is a command and
not a term in your search.
Searching
in a Specific Field
You
can restrict an askSam search to the contents of a specific field.
Enter:
White {in} Name:
Find:
documents where White
appears in the Name:
field.
If the field you are searching is longer than a single line, use
the long command to search the entire field.
Enter:
askSam {in long} Notes:
Find:
documents where askSam
appears anywhere in the Notes:
field.
Numeric
Searching
With
askSam's Numeric Search capabilities you can select Documents based
on a numeric comparison (>, <, =, >=, <=, <>).
Enter:
Price: < 2,000
Find:
documents where the number in the Price: field is less than 2000.
Proximity
Searching
A
Proximity Search allows you to search for two words or phrases occurring
within a specified proximity of one another. This enables you to
use the natural elements contained within blocks of normal text
(Words, Lines, Sentences and Paragraphs) to tailor your search.
Enter:
Thatcher {vicinity :0P Reagan}
Find:
documents where Thatcher
and Reagan
appear in the same paragraph.
The
Proximity Search supports the following modifiers
W - Words
L - Lines
S - Sentences
P - Paragraphs
B - Before
A - After
E - On either side of
0 (Zero) - In the same Word, Line,
Sentence, or Paragraph
You can mix these modifiers to create a variety of searches:
Enter:
Internet {vicinity :1WB access}
Find:
documents where Internet
appears 1 word before access.
Enter:
veto {vicinity :2LA President}
Find:
documents where veto
appears within 2 lines after President.
Enter: GM {vicinity :1SE Ford}
Find:
documents where GM
appears 1 sentence either side of Ford.
Date
Searching
The
Date Search finds information according to a Date contained in a
field. There are three categories of Date Searching:
Single
range ("find all documents earlier than...")
Enter: {cal} Date: < 01-01-96
Find:
documents where the date in the Date: field is less January 1, 1996.
Dual
range ("find all documents from 1970 to 1980")
Enter: {cal} Born: >= 01-01-1970
and {cal} Born: <= 01-01-1980
Find:
documents with dates in the Born field between 1970 and 1980.
Comparison
("find documents with dates from the last 30 days")
Enter: {cal} Date:{to} [ ] <=
30 days
Find:
documents where the date in the Date field is <= 30 days from
today.
Enter:
{cal} Date:{to} Dec. 7, 1941 <= 2 months
Find:
documents where the date is <= 2 months from December 7, 1941.
Enter:
{cal} Date:{to} [ ] >= 1 year
Find:
documents where the date in the Date field is >= 1 year from
today.
NOTES:
1) askSam is able to work with Dates which are not in the 20th century.
2) Dates of varying formats can be mixed in a file and will still
be understood. For example, askSam can compare, sort and evaluate
a file with dates such as July 30th, 1995, 30 JUL. 1995, and 07-30-95
mixed throughout the file. |
