TWiki> TWiki Web>WebSearch>SearchHelp (revision 2)EditAttach

Search Help

Search Pages

There are two search pages; WebSearch offers basic search features, while WebSearchAdvanced offers more control over searches.

By default searches are keyword based like in a typical search engine:

  • Specify word(s) you want to find
  • Multiple words form an AND search, intranet web service returns all pages that have the three words anywhere in the page
  • Optionally specify plus signs for AND search, like intranet +web +service
  • Enclose words in double quotes to form a literal search, like "web service"
  • Specify a minus sign to exclude a word, like soap -shampoo
  • Use double quotes if you want to search for a leading minus sign, like "-nowarn"
  • Stop words are excluded from a keyword search:
    • Stop words are common words and characters such as "how" and "where", defined in the SEARCHSTOPWORDS setting in the TWikiPreferences
    • If you want to search for a word in the stop word list, prefix the word with a plus sign
  • Example: To search for all topics that contain "SOAP", "WSDL", a literal "web service", but not "shampoo",
    enter this: soap +wsdl "web service" -shampoo

Regular expression search searches for a set of regular expression patterns:

  • Patterns are separated by semicolons
  • An AND search is performed for the list of patterns
  • An exclamation point preceeding a pattern indicates an AND NOT search; use it to exclude a pattern, like !web service
  • If you want to search for a semicolon or an exclamation point, escape them with a leading backslash, like \!shampoo
  • Example: To search for all topics that contain "SOAP", "WSDL", a literal "web service", but not "shampoo",
    enter this: soap;wsdl;web service;!shampoo

Formatted Searches

You can embed a nicely formatted search in a topic by using the %SEARCH{}% variable described in TWikiVariables#VarSEARCH.

Search Preferences

TWikiPreferences defines these search preferences:

  • SEARCHDEFAULTTTYPE: Default search type for search forms which calls the search script
    • Currently keyword
  • SEARCHVARDEFAULTTYPE: Default search type for %SEARCH{} variable
    • Currenty literal
  • SEARCHSTOPWORDS: List of stop words (common words and characters to exclude from a keyword search)
    • Currently a, all, am, an, and, any, as, at, b, be, by, c, d, e, for, from, g, h, how, i, i'm, i.e., in, is, isn't, it, it's, its, j, k, l, m, n, o, of, on, or, p, q, r, s, t, that, that's, the, this, to, u, v, w, was, wasn't, what, what's, when, where, who, who's, will, with, x, y, z

Related Topics: UserDocumentationCategory

Edit | Attach | Print version | History: r3 < r2 < r1 | Backlinks | Raw View | Raw edit | More topic actions...
Topic revision: r2 - 27 Mar 2005 - 10:14:15 - TWikiContributor

 
This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platformCopyright � by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding TWiki? Send feedback
Note: Please contribute updates to this topic on TWiki.org at TWiki:TWiki.SearchHelp