Search Tutorial : Simple and explicit expressions

You can build two types of query expressions: simple and explicit. A simple query expression is typically a word or words. An explicit query expression can employ a number of operators and modifiers to refine the search. Although an explicit query can employ operators and modifiers, all aspects of the search must be explicitly invoked. A simple query expression is easy to form because it employs operators by default.

Simple query expressions

Simple queries allow you to enter simple, comma-delimited strings and use wildcard characters. You can enter multiple words separated by commas, in which case the comma is treated like a logical OR. If you omit the commas, the query expression is treated as a phrase.

Ordinarily, operators are employed in explicit query expressions. Operators are normally surrounded by angle brackets < >. However you can use the AND, OR, and NOT operators in a simple query without using angle brackets.

A simple query automatically employs the STEM operator and the MANY modifier. STEM searches for words that derive from those entered in the query expression, so that entering "find" will return documents that contain "find," "finding," "finds," etc. The MANY modifier forces the documents returned in the search to be presented in a list based on a relevancy score.

Explicit query expressions

Explicit query expressions can be composed using a variety of operators. Most operators in an explicit query expression are surrounded by angle brackets <>. You can use the AND, OR, and NOT operators without angle brackets.

When you use explicit syntax, the search engine interprets the search terms you enter as literals. For example, by entering the word "film" (including quotation marks) using explicit syntax, the stemmed versions of the word "film", "films," "filmed," and "filming" are ignored.