SearchHelp < TWiki

---+!! Search Help

%TOC%

---++ Basic Search Form

The WebSearch form offers basic search features:
   * Search field: Enter one or more keywords
   * All webs flag: Check the flag if you want to search all public webs, not just the current web
   * Scope: Select if you want to search the topic title, text body or both

The search is 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"=,%BR% enter this: =soap +wsdl "web service" -shampoo=

---++ Advanced Search Form

The WebSearchAdvanced form offers more control over search.

TWiki supports three types of searches:
   * =keyword=: The basic search type
   * =literal=: Simple search where text is searched literally
   * =regex=: A RegularExpression search for power users

TWiki's regex search is a set of regular expression patterns:
   * Patterns are delimited by a semicolon
   * 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"=,%BR% enter this: =soap;wsdl;web service;!shampoo=

---++ Formatted Searches

You can embed a nicely [[FormattedSearch][formatted search]] in a topic by using the =%<nop>SEARCH{}%= variable described in TWikiVariables.

---++ Search Preferences

The TWikiPreferences has these settings:

   * =SEARCHDEFAULTTTYPE=: Default search type for search forms which calls the =search= script
   * =SEARCHVARDEFAULTTYPE=: Default search type for =%<nop>SEARCH{}= variable
   * =SEARCHSTOPWORDS=: List of stop words

-- TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny - 18 Jan 2004
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