Technofile by Al Fasoldt

Available online since 1983
Columns and commentaries in a life-long dance with technology©

Searches can be simple or complex. Don't go to a lot of trouble creating a complicated search unless you're sure that a simple search won't find what you want.

   Tips for searching using Index Server

   At its simplest, a query can be just a word or a phrase. But with the tips on this page, you can expand the focus of your query to give you more complete results. These tips will get you started with basic query language and tell you how Index Server works.

   Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type key* to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on.

   Search for all forms of a word. For example, in the form type sink** to find sink, sinking, sank, and sunk.

   Search with the keyword NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. For example, both of these queries, system and manager and system near manager, look for the words system and manager on the same page. But with NEAR, the returned pages are ranked in order of proximity: The closer together the words are, the higher the rank of that page.

   Refine your queries with the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text from your search. For example, if you want to find all instances of surfing but not the Net, write the following query:

      surfing AND NOT the Net

   Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for example:

      Abbott OR Costello

   This query finds all pages that mention Abbott or Costello or both.

   Put quotation marks around keywords if you want Index Server to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:

      "system near manager"

Index Server will literally look for the complete phrase system near manager. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:

      system near manager

Index Server searches all documents for the words system and manager.

   Using Free Text Queries:

   Use Free Text Queries if you want to enter queries using natural language. Index Server will examine your query, extract nouns and noun phrases and construct a query for you. With free text queries you can enter any text you want, from a proper question, to a string of words and phrases, without worrying about the query language. For example, if you type in the following query:

      "Is there a way to get Windows to stop crashing?"

Index Server will create a query for you automatically and begin the search. Note that when you're using free text queries, the regular query language features are disabled and keywords such as AND, OR, and NEAR are interpreted as normal words.

   Be sure to print out these instructions or save the entire page locally (on your hard drive) so you can refer to it easily when you are searching.