Search Operators
Symbols and Boolean operators are at the heart of the search engine of NetGovern Search. Any time you search for a keyword or partial keyword, Boolean operators specify precisely how it is done. NetGovern Search supports almost all Boolean operators, such as AND, OR, NOT, BUT, NEAR, and so on. However, they must be capitalized to be recognized as operators instead of search terms.
Regular Expressions (regex)
A regular expression (or regex) is a pattern describing a certain amount of text. NetGovern Search supports some regular expressions (regex) or pattern matching. You use the forward slash symbol (/) to initiate it. For a larger string, you must also end with it. The following example would find four digits in a row, or two letters and two digits. There is a limit of four such variables in a row.
/[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]/
/[a-z][a-z][0-9][0-9]/
For more information, refer to Elasticsearch: Regexp Query.
Reserved Characters
Certain characters are reserved for use by NetGovern Search and must be escaped if you want them to be part of a search. These include the following:
- Single Characters: \ + - && || ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ :
- Double Characters: && and ||
When using a reserved character at the beginning of a search query, it is important to select the Automatically escape reserved index characters (SOLR) option. Otherwise, your search will not work properly. The following example uses the tilde (~) character.
Example: ~asd.txt
Wildcard and other Symbols
|
Symbol |
Notes and Examples |
|
* (asterisk) |
A wild card that uses root stemming (root words) to find all variants and partial endings to words. Each asterisk (*) represents a partial word and is treated as a placeholder for it. Example: org* Finds items that include: organ, organized, organization, and so on. Example: c*c* Finds items that include: calculation, check NOTE
in some fields, root stemming is performed automatically—see About Natural Language Processing. |
| ? (question mark) |
Searches for single-character variants in the middle of a word. Example: b?tter Find butter, batter, bitter |
|
\ (backslash) |
Takes the next symbol literally. This is useful for searching on quotes. Example: I heard him say \"Keep this secret\ "in the staffroom. Finds items that contain Keep this secret. Words before and after the backslash are not considered. |
|
- (minus) |
Similar to the NOT search. Excludes results containing a specific keyword. Do not put a space between the minus symbol (-) and the word. This is typically used in larger queries for finding items with some words and eliminating items that have other words. Example: social security -number Finds items that include the keywords "social security" and excludes the actual social security number. |
|
() (parentheses) |
Lets you construct nested expressions. Operations between parentheses are executed before others following it. Example: (social security -number) AND account Finds items that contain "social security" but excludes the actual social security number because of the minus (-) operator. Next, the result is used in an AND operation to search for both "social security" and "account". |
|
"" (quotation marks) |
Searches for all keywords exactly as typed. Example: "Venture Capital Funding" |
|
~ (tilde) |
Takes the word or partial word immediately preceding it and searches for that specific word and variations on spelling of that word. This is known as a "fuzzy" search. Example: porn~ Finds items that include porn, pron, or even pr0n. |
Boolean Operators
Boolean operators are the foundation of the NetGovern search engine. Boolean searching is based on an algebraic system of logic formulated by George Boole, a 19th century English mathematician. In NetGovern Search, any time you search for a keyword or partial keyword, Boolean operators specify precisely how it is done. NetGovern Search supports almost all Boolean operators, such as AND, OR, NOT, BUT, NEAR, and so on.
During an advanced search, you will frequently encounter these two Boolean operators: AND and OR. In NetGovern Search, these are called "All of" for the AND operator and "Any of" for the OR operator. The third operator you will use frequently is the NOT operator.
AND (All of)
The AND operator narrows your search by instructing NetGovern Search to look for all items containing the first parameter you specify, then for all items containing the second parameter, and show only those items that contain both. For example, when searching for an email sender named Bill Rapp (your first parameter) AND a recipient named Helen Troy (second parameter), your search results will include only items containing both Bill as the sender and Helen as the recipient. Including additional parameters will result in more precise search results.
OR (Any of)
The OR operator broadens your search to include items containing either one parameter or both. The OR search is particularly useful when there are several common synonyms for a concept, or variant spellings of a word.
The following example will give results that include the term bank OR items that include account OR both bank and account.
A good rule of thumb is to remember that OR means more!
NOT
The NOT operator allows you to exclude parameters you specify, which narrows a search. When you are sure that something should not be included in a search, this is the operator to use. For example, if you are sure that a person named Dana Davis is NOT involved in the embezzlement case you are working on, then you can exclude her from the search. She may be an employee of the company you are investigating but she is not relevant to the case.
In NetGovern Search, the NOT operator is called:
• Does Not Match
• Does Not Contain
Grouped searches
The AND and OR operator can be combined in a query.
Example: (embezzlement OR fraud) AND case
Finds embezzlement case or fraud case.
You can build grouped searches using a variety of operators and symbols.
Example: (bank OR branch) AND manag*
Finds bank manager, bank management, branch management, etc.
Operator list
|
Operators |
Notes and Examples |
|
after |
Searches for items following a specific date. Date format is numerical in this order: month/date/year. Example: 09/26/2017 |
|
AND |
Searches for items that include the term before and after the AND operator. When there is a space between keywords, it is assumed there is an AND operator between them. Example: employee AND complaints Example: employee complaints Finds items that include both employee and complaints. |
|
before |
Searches for items preceding a specific date. Date format is numerical in this order: month/date/year. Example: 09/26/2017 |
|
between |
Searches for items between two specific dates. Date format is numerical in this order: month/date/year. Example: 09/26/2017 |
|
contains |
Searches for items that mention a keyword. NOTE: Searching for a partial word such as "org" will return no results. You must use the asterisk (*) or tilde (~) operator.
Example: contains "organ" Finds items with these terms: organ, organs, organization, and so on. |
|
contains (word list) |
Same as contains, but searches for items that mention a keyword in a word list. |
|
does not contain does not contain (word list) |
Searches for items that do not mention a keyword or a keyword in a word list. NOTE: Excluding a partial word such as "org" will return no results. You must use the asterisk (*) or tilde (~) operator.
Example: does not contain "organ" Finds items with these terms: organ, organs, organization, and so on. |
|
does not match does not (word list) |
Searches for items that do not have a property with the same value as your query or word list. |
|
exclude |
Same as the does not contain operator. |
|
greater than |
Searches for items whose size is larger than specified. |
|
is empty |
Searches for items that contain no terms in a field you specify, such as the filename, comment, and subject. |
|
less than |
Searches for items whose size is smaller than specified. |
|
matches matches (word list) |
Searches for items with a property containing the same value as your query or word list. This operator should not be used for full text search. |
|
OR |
When keywords are on different lines, it is assumed there is an OR operator at the end of the line. Example: k1 k3 Generates this query: k1 OR k3 |
|
proximity %x |
Searches for items that mention two terms near each other. The distance between the terms must be a positive number higher than 1. The order of the terms is not important. The % symbol must be followed by a number less than 5. Example: bank %4 account Searches for the keywords "bank" and "account" within four words each other: in the bank account bank in my account account at my bank |
| title |
Searches for items in titles. Example: title:organization Searches for organization in the titles and headings of a text or document. |
| to |
Searches for all results with an alphabetical range. TO must be capitalized. Example: Albequerque TO Zurich |