Overview

DocuShare Search Page

Logical Operators

Reserved Characters

Saving Search Queries

To add a new search query

Viewing Saved Query Properties

Editing Saved Query Properties

Editing the Location of a Saved Query

Editing the Query

Deleting A Saved Query

Retrieving a Deleted Saved Query

Table of Contents	DocuShare Bulletin Boards	DocuShare Windows Client

Every DocuShare object contains a set of associated attributes, which are sometimes also referred to as meta-data. These attributes include the object's title, summary, owner, description, creation date, and keywords. For most objects, such as collections and bulletin boards, this set of attributes is the object's complete information content. File objects, in addition, contain the user's original file in its original format. Whenever a new object is created, or an existing object is edited, it is indexed by DocuShare at that moment and made available for searching. For most office documents, like Word, Excel and WordPerfect, their content is indexed in addition to their meta-data attributes. Your site administrator can tell you which file formats are currently being indexed on your server.

 For document content and every object's title, summary and description, the DocuShare search facility analyzes each word and indexes it in a way that enables you to find all variants of the word. This is known as stemming. For example, DocuShare's powerful stemming capability will locate the words "bath", "baths" and "bathes" when you request the word "bath". The other meta-data fields, including custom properties, are indexed for searching as well (with the exception of float type properties which are not indexed).

DocuShare allows you to submit queries from two locations.

• Simple keyword-style queries may be issued from the DocuShare home page by typing one or more words into the form and clicking on the Search button. It will return all objects that have those words in any of their attributes, including file content.
  
  
• Powerful structured queries may be issued from the DocuShare Search page. It allows you to construct queries about specific attributes, for objects located within a given collection and created during a limited interval of time.

The results of your query are returned as a collection-style listing. One notable difference is that links to the collections in which each object appears are included. This enables navigation to the related context of a query in addition to the specific objects that satisfied the query.

The DocuShare Search page allows you to build up sophisticated queries by selecting the desired constraints and attribute values from a set of form categories. The constraints imposed by the different categories are combined by multiple AND conjunctions to form the query. Within the Where category, you can use logical operators to build up queries about different object attributes. For example, the following is a valid query:

• Document Type is application/msword, and
  
  
• Create Date is after 1/1/97, and
  
  
• Where Title contains "market research" or Keywords contains "partners"

 

Object Type

This pull-down list allows you to limit the search to a specific type of object, such as collections or files only. Selecting the special value Any allows you to search over all objects in the repository.

Document Type

This field applies to File objects only and lists all of the MIME Types currently supported by your server. It allows you to limit search to a single type of file, such as only Word or PDF documents. The Document Type constraint is combined with the Object Type constraint by an AND conjunction. If Object Type is set to Any, selecting a value for Document Type will automatically limit the search to objects of type File. If Object Type is set to an object type other than File, selecting a value for Document Type will lead to an empty result because non-files do not have a Document Type attribute.

Create Date

Allows you to search for content that was first created before or after a specified date, or within a specified date interval. To search for content created before or after a specific date, enter the date into one of the Create Date fields, select the appropriate relationship (before, after, on, etc.) and leave the other field blank. To search for objects created within an interval of time put the interval start and end dates in the two Create Date fields and select the appropriate relationships.

Modified Date

Allows you to search for content that was last modified before or after a specified date, or within a specified date interval. To search for content that was last modified before or after a specific date, enter the date into one of the Modified Date fields, select the appropriate relationship (before, after, on, etc.) and leave the other field blank. To search for objects that were last modified within an interval of time, put the interval start and end dates in the two Modified Date fields and select the appropriate relationships. When using the Modified Date attribute, keep in mind that when an object is first created, its modified date equals its create date.

Within

The Within category only appears on the form if you clicked on Search while viewing a collection or its properties. It is used to limit search to only that collection and all of the content it contains. A radio button is used to select between two possible values. By default, the location constraint is selected. Selecting the radio button value for "Site" removes the location constraint and searches over the entire repository.

Where

The Where category allows you to use logical operators to build up queries about specific attributes, including file content. Selecting Any Part as the attribute value means that that part of the query will return true if the specified value appears in any of the object's attributes.

Maximum Results

Specifies the maximum number of objects to return. Results are always sorted, with the highest match score first. Therefore, setting Maximum Results to 20 returns the 20 best matches to your query.

 

The queries that DocuShare builds based on your input are given to the Verity search engine. Verity defines the four logical operators used in the Where category of the DocuShare Search page, as follows.

AND

Searches for objects that contain all of the search elements you specify. The results are relevance-ranked. For example, the query:
Title contains marketing And Keywords contains technology
only returns objects having both "marketing" in their title and "technology" in their keywords.

OR

Searches for objects that contain at least one of the search elements you specify. The results are relevance-ranked. For example, the query:
Title contains marketing Or Keywords contains technology
returns objects having either "marketing" in their title or "technology" in their keywords, or both.

ACCRUE

Searches for objects that include at least one of the search elements you specify. The ACCRUE operator scores results in a cumulative fashion - the more search elements found, the better the score. For example, the query:
Title contains marketing Accrue Keywords contains technology
returns objects having either "marketing" in their title or "technology" in their keywords. Object having both elements will be given a higher score.

AND NOT

Searches for objects that do not include the search elements you specify. You can use AND NOT to exclude documents, often in an attempt to reduce known sources of noise in the search results. For example, the query:
Title contains marketing And Not Keywords contains technology
returns objects that have "marketing" in their title but do not have "technology" in their keywords.

When you define a query using the logical operators, DocuShare groups the individual parts of the query using the following precedence rules:

• The NOT operator, as in AND NOT, always applies only to the next input string.
  
  
• The AND operator has the highest grouping priority below NOT.
  
  
• The ACCRUE operator has the highest grouping priority below AND.
  
  
• The OR operator has the lowest grouping priority.

For example, the query:

Is interpreted by DocuShare to mean:

Objects containing "test" in their title will be returned, as will objects containing "practice" in their title and "homework" in their summary. Objects that contain "practice" in their title but do not contain "homework" in their summary will not be returned.

The Verity search engine uses some characters for internal functions or to denote wildcard patterns in your query.

To use a wildcard character as a query string literal, precede it with a backslash ( \ ). For example, to search for "x*y" enterx\*y.

The following characters have special meaning to the Verity search engine and will not be treated as literals in a query string:

•   comma ,
•   left and right parentheses ( )
•   double quotation mark "
•   backslash \
•   at sign @
•   left curly brace {
•   left bracket [
•   less than sign <
•   backquote '
•   equals =
•   dash –
•   caret ^
•   pound #
•   exclamation point !

These special characters are typically ignored and treated as a space in searching.

Saved Queries allow users to store into a collection the query used in a search and reuse it again at a later time. This is especially helpful when you have developed a complex query that will be reused multiple times, such as a description of an important subject area that you want to track.

By saving the query, you can access the desired information directly, without having to reenter the search information. New queries can also be defined and saved directly to a collection through the collection's Add... menu. Saved Queries are indicated by the icon because they behave much like a collection, but their contents are the result of a search invoked each time the Saved Query is opened.

To save a search query

1. After performing a search, on the Search Results page click on the Edit... pull-down menu and select Save Search Query.
   
   
2. The Save Search Query page appears.
   
   
3. Fill in the desired information under the Title, Summary, Description, Keywords, and Appears In fields.
   
   
4. Click Apply.
   
   
5. The query is saved and the Services page appears.

To add a new search query:

1. In the location where you want to add the query, select Saved Query from the Add... pull-down menu. The Add Saved Query page appears. The Add Saved Query page is similar in layout to the Search page; however, the Add Saved Query page contains four additional fields:
   
   

   Property	Description
   Title	Specifies a descriptive title for the query collection. The title can contain spaces and other punctuation marks. This is a required field.
   Summary	(Optional) This field should contain a short description of the type of saved query being submitted to the DocuShare repository. The contents of the Summary field will appear below the object's title on the page in which the object appears.
   Description	(Optional) This field should contain a detailed description of the saved query.
   Keywords	(Optional) This field should contain any Keywords associated with this query. Keywords help to categorize content and allow for more accurate searching if trying to locate this object. Simply type in a series of words in the field.

   
   
2. The remainder of the fields contains the same parameters as the Search page. Fill in the rest of the information according to your search requirements.
   
   
3. Click the Apply button. The Saved Query Services page appears.

To view the properties of a saved query, you must access the Saved Query Services page. You can do this by clicking on the View Properties option in the Edit...pull-down menu, or by clicking on the Services icon to the right of the link. Saved Query properties include:

• All of the properties listed in the previous section
  
  
• The saved query's identifying object number (handle), the owner of the saved query, the date and time of creation and last modification
  
  
• The subscription, query, and query's scope
  
  
• The location of this saved query within the collection hierarchy of the DocuShare site (i.e., the Appears In property). All DocuShare objects may appear in multiple locations.

You can edit the properties of a Saved Query by selecting Edit Properties from the Edit... pull-down menu, or by clicking on the Services icon. The Edit Properties page contains the following properties:

To edit properties of a saved query:

1. In the Edit... pull-down menu, click on Edit Properties.
   Note: If you are not automatically taken to the Edit Properties page, click the Go button.
   
   
2. Edit the saved query properties. Refer to the property descriptions from the above table for information.
   Note: If you are unsure of the purpose of a field while editing subscription properties, you can click on the field name for a brief Help description of that field.
   
   
3. Click the Apply button. The Saved Query Services page appears, with the properties updated to reflect your changes.

The Edit Location command allows a user to move a DocuShare object from one location to another, or allows the object to appear in multiple locations within the DocuShare repository. You must have at least Writer access to the object to change its location.

The location of an object is displayed in the Appears In property, which is displayed at the end of each View Properties listing for an object. Using the Edit Location command allows you to edit the Appears In property.

This is a helpful command if you have created a saved query (or any other DocuShare object) in the wrong location and want to move it instead of deleting it and then re-creating it. It is also helpful if you would like the same object to appear in one or more additional locations. All DocuShare objects can appear in multiple locations at once. However, there is actually only one physical copy of the object in the DocuShare database; the system simply creates additional pointers or references to the object.

A negative side effect of this command is that if used incorrectly, you can unintentionally orphan the object. Orphaned objects still exist within the DocuShare repository but are not accessible to users except by directly accessing their URL. A Site Administrator can help you recover orphaned objects if you do not know their URL.

To change the location of a saved query:

1. Click the Services icon to the right of the saved query whose location you want to change. The Saved Query Services page appears.
   
   
2. In the Edit... pull-down menu, select Edit Location. The Edit Saved Query Location page appears.
   
   
3. In the Appears In field, a scrolling list is displayed that contains all DocuShare collections to which you have at least Writer access. The saved query's current location is highlighted.
   
   
   • To move an object, select the collection where you wish to move this object. The previous location will be deselected.
     
     
   • To have an object appear in multiple locations, press the CONTROL key while selecting the additional locations.
     
     Note: Use the CONTROL key for MS Windows-based Operating Systems only. Substitute the Command (or Apple key) key for the MacOS. Unix-based systems require no special key for this multiple list item selection.
     
     Note: Use caution when deselecting locations. Deselecting improperly can created orphaned files. Be sure that at least one location is selected in the scrolling list before selecting the Update Locations button.
     
     
4. Click the Update Locations button.

The Saved Query Properties page for that query appears and the new location(s) is/are displayed in Appears In property. If you don't see this change reflected on the View Properties page, click Reload on your browser to refresh the page display.

You may change the search parameters of a query at any time. Changing the search parameters is useful if you decide that, for example, you want to search for additional document or object types using the same saved query.

To edit the query:

1. In the Edit... pull-down menu, select Edit Query.
   
   Note: If you are not automatically taken to the Edit Query page, click the Go button.
   
   
2. Edit the query search parameters.
   
   
3. Click the Apply button. The Saved Query Services page appears, with your changes reflected.

To delete a saved query:

1. Click on the Services icon to the right of the query collection you want to delete.
   
   
2. Select Delete from the Edit... pull-down menu.
   
   
3. The Confirm Deletion page appears. Click on the Delete button to delete the saved query.
   
   Note: If you decide that you do not want to delete the query collection, click the Back button on your browser to close the Delete or Confirm Deletion page.
   
   
4. The Delete Successful page appears. Click the Click here to continue link.

If you inadvertently delete a saved query from the DocuShare repository, the Site Administrator can easily restore it for you. All deleted content is sent to a trashcan accessible only to the Site Administrator. If you mistakenly delete an object, you must contact the Site Administrator and provide him/her with the required information. The Site Administrator is responsible for purging the trashcan on an as-needed basis. After purging, you will be unable to restore items deleted, so be sure to notify the Site Administrator of deletion restorations as soon as possible.

Table of Contents	DocuShare Bulletin Boards	DocuShare Windows Client