Logo

Art on Screen Database
Search Tips

FAST KEYWORD SEARCH TIPS

Fast Keyword Searches allow you to enter simple, comma-delimited strings and use wildcard characters. By default, a Fast Search searches for words, not strings. For example, entering the word "Micro" will find documents containing the word "micro" but not "Microsoft." You can use wildcards, however to broaden the scope of the search. "Micro*" will return documents containing both "micro" and "Microsoft.". Case is ignored.

You can enter multiple words separated by commas: software, Microsoft, Oracle. The comma in a Fast Search expression is treated like a logical OR. If you omit the commas, the query expression is treated as a phrase, so documents would be searched for the phrase "software Microsoft Oracle."

You can use the AND, OR, and NOT operators in a Fast Search without using angle brackets: software AND (Microsoft OR Oracle). To include an operator in a search, you surround it with double quotation marks: software "and" Microsoft. This expression searches for the phrase "software and Microsoft."

When searching for titles with the words AND, OR, and NOT, omit the AND, OR, and/or NOT from the search.

Wildcard Description
? Question. Specifies any single alphanumeric character.
* Asterisk. Specifies zero or more alphanumeric characters. Avoid using the asterisk as the first character in a search string. Asterisk is ignored in a set, [ ] or an alternative pattern { }.
[ ] Square brackets. Specifies one of any character in a set, as in "sl[iau]m" which locates "slim," "slam," and "slum." Square brackets indicate an implied OR.
{ } Curly braces. Specifies one of each pattern separated by a comma, as in "hoist{s, ing, ed}" which locates "hoists," "hoisting," and "hoisted." Curly braces indicate an implied AND.
^ Caret. Specifies one of any character not in the set as in "sl[^ia]m" which locates "slum" but not "slim" or "slam."
- Hyphen. Specifies a range of characters in a set as in "c[a-r]t" which locates every word beginning with "c," ending with "t" and containing any letter from "a" to "r."



HOME DATABASE NEWS LINKS FEEDBACK SPECIAL!