Search Tips

Tips for Searching

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 acquaint you with the full power of Microsoft Index Server.

Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type crystal* to find crystal, crystalize, crystalization, crystalline, and so on.
Limt the search to a particular Master or author by typing the the Masters name in the "Ascended Master" field in the search form.
Enter a date in the publication date field to limit a search to a decade, year, month or day. For example, 197* will only match on Pearls published in the 1970s. Enter 1982/12* and only Pearls published in December of 1982 will match the query.
Search for all forms of a word. For example, in the form type sing** to find sing, singing, sang, and sung.
Search with the keyword NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. For example, both of these queries, ascension and requirements and ascension near requirements, look for the words ascension and requirements 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 angel* but not Los Angeles, write the following query:

angel* AND NOT "Los Angeles"
Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for example:
gnome OR undine

This query finds all pages that mention gnome or undine or both.
Put quotation marks around keywords if you want Index Server to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:

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

requirements near ascension
Index Server searches all documents for the words requirements and ascension.
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:

"How early should I do my morning decrees?"
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.

These hints will get you started, but for more complex queries and more examples, see the Advanced Queries page.