Performing a Search
In
the Search pane, you can search for words, phrases, and combinations of
words. Search results are listed in order based on the number of occurrences.
Topics with the most search hits are listed first.
To perform a search:
- In the Enter terms or a
phrase to find field, enter the terms or phrase you want to locate.
If you enter more than one term,
by default help locates topics containing any of the terms you entered. There
are a number of ways to refine a search, though. The following sections
explain the rules for searching with multiple terms:
- Optionally, select the Case
sensitive checkbox to locate only terms that match the exact
capitalization of the text you entered.
- Select Search.
Search locates topics based on
your search criteria and lists the results in the table. Topics with the most
search hits are listed first.
- Select an entry in the
table to display the corresponding topic.
Phrase Search
Use
phrases to locate text that exactly matches the text you provide. Search
matches the exact capitalization you provide only if you have checked the Case
sensitive checkbox.
Identify
phrases with quotation marks. For example, entering backup job results in topics that contain
either backup or job. In contrast, entering "backup job" with quotes results in topics
with the exact phrase backup
job.
Logical Operators
To
narrow a search, provide more than one word in your search and use logical
operators. For example, if you want to find topics related to installation,
you might enter the search term installing. However, if you want to limit the search to a
product's server installation, you would enter the terms installing AND server. Using logical operators, you
can combine multiple terms to form complex queries. Parentheses allow you to
group terms, thereby achieving more control over the logic applied to your
search.
Note Logical operators must be ALL CAPS.
The
following table describes the logical operators and gives an example of their
use.
Search Operators
Operator
|
Searches for ...
|
Example
|
OR
|
Topics
that contain any one of the terms you entered. The terms can be located
anywhere on the page and in any order.
Note
This is the default behavior if you enter terms with
no operator.
|
installing
OR server
|
|
AND
|
Topics
that contain all the terms you entered. The terms can be located anywhere
on the page and in any order, but all the terms must be on the page.
|
installing
AND server AND client
|
|
NOT
-
|
Topics
that do not contain the
word that follows the NOT operator. You can also use the hyphen.
Note
You cannot use the NOT operator with just one term.
In the example provided, we could not omit the term client.
|
server
NOT client
server
- client
|
|
+
|
Topics
that contain the word that follows the + operator.
|
+
server
|
|
You
can search using the above operators in different combinations. Following are
some examples:
- installing AND
configuring AND server OR client
Locates topics with both installing and configuring and either server or client.
- installing AND server
NOT client
Locates topics with both installing and server but without the word client.
- "install
script" AND server
Locates topics that contain install script (both words in that exact
order) and server.
Locates topics that contain server. Topics can optionally contain installing, but they must contain server.
You
can use parentheses to group terms in a multiple-term search. Grouping terms
lets you control how the logical operators are applied to your search. The
following examples illustrate how parentheses can affect the search results:
- server OR client AND installing
Locates topics that contain installing and either server or client.
- server OR (configuring AND installing)
Locates topics that contain
either server or both configuring and installing.
Wildcard Search
You
can perform wildcard searches using single- and multiple-character wildcards
as follows:
- To perform a
single-character search, use ?
For example, if you enter the
term te?t, help searches for terms in
which ? is replaced by any one character. Possible search results might be test and text.
- To perform a
multiple-character search, use *
For example, if you enter the
term test*, help searches for terms in
which * is replaced by zero, one, or more characters. Possible search results
might be test, tests, tester, and testing.
Note You cannot use a * or ? symbol as the first
character of a search.
Return
to Using Help.
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