Search for documents

To search for documents, enter search criteria in the Search view. Results are displayed in the Search Results view.

This topic describes the most common panels in the Search view. For more information on the Dates, Advanced Search, Taxonomy Terms, and Queries panel, see the documentation for these panels.

To search the Content Store:

  1. Open the DITA perspective.
  2. Click the Search tab.
  3. In the Cycles panel, select the document cycles you want to search.
    Figure: Cycles panel


    By default, all the states in the cycle selected will be searched. For example, if you select Authoring and click the drop-down arrow to the right of Authoring, a menu similar to the following is displayed:

    Cycles with status

    This menu displays all the states that are defined for your deployment.

  4. To specify a different list of states, check and uncheck the states as required.
    A check sign (Check sign in check box) in the checkbox indicates that all the states in the cycle are selected; a shaded checkbox (Shaded check box) indicates that only some of the states are selected. Click the drop-down arrow to see the selections.
    Note: If you see the message "selected items are different from default items" at the top of a panel, this means that the selections you have made are different from the selections that you have saved as the default with the search save button button.
  5. In the Document Types panel, select the document objects you want to search for.
    Figure: Document Types panel


    By default, all the subtypes for the document type selected will be searched for. For example, if you select Maps and click the drop-down arrow to the right of Maps, a menu similar to the following is displayed:
    Document Types with sub-types

    This menu displays all the map types that are defined for your deployment.

  6. To specify a different list of subtypes, check and uncheck the subtypes as required.
  7. In the Search for panel, enter a search string, such as the title of the document object.
    Figure: Search for panel


    Search is not case-sensitive.

    Tip: You can use wildcards to refine your search; click the button for a list of operators and their descriptions.
  8. To search a specific section of the objects (for example, the title element), select the element from the Search in list.
    By default, a search checks the whole document for the string specified (i.e., the fulltext option is selected). You can search a specific element, index, or attribute by changing the value in Search in.
  9. (Optional): In the Limit to panel, select additional search criteria:
    Figure: Limit to panel


    1. Under Locked by, choose me or others.
    2. To find documents assigned to a specific user, select Assigned to and then select the name of the user in the drop-down list. You can also enter text directly in the Assigned to field to search for a specific user name.
    3. To find documents assigned to a specific role, select Role and then select the role in the drop-down list.
    4. To search for document objects within the active map context, select Dita Map view.
    5. To search for document objects belonging to a specific project, select Project and choose a project.
      Note: The list displays only projects to which you belong.
    6. To search for document objects that were last modified by a specific user, select Last Modified By and select a user name.
    7. To search for branched documents, select Branch and then select the branch tag from the drop-down list.
    8. To search documents that are not referenced by any other document in the repository, select Orphans.
  10. In the Languages panel, select at least one language of the documents to be searched.
    Figure: Languages panel


  11. To append the search results to an existing search results list, select Append to current results.
  12. Click the Search button.
Document objects matching your search criteria are displayed in the Search Results view.
Figure: Search results for "log in" search


Note: Search criteria stay in effect when a panel is collapsed. If you previously performed a targeted search, click search restore defaults button in each panel of the Search window to restore the default settings before you search again.