Searches with wildcard characters and operators

The search feature supports the use of wildcard characters and operators.

Wildcard characters

Use wildcard characters to replace characters in a keyword where you want to find variants of the keyword.

Type Character Function Example
Single character ?

Replaces exactly one character

d?g

In the example, the query results include documents that have words like dog, dig, or dug.

Multiple characters *

Replaces any number of characters in the keyword

dog*

In the example, the query results include documents that have words like dog, dogs, dogged, or dog-eared.

Choice [ ]

Defines possible variations of the keyword

chat[,ting,ter]

In the example, the query results only include the documents that have chat, chatting, or chatter.

Operators

Use operators to join keywords or specify the context around the keywords you use.

Order of operation Type Symbol Function Example
1 Contiguity " "

Locates occurrences of the exact phrase within the quotations

"small black dog"

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the exact phrase small black dog.

2 Priority ( )

Defines how to group operators during the search

small + (dog | cat)

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the words small and either dog or cat.

3 Frequency >

Sets the minimum number of times for keyword usage within a document

cat>5

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the word cat five times or more.

4 Near NEAR

Sets the maximum number of words between the occurrence of a specified keyword and another keyword

cat NEAR5 dog

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the word cat within five words of the word dog.

5 Adjacency ADJ

Sets the adjacency value where a specified keyword appears within a set number of words after another keyword

cat ADJ5 dog

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the word cat followed by dog within five words. The order of the keywords is important for this operator.

6 Without -

Locates occurrences where a specified keyword appears without another keyword

cat - dog

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the word cat but do not contain the word dog.

7 And +

Locates occurrences where both keywords appear

cat + dog

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the word cat and the word dog.

8 Or |

Locates occurrences where one or both keywords appear

cat | dog

In the example, the query results include all documents that contain the word cat, the word dog, or both.