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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 key*
to find key, keying,
keyhole, keyboard,
and so on.
-
Search
for all forms of a word. For example,
in the form type sink**
to find sink, sinking,
sank, and sunk.
-
Search
with the keyword NEAR, rather
than AND, for words
close to each other. For example,
both of these queries, system
and manager and system
near manager, look for the
words system and manager
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 surfing but not the
Net, write the following query:
surfing
AND NOT the Net
- Add
the OR keyword to find
all instances of either one word or
another, for example:
Abbott
OR Costello
This
query finds all pages that mention
Abbott or Costello or both.
-
Put
quotation marks around keywords if
you want Index Server to take them
literally. For instance, if you type
the following query:
"system near manager"
Index Server will literally look for
the complete phrase system near
manager. But if you type the
same query without the quotation marks:
system near manager
Index Server searches all documents
for the words system and
manager.
-
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 do I use the Index
Server administration snap-in?"
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 Query Language
page.
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