Keyword Search (Full-text Search)

Keywords are simply the words you want to search for, such as failed, login, and so on. You can specify multiple keywords in one query expression by using Boolean operators (AND, OR, or NOT) between them. Boolean expressions can be nested, for example, (John OR Jane) AND Doe*. If you need to search for the literal occurrence of AND, OR, or NOT (in upper-, lower-, or mixed case), enclose them in double quotes (“ ”) so the search engine does not interpret them as operators.

Note: Although the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT can be specified in upper-, lower-, or mixed case when used as an operator, Micro Focus recommends that you use uppercase for ease of reading the query.

Guidelines for Writing Keyword Search Expressions

Follow these guidelines when specifying keyword search expressions:

Follow the requirements described in Syntax Reference for Query Expressions.

Addition points to take into consideration when writing queries are described in About Building Search Queries.

Keyword search is not case sensitive.

Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, or NOT) to connect multiple keywords. If no Boolean operator is specified between two keywords, the AND operator is applied by default. Also, use the Boolean operators to connect keywords to fields you specify.

Use double quotes (“ ”) to enclose a single word for an exact match. Otherwise, the word is treated as <search string>*. For example, to search for log, type “log”. If you type log (without the double quotes), the search will match all words that begin with log; for example, log, logger, logging, and so on.

When specifying Boolean operators (AND, OR, or NOT) as keywords, enclose them in double quotes (“ ”). For example, “AND”.

Use the backslash (\) as an escape character for \, “, and *. However, the backslash will not escape these characters if the keyword is enclosed in double quotes.

The following table summarizes how special characters are treated in a keyword search.

Using Special Characters in Keyword Searches
Character	Usage
Space Tab Newline `, ; ( ) [ ] { } “ \| *`	You cannot specify keywords that contain the characters in the left column. Therefore, to search for a phrase such as failed login, enter `“failed” AND “login”`. Note: `*` is a valid character for wildcard character searches.
`= : / \ @ - ? # $ & _ % > < !`	To specify a keyword that contains any of the characters in the left column, enclose the keyword in double quotes (`“ ”`). You can also specify an asterisk (`*`) at the end of the keyword for an exact match. Examples: `“C:\directory”` `“result=failed”`
`*` asterisk	You can use the wildcard character asterisk (`*`) to search for keywords, however, the wildcard cannot be the leading character in the keyword. Therefore, the following usages are valid:
`log*`	`log\*`	`log\\*`
`log*app`	`logapp`	`"log*"`
However, the following usages are not valid:
`*log`	`logapp*`

Using Special Characters in Keyword Searches

Character

Usage

Space Tab Newline
, ; ( ) [ ] { } “ | *

You cannot specify keywords that contain the characters in the left column. Therefore, to search for a phrase such as failed login, enter “failed” AND “login”.

Note: * is a valid character for wildcard character searches.

= : / \ @ - ? # $ & _ % > < !

To specify a keyword that contains any of the characters in the left column, enclose the keyword in double quotes (“ ”). You can also specify an asterisk (*) at the end of the keyword for an exact match.

Examples:

“C:\directory”
“result=failed”

* asterisk

You can use the wildcard character asterisk (*) to search for keywords, however, the wildcard cannot be the leading character in the keyword. Therefore, the following usages are valid:

log*

log\*

log\\*

log*app

log*app*

"log*"

However, the following usages are not valid:

*log

*log*app*