Working with Search Windows
A search expression consists of the word (or words) or phrase (or phrases) you want to find. You can use wildcard expressions and Boolean operators.
Search Syntax
The basic rules for formulating queries are as follows:
- Searches are not case-sensitive, so you can type your search in uppercase or lowercase characters.
- You can search for any combination of letters (a-z) and numbers (0-9).
- You cannot search for single *, single ? or word only consists of wildcards.
- Group the elements of your search using "double quotes".
Words, Phrases, and Wildcards
You can search for words or phrases and use wildcard expressions. The table below describes the results of these different kinds of searches.
| Search for |
Example |
Results |
| A single word |
Select |
Search Engine returns OK for topics that contain the word "select." |
| A phrase |
"new operator" |
Search Engine returns OK for topics that contain the literal phrase "new operator". Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying a new AND operator |
| Wildcard expressions |
Esc* |
Search Engine returns OK for topics that contain the terms "ESC", "escape", "escalation" and so on. The asterisk cannot be the only character in the words. |
| |
80?86 |
Search Engine returns OK for topics that contain the terms "80186", "80286" "80386" and so |
| |
*86 |
Search Engine returns OK for topics that contain the terms "386", "486", "x86", "QEMM386" "8086," and so on. |
The asterisk substitutes 0 or a few letters, the question substitutes 1 letter.
Operators: AND, OR
The AND and OR operators allow you to refine your search. You can use only operators of the same type. You cannot use AND and OR operators in the same expression.
The following table shows how to use each of these operators.
| Search for |
Example |
Results |
| Both terms in the same topic |
dib AND palette -or-
dib & palette |
Search Engine returns OK for topics containing both the words "dib" and "palette." |
| Either term in a topic |
raster OR vector -or-
raster | vector |
Search Engine returns OK topics containing either the word "raster" or the word "vector." |
"+" Searches
If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)
"-" Searches
You can exclude a word from your search by putting a minus sign ("-") immediately in front of the term you want to avoid. (Be sure to include a space before the minus sign.)
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