Wildcard Searches
SearchBlox supports single and multiple character wildcard searches. To perform a single character
wildcard search, use the “?” symbol. To perform a multiple character wildcard search, use the “*”
symbol.
The single character wildcard search looks for terms that match that with the single character
replaced. For example, to search for “text” or “test” you can use the search:
te?t
Multiple character wildcard searches looks for 0 or more characters. For example, to search for test,
tests or tester, you can use the search:
test*
You can also use the wildcard searches in the middle of a term.
te*t
Fuzzy Searches
SearchBlox supports fuzzy searches. To do a fuzzy search, use the tilde, “~”, symbol at the end of a
Single word Term. For example to search for a term similar in spelling to “roam” use the fuzzy
search:
roam~
This search will find terms like "foam" and "roams".
Proximity Searches
SearchBlox supports finding words are a within a specific distance away. To do a proximity search,
use the tilde, “~”, symbol at the end of a Phrase. For example to search for “searchblox” and “j2ee”
within 10 words of each other in a document use the search:
“searchblox j2ee”~10
Boolean Operators
Boolean operators allow terms to be combined through logic operators. Lucene supports AND, “+”,
OR, NOT and “-” as Boolean operators (Note: Boolean operators must be ALL CAPS).
OR
The OR operator is the default conjunction operator. This means that if there is no Boolean operator
between two terms, the OR operator is used. The OR operator links two terms and finds a matching
document if either of the terms exist in a document. This is equivalent to union using sets. The
symbol || can be used in place of the word OR.To search for documents that contains either
“searchblox server” or just “searchblox” use the query:
“searchblox server” OR searchblox
AND
The AND operator matches documents where both terms exist anywhere in the text of a single
document. This is equivalent to an intersection using sets. The symbol && can be used in place of
the word AND.To search for documents that contain “searchblox” and “j2ee” use the query:
“searchblox” AND “j2ee”
Giving the following query yields the same as the one given above with AND operator
"searchblox j2ee"
plus operator "+"
The “+” or required operator requires that the term after the “+” symbol exist somewhere in a the field
of a single document.To search for documents that must contain “searchblox” and may contain
“j2ee” use the query:
+searchblox j2ee
NOT
The NOT operator excludes documents that contain the term after NOT. This is equivalent to a
difference using sets. The symbol ! can be used in place of the word NOT. To search for documents
that contain “searchblox server” but not “j2ee” use the query:
“searchblox server” NOT “j2ee”
Note
The NOT operator cannot be used with just one term. For example, the following search will return
no results:
NOT “searchblox server”
Prohibit operator "-"
The “-” or prohibit operator excludes documents that contain the term after the “-” symbol. To search
for documents that contain “searchblox server” but not “j2ee” use the query:
“searchblox server” -”j2ee”
Grouping
SearchBlox supports using parentheses to group clauses to form sub queries. This can be very
useful if you want to control the Boolean logic for a query.To search for either “searchblox” or
“server” and “j2ee” use the query:
(searchblox OR server) AND j2ee
This eliminates any confusion and makes sure you that website must exist and either term
searchblox or server may exist.
