Search Methods and Syntax

Depending on the output type you are searching, end users can perform a variety of simple text and phrase searches. Some output types also support the use of boolean operators, the asterisk (*) wildcard character, and other syntax.

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Full-Text Search

All online output types support full-text search.

For Eclipse Help targets, search is provided by the Eclipse platform. For server-based output, search is provided by the either the Microsoft Indexing Service or Windows Search.

For all other output types, Flare scans all of the target content and creates a database index for search. When a user enters a search query, the search engine in the index to retrieve a list of topics with matches. In Flare, search results include these matches:

Case-insensitive Matches Search is not case-sensitive. For example, a search for the word "run" will find matches for "Run" and "run."
Matches with Variant Endings For example, a search for the word "run" will also find matches for words such as, "runner," "running," and "runs." Since matches are not case-sensitive, the results will include topics containing matches such as, "Runner," "Running," and "Runs."

How to Perform a Full Text Search

Open the online output.
In the search field, type a partial word or number string.
For example, type ham.
Press ENTER or click Search.

Note Search highlighting reveals the matches in the topic. In supported output types, you can change the highlighting color for search hits. See Search Highlighting.

Phrase Search

All online output types support phrase search.

For Eclipse Help targets, search is provided by the Eclipse platform. For server-based outputs, search is provided by the either the Microsoft Indexing Service or Windows Search.

End users can search for phrases by enclosing their search terms in quotation marks. This is useful when end users want to restrict a search to locate terms that appear in an exact order. For example, you might want to search for a phrase such as "Dog Friendly."

How to Perform a Phrase Search

Open the online output.
In the search field, type a word, number, or character string.
Press ENTER or click the Search button.
Double-click a match in the list to open the corresponding topic.

Important If you have enabled the stop words feature, search will not find matches for queries containing stop words in quotes. For example, if you search for the phrase "Pets are fun," search will only include topics with the words "pets" and "fun." This is because the word "are" is part of the stop word list. See Including Stop Words in Search.

Note Search highlighting reveals the matches in the topic. In supported output types, you can change the highlighting color for search hits. See Search Highlighting.

Boolean Operators

The Microsoft HTML Help, WebHelp, and HTML5 output types support boolean operators —e.g., AND, OR, NEAR, NOT, and ( ). Note that when providing users with server-based WebHelp or HTML5 output, boolean operators are not supported. Operators can be used in combination with search terms to increase or decrease the number of search results.

Requirements and Dependencies

Eclipse Help Boolean search is supported by the search engine that you configure in the Eclipse platform. See the Eclipse documentation at help.eclipse.org.
HTML Help Boolean search is provided by the viewer in accordance with the Microsoft Compiled HTML (CHM) specification. You must select the supported boolean operator from a predefined drop-down list. See Searching a Microsoft HTML Help System.
HTML5 Boolean search is provided by Flare in client-based output only. When delivering server-based output, the Microsoft Indexing Service or Windows Search handles search. See the Microsoft documentation for information about the Indexing Service:
Copy
```
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee805985(v=vs.85).aspx
```
See the following for information about Windows Search:
Copy
```
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff628790(v=vs.85).aspx
```
See also Enabling HTML5 Server-Based Output.
WebHelp and WebHelp Plus Boolean search is provided by Flare in client-based output only. When delivering server-based output (WebHelp Plus), the Microsoft Indexing Service or Windows Search service handles search. See the Microsoft documentation for information about the Indexing Service:
Copy
```
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee805985(v=vs.85).aspx
```
See the following for information about Windows Search:
Copy
```
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff628790(v=vs.85).aspx
```
See also Enabling WebHelp Plus Output.

How to Search with Boolean Operators

In the table below, a check mark shows the operators supported by each client-based output type. It also details any supported variables and provides usage examples:

Operators	Usage	HTML Help	HTML5¹	WebHelp
AND	Use to narrow the search and retrieve only the topics that contain all of the words it separates. Type AND between two or more terms. This is not case sensitive. Example Because the operator is not case sensitive, you can type cat AND dog AND parrot, cat And dog And parrot, or cat and dog and parrot. Below are the results of a search for cat and dog and parrot.
	When separating terms with a blank space, the AND is always inferred. This is only available in HTML5 help. Example Because AND is inferred in HTML5 search, here are the results of a search for cats dogs.
	Instead of the word AND, type the plus symbol (+). Example Below are the results of a search for cat + dog + parrot:
	Instead of the word AND, type the ampersand symbol (&). Example Below are the results of a search for cat & dog & parrot:
OR	Use to search for two or more words. This broadens the search results by retrieving topics that contain any of the words it separates. Type or between two or more terms. This operator is not case sensitive. Example Because the operator is not case sensitive, you can search for cat OR dog OR parrot, cat Or dog Or parrot, cat or dog or parrot, or cat dog parrot. Below are the results of a search for cat or dog or parrot:
	When separating terms with a blank space, the OR is always inferred. This is not available in HTML5 help. Example Because OR is inferred, here are the results of a search for cats dogs in a WebHelp target.
	Type the pipe symbol (\|) instead of typing OR. Example You can search for dog \| cat \| parrot.
NEAR	Select from the operator list to find topics that contain matches that are in close proximity to each other. This is only available in Microsoft HTML Help. The operator must be selected from a list. Example In the Microsoft HTML Help output type, you can type a search term, and then select NEAR from the list: The illustration below shows you the results of a search for dogs NEAR cats:
NOT	Use to search only for matching topics that do not contain the term following the operator. Type NOT before a term. This operator is not case-sensitive. Example Because the operator is not case-sensitive, you can search for NOT parrot, Not parrot, or not parrot. Below are the results of a search for not parrot:
	Type the exclamation mark (!) instead of the word NOT. Example Below are the results of a search for ! parrot:
	Use to find topics that contain one term but not the other. Type a term, followed by the carat symbol (^), and then type another term. Example To search for topics containing the word dog and not cat, search for dog ^ cat:
( )	Use parentheses to combine boolean phrases and search terms. Type parentheses ( ) around the combined terms. Example To search for topics containing cat and either the term dog or puppy, search for cat and (dog or puppy):
¹In HTML5, this is supported only with MadCap Search set as the search engine. See Setting Up a Search Engine and MadCap Search. ²This only works if you search for one term but not another (e.g., MadCap NOT Flare). ³The carat symbol (^) can be used interchangeably with an exclamation point (!) and NOT.

Asterisk (*) Wildcard Search

In the Microsoft HTML Help and WebHelp output types, end users can use the asterisk (*) wildcard character with the search feature as detailed below.

Requirements and Dependencies

Eclipse Help Asterisk (*) wildcard search is supported by the search engine that you configure in the Eclipse platform. For details, see the Eclipse documentation at:

help.eclipse.org
WebHelp For asterisk (*) wildcard search capabilities to be supported, you must enable the partial-word search feature. See Enabling Partial-Word Search.

How to Search With the Asterisk (*) Wildcard

In the table below, a check mark shows the different ways you can use the asterisk (*) wildcard in search. It also provides usage guidelines and examples.

Placement	Usage	HTML Help	WebHelp
Before a Term	Place the asterisk () in front of a term to represent unknown characters. Example* In the supported output types, a search for .doc would find any matches that end in .doc. As shown below, a search for ppy would find matches such as happy, puppy, and scrapp.
Inside a Term	Place the asterisk () inside a term to represent unknown characters. Example* In the example below, a search for pup*y would find occurrences of the word "puppy."
After a Term	Place the asterisk () after a term to represent unknown characters. Example* As an example, a search for pup* would find matches such as pupil, pupils, puppy, puppies, and puppyhood.
¹In Microsoft HTML Help, the asterisk () wildcard cannot be used in combination with other characters and symbols. For example, instead of searching for .doc, end users must search for *doc.

Partial-Word Search

The HTML5, WebHelp, and WebHelp Plus output types support partial-word searches in their target outputs. This search method is similar to simple text search, only it allows users to search for partial-word and number strings. This feature can be enabled in the Performance tab of the Target Editor. See Enabling Partial-Word Search.

For Eclipse Help, partial-search is provided by the Eclipse platform.

How to Perform a Partial-Word Search

In the search field, type part of a word or number string.

For example, type cond.

Note The minimum number of characters that you can set for partial searches is 3. See Enabling Partial-Word Search.
Press ENTER or click Search.

The system reveals a list of ranked topics that include matches for the entered search string.
Double-click a topic in the list to open it.

Note Search highlighting reveals the matches in the topic. In supported output types, you can change the highlighting color for search hits. See Search Highlighting.

Example Search for cond.

As shown below, search retrieves topics containing the string "cond," such as "condition" and "second."

Search for 201.

As shown below, the search retrieves topics containing the number string "201," such as 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 0.201, and 0.0201.