| Advanced search | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Search features. |  |
| Advanced search | ||
|---|---|---|
| | Search features. | |
The advanced search allows the execution of more fine-grained searches. The Advanced Search box is divided into two sections. The first one, called Query Builder, is intended to while being powerful, also be straightforwardly understandable. The expression box enables advanced users to write more complex search expressions.
The Query Builder provides the feature of writing more specific queries without the need of writing complex boolean expressions. Here you can write a maximum of 9 conditions by filling the 9 boxes on the top of the screen. Then these conditions will be grouped three by three, and assigned a field where to search and an operator to the conditions with the previous condition. An empty field will not generate any condition. The fields and group operators can be selected from drop down boxes. Internally, a group will use the OR operator. The best way of seeing the effects of the fields usage is to fill them and see the product expression in the expression entry box.
Other available search options are:
Sort By: Which field is going to be used for the sorting of the results, ascending or descending.
Max Results: The maximum number of results to return, and where to start, if we don't want to start in the beginning.
Please note that these two setting persist during the user session once they are set, and apply to the Simple Search also.
The icons on the right of the Sort By box have a similar meaning than in the Simple Search case:
The will execute the search with the values of the Query Builder.
The will open the help, where you are now.
The will take you to the Simple Search.
The will clean all the fields and take the drop down boxes to their default values.
For those cases where we want more than 9 conditions,
different conditions than those provided by default, or different
fields to be used, a query expression may be written by hand in the
Query Expression box. Any combination of the and,
or and not operators is
available for subexpressions, with the standard rules of precedence
applying. Brackets may be used to alter the precedence rules.
However, the only operator available in terminal expressions is
field = value, being a value a string without
spaces or any string in double quotes. The full list of fields
available for usage is this:
id name title description body creation_date reference_date modification_date channel keywords isComment
Examples of valid search expressions:
( title = "web" ) and not ( body = "session" ) and not reference_date="2003-05-30"
| |  | |
| Simple search |  | Using Mozilla's Sidebar |
