Search Tips
To perform a simple search, type one or more terms in the search box and click the Search button (). The IBM search function returns a list of Web pages that contains your terms. During this process, search finds singular and plural forms of many words and corrects minor misspellings.The search function is not case sensitive.
The most relevant pages display at the top of your results list. Items with a key icon () next to them indicate that your registration is required to view that Web page. After you click the link, you are either prompted for your registration ID and password or you are given the opportunity to register.
Performing an effective search
Take the following actions to make your search more effective:
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Be specific. Try using terms that are unique or try adding descriptive terms. For example, a search for DB2 might return too many results. If you are really looking for DB2 UDB, enter
db2 udb or
db2 udb linux.
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Try using synonyms. If you get too few results or do not find what you are looking for, try synonyms for your original terms. For example, instead of searching for
java classes, try
java training.
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Check your spelling. A single misspelled or mistyped term can change your results.
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Learn from your results. Your search might not return exactly what you are looking for, but scanning the results can help you see the words that were found and give you ideas for other searches.
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Improving your search terms
Most of the time, a simple search finds relevant results. The following search operators help you to refine your search.
Exact phrase searches
Add double quotation marks (" ") around specific phrases to focus your search on the exact phrase. A phrase search can greatly reduce the number of results. For example, enter:
"lotus notes support"
The results contain pages that have the exact phrase lotus notes support in them.
Adding double quotation marks around your search words also prevents spelling corrections.
Excluding terms
Include a minus sign (-) at the beginning of a term to exclude all the pages with that term. Do not leave any space between the minus sign and the term, but leave a space between search terms. For example, enter:
bladecenter accessories -monitor
The results contain pages with bladecenter and accessories but not the word monitor.
Exact terms
The IBM search function automatically searches for synonyms of many terms. Include a plus sign (+) at the beginning of a term to require that the results match the term precisely. Do not leave any space between the plus sign and the term, but leave a space between search terms. For example, if you want to search for java classes and not java training, enter:
java +classes
The results contain pages with java and classes, and synonyms for classes are not used.
Expanding your search with the OR operator
Use the OR operator between terms to indicate that you want the results to contain either one of several terms. You must type OR in capital letters. For example, enter:
bladecenter h OR t
The results contain pages that have bladecenter h or bladecenter t.
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Using filters
Search filters allow you to refine your results by country and language.
Country
Select a country from the list to limit your results to Web pages from that country. To search across all of IBM, select Worldwide.
Language
Select a language from the list to limit your results to Web pages written in that language. To search in any language, select All languages.
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