Search strings and syntax

You direct the search with the text that you enter into the Search field in the Release Overview, Change Activity view, or Project view.

The search looks for the project elements that contain your text. The search can look for words, numbers, or combinations of both. For best results, use uniquely identifiable search strings. The search ignores words that are common to most rules.

Multiple search strings

If you enter more than one string of characters, the search looks for elements that contain all the strings, and the strings individually. For example, if you enter the word loan, the search looks for only those rules that contain the word loan. If you enter loan and duration, the search looks for all the rules that contain both words, and the words individually.

Names

You can search for elements by file name or author. When you search by author, you can use the user name or display name. The user name is the name that is used to sign in to Decision Center, while the display name is the name displayed with messages and elements.

Types of text and syntax

The search lists the results that are based on how closely they match your text. It lists the project elements with all the strings before the projects with individual instances.

You can type a string that consists of letters, numbers, or both into the Search field. You can search for a whole string or just part of a string. You can also use special syntax to prioritize or exclude text, or to search for an exact match.

The following table lists the types of text and search syntax that you can use in search strings.

Table 1. Types of text and search syntax

Text or search syntax	Description
Letters	Individual letters or groups of letters that do not form words. For example, WYSIWYG.
Words	A complete word or words. For example, loan, miniloan, or user name.
Uppercase and lowercase	The search ignores case. You can use uppercase and lowercase letters together. For example, New Loan.
Numbers	One or more numbers. For example, 1, 2 30, or 100.
Alphanumeric combinations	Combinations of letters and numbers. For example, Y2K or Name123.
Prioritizing text with the plus (+) modifier	You can type a plus sign (+) in front of a word to have the search look only for elements with this word. The search treats any other word in the search field as optional. For example, if you type loan +duration, the search lists all the elements that contain the word duration, and any element that contains both loan and duration. It does not list elements that contain loan but do not contain duration.
Excluding text with the minus (-) modifier	You can type a minus sign (-) in front of a word to have the search ignore all the elements that contain the word. When the search finds the word, it does not list the element with the word on the search page. For example, if you type loan -duration, the search lists only the elements with the word loan, and excludes any element that contains both loan and duration.
Exact matching with quotation marks (" ")	By placing quotation marks ("") around a search string, you have the search match the string exactly. For example, a search for "miniloan rule 3" lists elements with only the quoted text.

Ignored words

The search function ignores words that are common to most rules. It looks for only unique strings, and does not look for the words that typically form rules.

The following table shows examples of these words.

Table 2. Ignored words

Ignored words	Examples
Articles	A, an, the
Rule terminology	If, then, else
Prepositions and conjunctions	And, or, of