Searching for non-alphanumeric characters

Special rules and restrictions apply when searching for non-alphanumeric characters.

Search terms that contain both wildcard characters and non-alphanumeric characters are not supported.

When DB2® Net Search Extender encounters a non-alphanumeric character in a search term, it separates the search term into multiple search terms:
  • The characters before the non-alphanumeric character
  • The non-alphanumeric character itself
  • The characters after the non-alphanumeric character
Thus, the non-alphanumeric character serves as a break between the characters on either side of it.
Restriction: Do not follow a non-alphanumeric character with an eDiscovery Manager wildcard character. Because the non-alphanumeric character splits the search term into multiple search terms, the wildcard that follows the non-alphanumeric character becomes the first character of a search term. When searching full-text indexed collections, such as email collections, you cannot use a wildcard character as the first or second character of a search term. When searching other types of collections, search terms that start with a wildcard character can take a long time to complete.
Tip: The examples in the following tips illustrate how to avoid searching for a term that includes a non-alphanumeric character, such as Small_Corp.
  • Avoid using a non-alphanumeric character in the search term by using either of the following methods:
    • Search for a smaller portion of the term that does not include the non-alphanumeric character. For example, search for Small or search for Corp.
    • Search by substituting the multiple-character wildcard asterisk (*) for the non-alphanumeric character and all of the characters that follow it. For example, search for Small*.
  • If you must include the non-alphanumeric character in the search term and you know what the character after the non-alphanumeric character is, search for that portion of the term up to and including the character after the non-alphanumeric character. For example, search for Small_C*.