Search path syntax

A search path uses expressions to specify a path through the content store hierarchy to find objects. The search path is similar to a path in an operating system such as DOS or UNIX^®. The search path is constructed through parent-child relationships from the root object.

When you use an IBM® Cognos® Software Development Kit method that performs an operation on a set of objects in the content store, one of the parameters you must specify is a search path. IBM Cognos can then select the objects you want to perform the operation on.

For example, to select the sample report object named Order Product List Report, use the following path:

/content/package[@name='GO Sales and Retailers']/folder[@name='Documentation Reports']/report[@name='Order Product List Report']

You can make the search path specific to target one particular object, or more generic to widen the search. For example, to select all objects in the Documentation Reports folder, replace the specific information about the report in the previous example with the wildcard character (*), as follows:

/content/package[@name='GO Sales and Retailers']/folder[@name='Documentation Reports']/*

However, the wider the search, the more likely that multiple objects match the search criteria and the longer the search takes.