ISearchStep Interface

The ISearchStep interface includes methods to get the axis and predicate for a search expression. The methods are used in exactly the same way as in XPath.

You can support multiple SearchStep interfaces in your provider. In combination, these equate to sub-searches. If you must search a multi-tiered security source, use multiple search steps to locate objects more than one level down in the hierarchy.

IBM® Cognos® Connection does not use more than one step. Authentication providers currently supported by IBM Cognos Analytics do not support more than one step, either. Only some Software Development Kit applications can generate queries containing more than one step, therefore a custom authentication provider is required to support such queries.

The following methods are used by this interface.

getAxis
Returns the location of an object in relation to its parent, child, ancestor, and descendant objects.
getPredicate
Returns a predicate expression used in a search.

Predicates are filters used to further locate an object beyond its axis location. Predicates can be

  • Relational expressions, such as equals sign (=), greater than sign (>), less than sign (<).
  • Function calls such as contains, starts with, and ends with.
  • Conditional expressions
  • Combinations of these expressions

For example, a predicate search for users whose first name is John, and whose email address contains GoSales.