Using advanced search features for kb.vmware.com
Article ID: 328937
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Search Prefixes and Operators
You can use search prefixes and operators to refine a search by specifying more precisely what terms (words, numbers, expressions...) you are looking for. The VMware Search Platform recognizes Boolean, date, and relational operators as well as exact match and phrase match queries.The following sections describe the syntax of prefixes and operators that you can use when you compose a search query:
- Exact Match Operators
- Boolean Operators
- Date/Time Operators
- Mathematical Operators
- Email Operators
- Wildcard Operators
- Miscellaneous Operators
Exact Match Operators
The following exact match operators act on string content.+ (plus sign)
The document must contain the exact term preceded by the + prefix, ignoring terms of the same family that are normally searched because of stemming query expansion. The match is not case-sensitive.
For example: +develop
Finds documents containing develop and not those only containing terms of the same family such as development, developer, or developed.
The + prefix also forces the exact match for terms containing accented characters. This feature is useful with languages using accents such as French, Spanish, or Swedish.
For example: +déjà
Finds documents containing déjà, not those only containing accented character variants such as deja.
Note: You cannot use wildcard characters in combination with an exact match prefix.
# (number sign)
For example: +develop
Finds documents containing develop and not those only containing terms of the same family such as development, developer, or developed.
The + prefix also forces the exact match for terms containing accented characters. This feature is useful with languages using accents such as French, Spanish, or Swedish.
For example: +déjà
Finds documents containing déjà, not those only containing accented character variants such as deja.
Note: You cannot use wildcard characters in combination with an exact match prefix.
The deprecated # prefix produces the same behavior as the + prefix.
For example: #search
Finds documents containing search and not those containing terms of the same family such as searched, searches, or searching.
For example: #search
Finds documents containing search and not those containing terms of the same family such as searched, searches, or searching.
" " (double quotation marks)
The document must contain the exact phrase or term sequence comprised between the double quotation marks. The terms must be contiguous and in the exact order. The match is however not case-sensitive.
For example: "To be or not to be"
Finds documents containing this exact phrase.
Tip: Do not use double quotation marks for a single term. Rather use the + prefix.
For example: "To be or not to be"
Finds documents containing this exact phrase.
Tip: Do not use double quotation marks for a single term. Rather use the + prefix.
. : / \ _ - ' (contiguity characters)
The document must contain the exact term sequence, with terms only separated by contiguity characters. The match is however not case-sensitive.
For example the following queries:
VMware.Enterprise.Search
VMware-Enterprise/Search
VMware\Enterprise:Search
These will find documents containing the term sequence and are equivalent to:
"VMware Enterprise Search"
For example the following queries:
VMware.Enterprise.Search
VMware-Enterprise/Search
VMware\Enterprise:Search
These will find documents containing the term sequence and are equivalent to:
"VMware Enterprise Search"
Boolean Operators
The following Boolean operators act on string content.AND
The document must contain all terms (words, numbers, etc.) joined by AND. The term order is not important.
Note: By default, the AND operator is assumed between multiple terms.
For example VMware AND Search AND Help finds documents containing all three terms and is equivalent to: VMware Search Help
OR
Note: By default, the AND operator is assumed between multiple terms.
For example VMware AND Search AND Help finds documents containing all three terms and is equivalent to: VMware Search Help
The document must contain at least one of the terms (words, numbers, etc.) joined by OR.
For example VMware OR Search finds documents containing VMware or Search, or both.
Tip: You can also use comma separated terms between parentheses to achieve the same results.
NOT
For example VMware OR Search finds documents containing VMware or Search, or both.
Tip: You can also use comma separated terms between parentheses to achieve the same results.
The document must not contain the term (words, numbers, etc.) preceded by NOT.
The - prefix has the same effect.
NEAR
The - prefix has the same effect.
The document must contain the two terms (words, numbers, etc.) joined by the NEAR operator, by default no more than ten terms away from each other in a document (from 1 to 10 terms apart). This operator is useful to eliminate documents containing scattered occurrences of two queried terms when you rather search for documents containing the two terms close to each other.
You can also specify the maximum number of terms between two terms using the NEAR:n operator format.
For example: VMware NEAR:10 Search
Finds documents containing VMware and Search no more than ten terms apart.
You can also specify the maximum number of terms between two terms using the NEAR:n operator format.
For example: VMware NEAR:10 Search
Finds documents containing VMware and Search no more than ten terms apart.
Priority of Boolean Operators
When you use more than one Boolean operator in a query without parenthesis, the query is interpreted with the following Boolean operator priority:
NOT [AND] OR
Where [AND] is an implicit AND when no operator is entered between two keywords.
For example: You want to find a specific report for tablets and phones outside the USA. To narrow down the results, you know the document contains the words tablet, phone or smartphone and not the word sales. You type the following query:
tablet AND phone OR smartphone NOT USA
Because of the Boolean operator priority rule, the query is interpreted as:
(tablet AND phone) OR (smartphone(NOT USA))
while you may have intended the search to be:
((tablet AND (phone OR smartphone)) (NOT USA)
Tip: A best practice is to use parenthesis because it is a more explicit method to compose a query with multiple Boolean operators that translate to the expected behavior.
For example: You want to find a specific report for tablets and phones outside the USA. To narrow down the results, you know the document contains the words tablet, phone or smartphone and not the word sales. You type the following query:
tablet AND phone OR smartphone NOT USA
Because of the Boolean operator priority rule, the query is interpreted as:
(tablet AND phone) OR (smartphone(NOT USA))
while you may have intended the search to be:
((tablet AND (phone OR smartphone)) (NOT USA)
Tip: A best practice is to use parenthesis because it is a more explicit method to compose a query with multiple Boolean operators that translate to the expected behavior.
Date/Time Operators
The following date operators act on date and time values. You specify a duration value using the time units suffixes: seconds (s), minutes (m), hours (h), days (d), months (mo) or years (y).now
The document must have been created or modified between now and a required duration value.
For example: @sysdate<=now-12h
Finds documents created or modified at least 12 hours ago.
For example: @sysdate<=now-12h
Finds documents created or modified at least 12 hours ago.
today
The document must have been created or modified today or between today and an optional duration number of days.
For example:
@sysdate=today
Finds documents created or modified today.
@sysdate>=today-30d
Finds documents created or modified within the last month.
For example:
@sysdate=today
Finds documents created or modified today.
@sysdate>=today-30d
Finds documents created or modified within the last month.
yesterday
The document must have been created or modified yesterday or between yesterday and an optional number of days.
For example:
@sysdate=yesterday
Finds documents created or modified yesterday.
@sysdate>yesterday-6d
Finds documents created or modified in the previous seven days.
For example:
@sysdate=yesterday
Finds documents created or modified yesterday.
@sysdate>yesterday-6d
Finds documents created or modified in the previous seven days.
Mathematical Operators
= (includes)The field must contain the terms (words, numbers, etc.) following =. When several terms follow =, they do not need to be found contiguous or in the exact order, in the document.
Applies to string, numeric and date content.
For example: @systitle=VMware
Finds documents containing VMware in their titles.
Applies to string, numeric and date content.
For example: @systitle=VMware
Finds documents containing VMware in their titles.
== (is exactly)
The field must contain the exact terms (words, numbers, etc.) as they appear following ==, in the exact and contiguous order. No other term can be present in the field.
Applies to string, numeric and date content.
For example: @systitle=="VMware Enterprise Search"
Finds documents with this exact title only: VMware Enterprise Search
Applies to string, numeric and date content.
For example: @systitle=="VMware Enterprise Search"
Finds documents with this exact title only: VMware Enterprise Search
<> (excludes)
The field must not contain the terms (words, numbers, etc.) following the <> operator.
Applies to string, numeric and date content.
For example: @systitle<>"Enterprise Search"
Finds documents that do not contain Enterprise Search in their title.
Applies to string, numeric and date content.
For example: @systitle<>"Enterprise Search"
Finds documents that do not contain Enterprise Search in their title.
< (smaller than)
The value contained in the field must be inferior to the value entered after <. For dates, this means older than, or before. A file size is entered in bytes.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example:
@syssize<50
Finds documents of 49 bytes or less.
@sysdate<today
Finds documents created or modified before today.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example:
@syssize<50
Finds documents of 49 bytes or less.
@sysdate<today
Finds documents created or modified before today.
> (greater than)
The value contained in the field must be superior to the value entered after >. For dates, this means more recent than, or after. File size is entered in bytes.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example: @syssize>50
Finds documents of 51 bytes or more.
@sysdate>yesterday
Finds documents created or modified today.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example: @syssize>50
Finds documents of 51 bytes or more.
@sysdate>yesterday
Finds documents created or modified today.
<= (smaller than or equal to)
The value contained in the field must be inferior or equal to the value entered after <=. For dates, this means up to the time of reference. File size is entered in bytes.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example:
@syssize<=50
Finds documents of 50 bytes or less.
@sysdate<=yesterday
Finds documents created or modified before today.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example:
@syssize<=50
Finds documents of 50 bytes or less.
@sysdate<=yesterday
Finds documents created or modified before today.
>= (greater than or equal to)
The value contained in the field must be superior or equal to the value entered after >=. For dates, this means at the time of reference and after. File size is entered in bytes.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example:
@syssize>=50
Finds documents of 50 bytes or more.
@sysdate>=yesterday
Finds documents modified or created yesterday or today.
.. (value range)
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example:
@syssize>=50
Finds documents of 50 bytes or more.
@sysdate>=yesterday
Finds documents modified or created yesterday or today.
The value contained in the field must be in the inclusive range specified by two values separated by two dots (double points or periods). File size is entered in bytes.
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example: @syssize=1024..2048
Finds documents of at least 1024 bytes and not more than 2048 bytes in size.
Note: You can specify a list of numeric ranges using the following format: @numericfield=(a..b,c..d,e..f).
For example: If you want to look for documents that were created during January of the year 2014, 2013, and 2012. You can use the following multiple range field query:
@sysdate=(2012/01/01..2012/01/31,2013/01/01..2013/01/31,2014/01/01..2014/01/31)
Applies to numeric and date content.
For example: @syssize=1024..2048
Finds documents of at least 1024 bytes and not more than 2048 bytes in size.
Note: You can specify a list of numeric ranges using the following format: @numericfield=(a..b,c..d,e..f).
For example: If you want to look for documents that were created during January of the year 2014, 2013, and 2012. You can use the following multiple range field query:
@sysdate=(2012/01/01..2012/01/31,2013/01/01..2013/01/31,2014/01/01..2014/01/31)
+ (plus)
The duration value in seconds (s), minutes (m), hours (h), days (d), months (mo) or years (y), is added to the date operator (now, today, or yesterday).
For example: @sysdate<yesterday+1d
Finds documents that were created or modified yesterday or today.
For example: @sysdate<yesterday+1d
Finds documents that were created or modified yesterday or today.
- (minus)
The duration value in seconds (s), minutes (m), hours (h), days (d), months (mo) or years (y), is subtracted from the date operator (now, today, or yesterday).
Applies to date content.
For example: @sysdate=now-1mo
Finds documents that were created or modified during one day exactly one month ago.
Applies to date content.
For example: @sysdate=now-1mo
Finds documents that were created or modified during one day exactly one month ago.
Email Operators
The following email operators act on string content. These prefixes return results only in search interfaces searching email messages.from
The email message must be received from anyone whose name or address contains the specified term.
For example:
from:Liz
Finds emails received from anyone whose name or address contains Liz.
from:"Liz Smith"
Finds emails received from Liz Smith.
For example:
from:Liz
Finds emails received from anyone whose name or address contains Liz.
from:"Liz Smith"
Finds emails received from Liz Smith.
to
The email message must be sent to anyone whose name or address contains the specified term.
For example:
to:Liz
Finds emails sent to anyone whose name or address contains Liz.
to:"Liz Smith"
Finds emails sent to Liz Smith.
For example:
to:Liz
Finds emails sent to anyone whose name or address contains Liz.
to:"Liz Smith"
Finds emails sent to Liz Smith.
Wildcard Operators
The following wildcard operators act on string content.Notes:
- You cannot use wildcard characters in combination with an exact match prefix.
- By default, you must include at least two leading characters before the wildcard operator.
The document must contain the keyword completed by any number of any characters at the place of the * character.
For example: micro*
Finds documents containing words starting with micro such as Microsoft, microprocessor, or microphone.
For example: micro*
Finds documents containing words starting with micro such as Microsoft, microprocessor, or microphone.
? (question mark)
The document must contain the keyword completed by any character at the place of the ? character.
For example: gr?y
Finds documents containing words such as grey and gray.
For example: gr?y
Finds documents containing words such as grey and gray.
Miscellaneous Operators
- (minus, hyphen, or dash character)The document must not contain the exact term preceded by the - prefix and a space. The exclude - prefix is equivalent as using NOT before a term.
Applies to string content.
For example: report -technical
Finds documents that contain report but do not contain technical.
Applies to string content.
For example: report -technical
Finds documents that contain report but do not contain technical.
@field=( , ) (parentheses and comma with field queries)
The field must contain at least one of the values isolated by parentheses and separated by commas.
This is equivalent to using the OR operator between terms.
Applies to string and date content.
This is equivalent to using the OR operator between terms.
Applies to string and date content.
Examples:
- @syslanguage=(english, french, spanish)
Is the same as:
@syslanguage=english OR @syslanguage=french OR @syslanguage=spanish
- @title=("one exact phrase","another exacter phrase")
Is the same as:
@title="one exact phrase" OR @title="another exacter phrase"
( ) (parentheses grouping with operators)
The document must contain the keywords and respect the filter built using parentheses to group keywords with operators. Parenthesis are useful to ensure the desired results when using multiple Boolean operators in a query.
Applies to string content.
For example: Liz (project NEAR:5 presentation)
Finds documents containing the three keywords but where the keywords project and presentation are no more than five terms apart.
Applies to string content.
For example: Liz (project NEAR:5 presentation)
Finds documents containing the three keywords but where the keywords project and presentation are no more than five terms apart.
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