How to perform search operations within the SFDC knowledge base (4045087)

Title: SFDC - How to perform search operations within the SFDC knowledge base
Date: 07/2006

Desription:
SFDC - How to efficiently search in SFDC Solutions


Symptoms:

Using the search field in SFDC Solution does not usually return correct /accurate information.

Solution Search does not perform a phrase search on your keywords, "unless you use quotation marks around your keywords".
Each keyword is treated separately as part of an OR search.
For example, a search for backup failure may return solutions with just Backup, just Failure, or both Backup and Failure in any order.
In addition, Solution Search can find variants of your search terms, for example, searching for creating finds solutions containing create, creation, or creating.



Use wildcards and special operators to improve your search results:

Wildcards

In sidebar Search, Advanced Search, and Solution Search, you can use wildcards to help you find the information you need.



Wildcard Description

* (asterisk) Use an asterisk to match one or more characters at the middle or end of your search term. Do not use the asterisk at the beginning of a search term.

For example, a search for john* finds items that start with variations on the term john, such as, johnson or johnny. A search for mi* meyers finds items with mike meyers or michael meyers.



? (question mark) Use a question mark to match one character at the middle or end of your search term. Do not use the question mark wildcard at the beginning of a search term.

For example, a search for jo?n finds items with the term john or joan.





Note

Remember that punctuation is indexed, so to find * or ? in a term, you must enclose your search string in quotation marks.
For example, "ask Jeeves?" finds the term ask Jeeves?.

Special Operators
You can use special operators to improve your results. The AND, OR, and AND NOT operators are available in Advanced Search only.


Operator Description

AND Finds items that match all of the search terms. For example, acme AND california finds items with both the word acme and the word california.

In Advanced Search, using AND is optional, as searching for acme california is the same as searching for acme AND california.



OR Finds items with at least one of the search terms. For example, acme OR california finds items with either acme or california or both words.

AND NOT Finds items that do not contain the search term. For example, acme AND NOT california finds items that have the word acme but not the word california.

" " (quotation marks) Use quotation marks around search terms to find an exact phrase match in Advanced Search or Solution Search. This can be especially useful when searching for text with punctuation. For example, "acme.com" finds items that contain the exact text acme.com. A search for "monday meeting" finds items that contain the exact phrase monday meeting.