Query
Language
You can search for any word or phrase on a Web site by typing
the word or phrase into a query form and clicking the button to
execute the query (for example, the Execute Query button on the
sample query form). This section covers the following topics:
Searches produce a list of files that contain the word or phrase
no matter where they appear in the text. This list gives the rules
for formulating queries:
- Consecutive words are treated as a phrase; they must appear
in the same order within a matching document.
- Queries are case-insensitive, so you can type your query in
uppercase or lowercase.
- You can search for any word except for those in the exception
list (for English, this includes a, an, and, as,
and other common words), which are ignored during a search.
- Words in the exception list are treated as placeholders in
phrase and proximity queries. For example, if you searched for "Word
for Windows", the results could give you "Word for
Windows" and "Word and Windows", because for is
a noise word and appears in the exception list.
- Punctuation marks such as the period (.), colon (:), semicolon
(;), and comma (,) are ignored during a search.
- To use specially treated characters such as &, |, ^, #,
@, $, (, ), in a query, enclose your query in quotation marks
(").
- To search for a word or phrase containing quotation marks,
enclose the entire phrase in quotation marks and then double
the quotation marks around the word or words you want to surround
with quotes. For example, "World-Wide Web or ""Web"" " searches
for World-Wide Web or "Web".
- You can insert Boolean operators (AND, OR,
and NOT) and the proximity operator (NEAR) to specify
additional search information.
- The wildcard character (*) can match words with a given prefix.
The query esc* matches the terms "ESC," "escape," and
so on.
- Free-text queries can be specified without regard
to query syntax.
- Vector space queries can be specified.
- ActiveX™ (OLE) and file attribute property value queries can be issued.
Boolean and Proximity
Operators
Boolean and proximity operators can create a more precise query.
To
Search For |
Example |
Results |
Both terms in the same page |
access and basic
-Or-
access & basic |
Pages with both the words "access" and "basic" |
Either term in a page |
cgi or isapi
-Or-
cgi | isapi |
Pages with the words "cgi" or "isapi" |
The first term without the second term |
access and not basic
-Or-
access & ! basic |
Pages with the word "access" but not "basic" |
Pages not matching a property value |
not @size = 100
-Or-
! @size = 100 |
Pages that are not 100 bytes |
Both terms in the same page, close together |
excel near project
-Or-
excel ~ project |
Pages with the word "excel" near the
word "project" |
Hints:
- You can add parentheses to nest expressions within a query.
The expressions in parentheses are evaluated before the rest
of the query.
- Use double quotes (") to indicate that a Boolean or NEAR operator
keyword should be ignored in your query. For example, "Abbott
and Costello" will match pages with the phrase, not pages
that match the Boolean expression. In addition to being an operator,
the word and is a noise word in English.
- The NEAR operator is similar to the AND operator
in that NEAR returns a match if both words being
searched for are in the same page. However, the NEAR operator
differs from AND because the rank assigned by NEAR depends
on the proximity of words. That is, the rank of a page with the
searched-for words closer together is greater than or equal to
the rank of a page where the words are farther apart. If the
searched-for words are more than 50 words apart, they are not
considered near enough, and the page is assigned a rank of zero.
- The NOT operator can be used only after an AND operator
in content queries; it can be used only to exclude pages that
match a previous content restriction. For property value queries,
the NOT operator can be used apart from the AND operator.
- The AND operator has a higher precedence than OR.
For example, the first three queries are equal, but the fourth
is not:a AND b OR c
c OR a AND b
c OR (a AND b)
(c OR a) AND b
Note The symbols (&, |,
!, ~) and the English keywords AND, OR, NOT,
and NEAR work the same way in all languages supported
by Index Server. Localized keywords are also available when the
browser locale is set to one of the following six languages:
Language |
Keywords |
German |
UND, ODER, NICHT, NAH |
French |
ET, OU, SANS, PRES |
Spanish |
Y, O, NO, CERCA |
Dutch |
EN, OF, NIET, NABIJ |
Swedish |
OCH, ELLER, INTE, NÄRA |
Italian |
E, O, NO, VICINO |
Note The NEAR operator can be
applied only to words or phrases.
Wildcards
Wildcard operators help you find pages containing words similar
to a given word.
To
Search For |
Example |
Results |
Words with the same prefix |
comput* |
Pages with words that have the prefix "comput," such
as "computer," "computing," and so on |
Words based on the same stem word |
fly** |
Pages with words based on the same stem as "fly," such
as "flying," "flown," "flew," and
so on |
Free-Text Queries
The query engine finds pages that best match the words and phrases
in a free-text query. This is done by automatically finding pages
that match the meaning, not the exact wording, of the query. Boolean,
proximity, and wildcard operators are ignored within a free-text
query. Free-text queries are prefixed with $contents.
To
Search For |
Example |
Results |
Files that match free-text |
$contents how do I print in Microsoft
Excel? |
Pages that mention printing and Microsoft Excel. |
Vector Space Queries
The query engine supports vector space queries. Vector queries
return pages that match a list of words and phrases. The rank of
each page indicates how well the page matched the query.
To
Search For |
Example |
Results |
Pages that contain specific words |
light, bulb |
Files with words that best match the words being
searched for |
Pages that contain weighted prefixes, words,
and phrases |
invent*, light[50], bulb[10], "light bulb"[400] |
Files that contain words prefixed by "invent," the
words "light," "bulb," and the phrase "light
bulb" (the terms are weighted) |
- Components in vector queries are separated by commas.
- Components in vector queries can be weighted by using the [weight]
syntax.
- Pages returned by vector queries do not necessarily match every
term in the query.
- Vector queries work best when the results are sorted by rank.
Property Value
Queries
With property value queries, you can find files that have property
values that match a given criteria. The properties over which you
can query include basic file information like file name and file
size, and ActiveX properties including the document summary (information)
that is stored in files created by ActiveX-aware applications.
There are two types of property queries:
- Relational property queries consist
of an "at" character (@), a property name, a relational operator, and a property value. For example, to find all of the
files larger than one million bytes, issue the query @size > 1000000.
- Regular expression property queries consist of a number
sign (#), a property name, and a regular expression for the property value. For
example, to find to find all of the video (.avi) files, issue
the query #filename *.avi. Regular expressions will never match
the special properties contents (#contents) and all (#all). Properties
that are not retrievable at query time cannot be used in # queries.
these include HTML META properties not stored in the property
cache.
This section covers the following topics:
Property Names
Property names are preceded by either the "at" (@) or
number sign (#) character. Use @ for relational queries, and #
for regular expression queries.
If no property name is specified, @contents is assumed.
Properties available for all files include:
Property
Name |
Description |
All |
Matches words, phrases, and any property |
Contents |
Words and phrases in the file |
Filename |
Name of the file |
Size |
File size |
Write |
Last time the file was modified |
ActiveX property values can also be used in queries. Web sites
with files created by most ActiveX-aware applications can be queried
for these properties:
Property
Name |
Description |
DocTitle |
Title of the document |
DocSubject |
Subject of the document |
DocAuthor |
The document’s author |
DocKeywords |
Keywords for the document |
DocComments |
Comments about the document |
For a complete list of property names, see the List of Property Names later on this page.
Relational Operators
Relational operators are used in relational property queries.
To
Search For |
Example |
Results |
Property values in relation to a fixed value |
@size < 100
@size <= 100
@size = 100
@size != 100
@size >= 100
@size > 100 |
Files whose size matches the query |
Property values with all of a set of bits on |
@attrib ^a 0x820 |
Compressed files with the archive bit on |
Property values with some of a set of bits on |
@attrib ^s 0x20 |
Files with the archive bit on |
Property Values
To
Search For |
Example |
Results |
A specific value |
@DocAuthor = Bill Barnes |
Files authored by "Bill Barnes" |
Values beginning with a prefix |
#DocAuthor George* |
Files whose author property begins with "George" |
Files with any of a set of extensions |
#filename *.|(exe|,dll|,sys|) |
Files with .exe, .dll, or .sys extensions |
Files modified after a certain date |
@write > 96/2/14 10:00:00 |
Files modified after February 14, 1996 at 10:00
GMT |
Files modified after a relative date |
@write > -1d2h |
Files modified in the last 26 hours |
Vectors matching a vector |
@vectorprop = { 10, 15, 20 } |
ActiveX documents with a vectorprop value of
{ 10, 15, 20 } |
Vectors where each value matches a criteria |
@vectorprop >^a 15 |
ActiveX documents with a vectorprop value in
which all values in the vector are greater than 15 |
Vectors where at least one value matches a criteria |
@vectorprop =^s 15 |
ActiveX documents with a vectorprop value in
which at least one value is 15 |
- Be sure to use the pound (#) character before the property
name when using a regular expression in a property value, and
an "at" (@) character otherwise. The equal (=) relational
operator is assumed for regular-expression queries.
- File name (#filename) is the only property that efficiently
supports regular expressions with wildcards to the left of
text.
- Date and time values are of the form yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss or yyyy-mm-dd
hh:mm:ss. The first two characters of the year and the
entire time can be omitted. If you omit the first two characters
of the year, then 29 or less is interpreted as the year 2000,
and 30 or greater is interpreted as the year 1900. All dates
and times are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
- Dates and times relative to the current time can be expressed
with a minus (-) character followed by zero or by more integer
unit and time unit pairs. Time units are expressed as: (y) for
years, (m) for months, (w) for weeks, (d) for days, (h) for hours,
(n) for minutes, and (s) for seconds. A three-digit millisecond
value can be optionally specified after the seconds value in
date expressions. For example, 1997/12/8 10:10:03:452
- Currency values are of the form x.y, where x is
the whole value amount and y is the fractional amount.
There is no assumption about units.
- Boolean values are (t) or (true) for TRUE and
(f) or (false) for FALSE.
- Vectors (VT_VECTOR) are expressed as an opening brace ({),
followed by a comma-separated list of values, then a closing
brace (}).
- Single-value expressions that are compared against vectors
are expressed as a relational operator, then a (^a) for all
of or a (^s) for some of.
- Numeric values can be in decimal or hexadecimal (preceded by
0x).
- The contents property does not support relational
operators. If a relational operator is specified, no results
will be found. For example, @contents Microsoft will find documents
containing Microsoft, but @contents=Microsoft
will find none.
Regular Expressions
Regular expressions in property queries are defined as follows:
- Any character except asterisk (*), period (.), question mark
(?), and vertical bar (|) defaults to matching just itself.
- Regular expressions can be enclosed in matching quotes ("),
and must be enclosed in quotes if they contain a space ( ) or
closing parenthesis ()).
- The characters *, ., and ? behave as they behave in Windows;
they match any number of characters, match (.) or end of string,
and match any one character, respectively.
- The character | is an escape character. After |, the following
characters have special meaning:
( opens a group. Must be followed by a matching ).
) closes a group. Must be preceded by a matching (.
[ opens a character class. Must be followed by a matching
(un-escaped) ].
{ opens a counted match. Must be followed by a matching }.
} closes a counted match. Must be preceded by a matching {.
, separates OR clauses.
* matches zero or more occurrences of the preceding expression.
? matches zero or one occurrences of the preceding expression.
+ matches one or more occurrences of the preceding expression.
Anything else, including |, matches itself.
- Between square brackets ([]) the following characters have
special meaning:
^ matches everything but following classes. Must be the first
character.
] matches ]. May only be preceded by ^, otherwise it closes
the class.
- range operator. Preceded and followed by normal characters.
Anything else matches itself (or begins or ends a range at
itself).
- Between curly braces ({}) the following syntax applies:
|{m|} matches exactly m occurrences of the preceding
expression. (0 < m < 256).
|{m,|} matches at least m occurrences of the preceding
expression. (1 < m < 256).
|{m,n|} matches between m and n occurrences
of the preceding expression, inclusive. (0 < m < 256,
0 < n < 256).
- To match *, ., and ?, enclose them in brackets (for example,
|[*]sample will match "*sample").
Query Examples
Example |
Results |
@size > 1000000 |
Pages larger than one million bytes |
@write > 95/12/23 |
Pages modified after the date |
Apple tree |
Pages with the phrase "apple tree" |
"apple tree" |
Same as above |
@contents apple tree |
Same as above |
Microsoft and @size > 1000000 |
Pages with the word "Microsoft" that
are larger than one million bytes |
"microsoft and @size > 1000000" |
Pages with the phrase specified (not the same
as above) |
#filename *.avi |
Video files (the # prefix is used because the
query contains a regular expression) |
@attrib ^s 32 |
Pages with the archive attribute bit on |
@docauthor = John Smith |
Pages with the given author |
$contents why is the sky blue? |
Pages that match the query |
@size < 100 & #filename *.gif |
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) files less
than 100 bytes in size |
List of Property
Names
These properties are always available for queries. Additional
properties may also be available depending on the configuration
of the Web server.
Friendly
Name |
Datatype |
Property |
A_HRef |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML HREF. This property
name was created for Microsoft® Site Server and corresponds
with the Index Server property name HtmlHRef. Can be
queried but not retrieved. |
Access |
VT_FILETIME |
Last time file was accessed. |
All |
(not applicable) |
Searches every property for a string. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
AllocSize |
DBTYPE_I8 |
Size of disk allocation for file. |
Attrib |
DBTYPE_UI4 |
File attributes. Documented in Win32
SDK. |
ClassId |
DBTYPE_GUID |
Class ID of object, for example,
WordPerfect, Word, and so on. |
Characterization |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Characterization, or abstract, of
document. Computed by Index Server. |
Contents |
(not applicable) |
Main contents of file. Can be
queried but not retrieved. |
Create |
VT_FILETIME |
Time file was created. |
Directory |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Physical path to the file, not including
the file name. |
DocAppName |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Name of application that created
the file. |
DocAuthor |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Author of document. |
DocByteCount |
DBTYPE_14 |
Number of bytes in a document. |
DocCategory |
DBTYPE_STR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Type of document such as a memo, schedule, or whitepaper. |
DocCharCount |
DBTYPE_I4 |
Number of characters in document. |
DocComments |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Comments about document. |
DocCompany |
DBTYPE_STR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Name of the company for which the document was written. |
DocCreatedTm |
VT_FILETIME |
Time document was created. |
DocEditTime |
VT_FILETIME |
Total time spent editing document. |
DocHiddenCount |
DBTYPE_14 |
Number of hidden slides in a Microsoft® PowerPoint document. |
DocKeywords |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Document keywords. |
DocLastAuthor |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Most recent user who edited document. |
DocLastPrinted |
VT_FILETIME |
Time document was last printed. |
DocLastSavedTm |
VT_FILETIME |
Time document was last saved. |
DocLineCount |
DBTYPE_14 |
Number of lines contained in a document. |
DocManager |
DBTYPE_STR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Name of the manager of the document’s author. |
DocNoteCount |
DBTYPE_14 |
Number of pages with notes in a PowerPoint document. |
DocPageCount |
DBTYPE_I4 |
Number of pages in document. |
DocParaCount |
DBTYPE_14 |
Number of paragraphs in a document. |
DocPartTitles |
DBTYPE_STR | DBTYPE_VECTOR |
Names of document parts. For example, in Excel part titles
are the names of spread sheets, in PowerPoint slide titles,
and in Word for Windows the names of the documents in the
master document. |
DocPresentationTarget |
DBTYPE_STR|DBTYPE_BYREF |
Target format (35mm, printer, video, and so on) for a presentation
in PowerPoint. |
DocRevNumber |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Current version number of document. |
DocSlideCount |
DBTYPE_14 |
Number of slides in a PowerPoint document. |
DocSubject |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Subject of document. |
DocTemplate |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Name of template for document. |
DocTitle |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Title of document. |
DocWordCount |
DBTYPE_I4 |
Number of words in document. |
FileIndex |
DBTYPE_I8 |
Unique ID of file. |
FileName |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Name of file. |
HitCount |
DBTYPE_I4 |
Number of hits (words matching query)
in file. |
HtmlHRef |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML HREF. Can be queried
but not retrieved. |
HtmlHeading1 |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML document in style H1. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
HtmlHeading2 |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML document in style H2. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
HtmlHeading3 |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML document in style H3. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
HtmlHeading4 |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML document in style H4. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
HtmlHeading5 |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML document in style H5. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
HtmlHeading6 |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Text of HTML document in style H6. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
Img_Alt |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Alternate text for <IMG> tags. Can
be queried but not retrieved. |
Path |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Full physical path to file, including
file name. |
Rank |
DBTYPE_I4 |
Rank of row. Ranges from 0 to 1000.
Larger numbers indicate better matches. |
RankVector |
DBTYPE_I4 | DBTYPE_VECTOR |
Ranks of individual components of
a vector query. |
ShortFileName |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Short (8.3) file name. |
Size |
DBTYPE_I8 |
Size of file, in bytes. |
USN |
DBTYPE_I8 |
Update Sequence Number. NTFS drives
only. |
VPath |
DBTYPE_WSTR | DBTYPE_BYREF |
Full virtual path to file, including
file name. If more than one possible path, then the best
match for the specific query is chosen. |
WorkId |
DBTYPE_I4 |
Internal ID for file. Used within
Index Server. |
Write |
VT_FILETIME |
Last time file was written. |
Defining
New Property Names
To define properties that are not in the previous list, you must
list them in a [Names] section in the .idq file. To use these properties
in a restriction, sort specification, or as a retrieved column,
you have define them in the .idq file, using the following format:
[Names]
#Properties that are not in the standard list
Propertyname ( Datatype ) = GUID ["Name" | propid]
In the syntax, "Name" is the property name ("Sales" in
the following example), and propid is the property ID
in hexadecimal. Note that you need to surround the friendly name
with quotation marks, but the property ID does not take quotation
marks.
For example, suppose you want to define an HTML meta tag as a
property name that somebody can search for. The property you want
to define is Sales.
To define the Sales property
- In the .idq file, under the [Names] section, add the following
line.
MetaDescription(DBTYPE_WSTR) = d1b5d3f0-c0b3-11cf-9a92-00a0c908dbf1 "Sales"
The GUID number comes from the MetaTagClsid parameter
in the registry, at the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet
\Control
\HtmlFilter
\MetaTagClsid
- Then, in the HTML files where you want the tag to appear, define
the meta description.
For example, say you want to search for all files that give
sales projections for the future:
In File1.htm:
<META NAME="Sales" CONTENT="Projections for 1998">
In File2.htm:
<META NAME="Sales" CONTENT="Projections for 1999">
In File3.htm:
<META NAME="Sales" CONTENT="Sales in 1997">
Note Be sure to add your META
NAME tags between the <head> and </head> HTML tags
at the beginning of the file.
You can now search for all files that show sales projections.
Send the following query:
@metadescription projections
This query returns all the files with the word projections in
the CONTENT field of the meta tag. In this example, File1.htm and
File2.htm are returned.
But suppose you want to search for sales by year, for example
a list of sales in 1997. Send the following query:
@metadescription 1997
File3.htm is returned.
© 1997 by Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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