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Monday, September 06, 2010
 
Bill Text Search Help

Search Tips...

Doing a site search is easy.  Simply type one or more search terms into the search box and hit the 'Enter' key or click the 'Go' button. 

 

Now, choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the information you need.  Start with the obvious - if you're looking for general information on Education, try Education.

Keep in mind that a site search should return around 90% of items on the site, because of limitations of select file types and dated information some items will not be included in the search. 

As an example, there are two different types of PDF files, searchable and non-searchable, the searchable PDF’s will be indexed completely by the search engine, but the non-searchable PDF’s will only be indexed via the document's title.

Keywords Phrases and Wild-cards

To locate words, just type them in as you would in a word processor. Letter cases will be ignored.

The wild-card character * (asterisk) may be used to match just the prefix of a word or to ignore the middle of something.

To locate a number of adjacent words in a specific order, surround them with " (double quotation) characters. Putting a - (hyphen) between words will also force order and one word proximity.

Query

Locates

john

john, John

"john public"

John Public

web-browser

Web browser, web-browser

John*Public

John Q. Public, John Public

456*a*def

1-456-789-ABCDEF

activate

activate, activation, activated, ... *

Capitalization

Searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for george washington, George Washington, and gEoRgE wAsHiNgToN will all return the same results

Using the Special Pattern Matchers

These pattern matchers are used to locate hard-to-find items within text: 

Query Matcher Finds
ronald %regan Approx Ronald Raygun, Ronald Re-an, Ronald 8eagan
%75MYPARTNO9045d/6a Approx Anything within 75% of looking like MYPARTNO9045d/6a
/19[789][0-9] RegEXpr 1970-1999
/[1-9]{3}\-=[0-9]{4} RegEXpr Phone numbers: 555-1212, 820-2200
#87 Numeric four score and seven, 87
#>0<1 Numeric Fractions like 9/16, 55%, 0.123, 15 nanoseconds

 

Natural Language Query

You may enter a query in the form of a sentence or question. The software will automatically identify the important words and phrases within your query and remove the "noise words''.

Example:  What is the state of the art in text retrieval?
 
The software will search for:   state of the art AND text AND retrieval

Applying Search Logic

Texis and Metamorph use set logic for text queries. Set logic is easier to use and provides more abilities than boolean. The examples below make reference to single keywords, but keep in mind that each keyword can represent an entire list of things or any of the special pattern matchers.

Sets (or lists) of things are specified by placing the elements within parenthesis, separated by commas. Example: (bob,joe,sam,sue) . In the examples below, you could replace any of the keywords with a list like this.

The default behavior of the search is to locate an intersection (or 'AND') of every element within a query. This means that the query: "microsoft bob interface" is the equivalent to the boolean query: "microsoft AND bob AND interface" .

- (without)
The - (minus) is the most commonly used logic symbol. It means the answer should EXCLUDE references to that item.
+ (mandatory)
The + (plus) symbol in front of a search item means that the answer MUST INCLUDE that item. This is generally used in conjunction with the permutation operation.
@N (permute)
The @ followed by a number indicates how many intersections to locate of the terms in your query. This may be confusing at first, but it is very powerful.
Query Finds
bob sam joe Bob with Sam and Joe
bob sam -joe Bob with Sam without Joe
bob sam joe @1 Bob with Sam, or Bob with Joe, or Joe with Sam
A B C D @1 AB or AC or AD or BC or BD or CD
+A B C D @1 ABC or ABD or ACD
A B C -D @1 ( AB or AC or BC ) without D

The plus(+) and minus(-) operators must be attached to the term to which they apply. There must be a space between the operator and any preceding term.

Correct Incorrect
bob +sam -joe bob + sam - joe
bob+sam-joe

Disclaimer: The information on this system is unverified. The published and printed versions of the respective chambers should be consulted for official purposes. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
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