Important: This topic is for the Classic Search experience. To view the content for the Next Generation Search experience see Search.
For information on Classic experiences, see Archer Classic Experiences.
When running a keyword search, you can search for records that contain specific terms or phrases, or by keywords in files that are attached to records through an attachment field. For example, a Microsoft Word document that contains the term "password" is attached to a record. You can search for "password," and that record will be included within the search results.
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Search limitations
You cannot search on terms that contain decimal points, for example, 10.5. In this case, Archer translates the decimal point as "AND" and returns records that contain both the number 10 and the number 5.
You cannot do a keyword search on dates, for example, 12/01/2022.
SaaS Only: The total search results are limited to 100K. The user will see up to 1,000 records (10 results per page with 100 pages).
Searchable file types
Document file types:
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- HTML
- Text
- CSV
Attachment and image file types:
- HTM
- JPG
- JPEG
- GIF
- PNG
- BMP
Keyword search operators
|
Search Type |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Single Term |
Example: Using the term Document Returns all records that contain the term "Document." |
|
Phrase |
Example: Using the phrase Important document Returns all records that contain the phrase “important document.” Enclose your phrase in quotation marks. If you do not, your search returns all records that contain the term “important” or the term “document.” |
|
Wildcard Search |
Example: a?ert Returns all records that contain the terms “alert,” “avert,” and so on. The question mark (?) is a single-character wildcard, meaning that it can represent any letter of the alphabet within your search term. The question mark cannot be the first character in the search term, but can replace any other character in the term, including being placed after the term, for example, alert?. |
|
*Operator |
Example: document* Returns all records that contain the terms “document,” “documentation,” “documenting” and so on. The asterisk (*) is a multi-character wildcard, meaning that it can represent any suffix for your search term. The asterisk cannot be the first character in the search term, but can replace any other character in the term, including being placed after the term, for example, alert*. |
|
Fuzzy Search |
Example: receive~ Returns all records that contain the term “receive” and any other term that is similar in spelling. Fuzzy searching enables you to search for keywords that may be misspelled within records. For example, if you search for "receive~", the search returns records that contain "receive," "reseive" and so on. Place the tilde (~) directly after the term with no space between the term and the tilde. |
|
Proximity Search |
Example: important document~5 Returns all records that contain the terms “important” and “document” within 5 words of each other. You can use any number for the required proximity. Enclose your phrase in quotation marks with no space between the closing quotation mark, the tilde (~) and the number. |
|
AND Operator |
Example: important AND document Returns all records that contain both the term “important” and the term "document.” Capitalize the AND operator. You can use the && symbol in place of the AND operator, for example, important && document. |
|
OR Operator |
Example: important OR document Returns all records that contain either or both terms “important” and "document.” Capitalize the OR operator. You can use the || symbol in place of the OR operator, for example, important || document. |
|
NOT Operator |
Example: important NOT document Returns all records that contain the term “important,” but do not contain the term “document.” Capitalize the NOT operator. You can use an exclamation point (!) in place of the NOT operator, for example, important ! document. |
|
+ Operator |
Example: +important document Returns all records that contain the term “important.” The records also may contain the term “document,” but they do not have to. Place the plus sign (+) before the required term or phrase with no space between the plus sign and the term that follows it. |
|
- Operator |
Example: document-"important document" Returns all records that contain the term “document,” but do not contain the phrase “important document.” Place the minus sign (-) before the prohibited term or phrase with no space between the minus sign and the term that follows it. |
|
Grouping |
Example: (important OR urgent) AND document Returns all records that contain the term “document” and either or both of the terms “important” and “urgent.” Note the use of parentheses in this example. Without the parentheses, the search returns all records that contain both the terms “urgent” and “document,” but it does not return records that contain both the terms “important” and “document.” |
|
Escaping Special Characters |
Example: "11:02" Returns all records that contain "11:02.” The colon (:) in this search term is a special character, and unless the search term is surrounded in quotes, it does not return any search results because of this special character. The following are the special characters that affect your search results if they are not properly escaped: + - && || ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ * ? : \ If your search string contains any of these special characters, enclose your term or terms in quotation marks (for example, "warning!") to achieve the search results. If your search string contains any of these special characters, do the following to achieve the search results:
|
Keyword search operators examples
The following search string examples show how you can combine several query types to produce complex keyword searches.
Example: Records based on keywords using proximity search
("method starting"~10) AND token
Results: Returns records that contain the terms "method" and "starting" within 10 words of each other and also contain the term "token."
Example: Records based on AND and NOT operators
"buffer overflow" AND NOT (remote OR local)
Results: Returns records that contain the exact phrase "buffer overflow" only if the records do not contain either the terms "remote" or "local."
Example : Records based on the OR and * operators
(document AND urgent) OR alert*
Results: Returns records that contain the terms "document" and "urgent" or contain the terms "alert", "alerts", "alerting", and so on.
