Search Options: Keywords and Phrases

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.

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.

Searchable File Types

Document file types:

  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Excel
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Text
  • CSV

Attachment and image file types:

  • HTM
  • JPG
  • JPEG
  • GIF
  • PNG
  • BMP

Keyword Search Operators

The following table describes the types of 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 five 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.

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.