Searching in Spotfire


There are many places in Spotfire where you can search for different items.  For example, you can search for filters, analyses in the library or elements used to build information links in the Information Designer. All of the available search fields use the same basic search syntax, which is presented below. For more information regarding search of a specific item, see the links at the bottom of this page.

Basic Rules

Keyword

Example

Function

*

*ple

*ple*

Finds items with a word ending in ple.

Finds items where a word contains ple.

Quotation marks

"A Green Apple"

Finds items where the exact phrase A Green Apple is included.

(To find items starting with an exact phrase, you can add an asterisk inside the quote: "A Green Apple*".)

Double quotation marks

"9"" nails"

Finds items where the exact phrase 9" nails is included. Add a second double quote to escape a literal quote.

AND

Apple AND Fruit

Finds items with a word that starts with Apple and another word that starts with Fruit.

OR

Apple OR Banana

Finds items that include a word that starts with Apple or Banana.

NOT

Ban NOT *ana

Finds items that have a word that starts with Ban but does not end with ana. For example, Bangles and Banned would be found, but Banana would not.

( )

Apple and (Banana or Pear)

Used to group items in Boolean searches. See below for more information about searching for text within parentheses.

Quoted keywords

"and"    "or"    "not"

Finds strings that are protected keywords. Just typing and in the search field will not find anything since the word and is a protected keyword. If you need to search for the word "and", you must use quotation marks around it.

:

DataType:Integer

[Only applicable when searching for columns.]

The colon is used to search for attributes. In this example it finds columns where the column property DataType has a word that starts with Integer.

Almost any property can be used in the search, including custom properties. See Column Properties Descriptions for information about the available default column properties.

::

Name::Apple

 

 

 

 

 

DataType::Date

[Only applicable when searching for columns.]

Finds columns where the exact value of the property Name is Apple. In this example, a column named only Apple would match, but a column named Apple from Spain would not.

If you want to search for the Date data type, and not get any hits on DateTime columns, use :: instead of a single colon.

:<

DistinctValueCount:<10

[Only applicable when searching for columns.]

Finds columns with less than or equal to 10 unique values.

:>

DistinctValueCount:>10

[Only applicable when searching for columns.]

Finds columns with more than or equal to 10 unique values.

Null, Empty or not existing column property.

Tag:null  or  DistinctValueCount:null

 

 

 

Keywords:null

[Only applicable when searching for columns.]

Finds all columns with no Tags or if the column property DistinctValueCount does not exist.

 

Finds all columns with no keywords.

Logical precedence

Search expressions are evaluated from left to right for logical operators with the same precedence. For example, the search expression:

Apple Banana or Pear

will be evaluated as  

(("Apple") AND (("Banana") OR ("Pear")))

Tip: If you cannot find what you are looking for, try adding more wildcards. For example, to locate a filter called "Sales ($)" , enter the search expression "Sales ($*", to avoid interpreting the text within the parenthesis as a Boolean expression. Adding quotation marks around the search string can also help in finding strings that include non-alphanumerical characters, in some situations.

See also:

Find

Searching the Library

Searching for Filters

Text Filter

List Box Filter

Searching for elements in Information Designer