Searching in WebFOCUS

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WebFOCUS provides built-in search capabilities that make it easy to find content in your folders using a variety of different criteria. Using a simple text bar found on the WebFOCUS Home Page, you can enter a search term to quickly display all content items that match that term. If you want to help narrow down your search results, you can also use the available search options to display all content items that match both that term and the criteria specified, making it easier to find exactly the piece of content that you need.

Understanding Search Options

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How to:

You have access to advanced search options when searching folders, which allows you to identify your content quickly and easily.

On the WebFOCUS Home Page, when you select a folder in the tree, the name of this folder is automatically populated in the Search text box. If you select a different sidebar, the name of the sidebar displays in the Search text box. When you enter a value in this text box, the search is conducted in that folder, or for that sidebar only.

Search Options allow you to be more specific in your search. You can specify search criteria, such as Title or Type. This gives you more control over your search, giving you greater precision in your search results. For example, using these Search Options would allow you to find all procedures that contain information by region in one search, without having the need to go through various folders.

The Search options are available by clicking the highlighted drop-down arrow next to the search text box, as shown in the following image.

The Search options tooltip displays when you hover over the drop-down arrow, as shown in the following image.

Procedure: How to How to Use the Search Options to Perform a Search

  1. Enter text inside the Search text box, as shown in the following image.

    Note: When you type within the search field, an X icon displays next to the Search options drop-down arrow. Click the X to clear the Search text box.

  2. Click the Search options drop-down arrow.
  3. Select search criteria from the Search options menu, as shown in the following image.
  4. Once you have specified search criteria, click outside the Search options area to perform the search.

    Note: If the Search text box is empty, the search will not be performed.

  5. Click the Reset button to reset all search option setting defaults and clear any text entered in the Search text box.

    Defaults are also reset when you sign out and sign back in. Search option settings are stored per session.

Using the Search Setting

Search setting options allow you to find content by searching for your term in various fields. These setting options are single-select and include: Title, Name, Summary, and Tag. The default option is Title, as shown in the following image.

Using the Type Setting

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Type setting options allow you to specify the type of content you want to find. These settings options are multi-select and vary depending on the sidebar view.

Setting the Content View

Type setting options for the Content View sidebar include the following: Any, Procedure, Page, Collaborative Portal, Portal Page, Link, Data Source (Reporting Object, Master File), HTML File, URL, Document (PDF, Word Doc), Spreadsheet (Excel), PowerPoint, Image, Schedule, Access List, Distribution List, Library Report, and Folder. Setting this option to Page will only return content items that were created as a Page.

The default option is Any, as shown in the following image.

Setting the Portals View

Type setting options for the Portals View sidebar include: Any, Collaborative Portal, and Basic Portal.

The default option is Any, as shown in the following image.

Note: Basic portals are searched by Title and Name only. If the title and name options are cleared in the Search settings list, Basic portals will not be returned in the search.

Setting the Favorites View

Type setting options for the Favorites View sidebar include the following: Any, Procedure, Page, Collaborative Portal, Data Source (Reporting Object, Master File), HTML File, URL, and Library Report.

The default option is Any, as shown in the following image.

Using the Matching Behavior Setting

Matching Behavior setting options allow you to specify how to use your search term to find content. These setting options are single-select, and include the following: Contains, Starts with, Ends with, and Exact match. For example, if you set this option to Exact match, only content that exactly matches the search term will be found.

The default option is Contains, as shown in the following image.

Assigning Tags to Content Items

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To refine a search for content within a domain or folder in your repository or in the Ask WebFOCUS view, you can assign tags that appear with your search results. These tags provide additional search criteria that you can use to drill down and identify related content items quickly. You can also assign tags to collaborative portals to ease navigation in the Portals view. Tags are turned off by default. To select a tag, click it. Tags are available in the grid view, and can be displayed as a column in the list view.

When you use tags in the Portals or Ask WebFOCUS views, where searches may bring results from different domains, the domains may be listed in two ways. When all your results come from a single domain, only the blue tags display, and the domain name appears in orange text inside the thumbnail, as shown in the following image.

If content is found in two or more domains, then green domain-specific tags display, allowing the user to filter the content by domain, as shown following image.

Note: Green domain-specific tags only display if two or more domains are present in a search or list. A single domain-specific tag is never displayed. Unlike a single blue content-specific tag, which filters results to that value, a single green tag would not alter the display of search results.

Procedure: How to Assign Tags to Content

  1. In the WebFOCUS Explorer, right-click a content item that you want to assign to a tag, and then click Properties.

    The Properties panel opens.

  2. Click the Advanced tab.
  3. In the Tags field, type the name of your tag, and then click Save.

    To test the tag you assigned to the item, perform a search. The tag and item should appear in the search results. An example of a Product tag is shown in the following image.

    You can assign multiple tags to a single item, by separating them with a comma, as shown in the following image.

Using Shared and Personal Tags

On the WebFOCUS Home Page, you can use tags to categorize your content. This is particularly useful when reviewing lists of content with multiple tags. It also lets you choose which tags to apply to your repository item.

The Shared tag helps you filter just the content that is specific to you. The Personal tag makes it easy for you to filter just your personal My Content.

The Shared and Personal tags are shaded in purple, and display when the folder search is initiated at a domain level or the root node above domains. They are the first two tags that display in your tag list, as shown in the following image.

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