Search Content & Data Area

The Text Input Bar is where most of your search-related activity happens. Here you can enter a search term to quickly display all content and/or data items that match that term. Above the input bar, there are three buttons: All Items, Content, and Data. You can use these buttons to toggle between only content and only data results, as well as the option to see all results in the same search event. An example of the Text Input Bar is shown in the following image.

In addition to searching for a single term, you can refine your search directly within your input bar by using syntax. The table below lists the syntax symbols that you can use and explains how they affect the results of your search.

Using these symbols, you can make your search as precise or as wide as you like. To search for several optional terms, simply type them inside the input bar separated by a blank space. You can even combine several required and several optional search terms in one string. For example:

Input: +sales +category product retail

Result: Items that include sales and category; and, optionally, product and/or retail.

Will not find: Items that only include product or retail or both.

Keep in mind, that you do not need to put and or or into the search syntax to create Boolean operators. Use the above system to specify required and optional terms. If you do put and or or into the syntax, the tool treats these words as additional search terms. For example:

Input: sales and category

Result: Items that contain sales, and, and category, or combinations of the three terms.

Will not find: Exclusively items that include both sales and category.

Once you are happy with your keyword or search query syntax, click Search or simply press Enter on your keyboard. Otherwise, click Clear to remove your query from the Text Input Bar.

It is the best practice to opt for the search filters when searching for items in large or hierarchically complex repositories. By narrowing the search query, you can significantly improve the response time of your search event and make your search results more precise.

You can use the following filters to narrow your search:

• Search by. This filter allows you to select a category by which you run your search. Once you select a category, the keyword in the Text Input Bar becomes a search term in this particular category. The available options are: All categories, Title, Summary, Tags, and File Name. You can multi-select values in this filter. The default value is All categories.
• Type. If you know the type of item you are searching for, such as document, data source, image, portal, etc., you can specify it in this filter to narrow your search results to this file type. You can multi-select values in this filter. The default value is All types.
• Content in. This filter can be used when you want to narrow your search to a workspace. This filter is specific to the WebFOCUS Client and is inactive when the Data button is enabled above the Text Input Bar. You can multi-select values in this filter. The default value is All workspaces.
• Data in. If you know in which reporting server and/or application directory your search target resides, you can use this filter to narrow your query by making selections in two drop-down lists: Reporting Severs and Application Directories. This filter is specific to the WebFOCUS Reporting Server and is inactive when the Content button is enabled above the Text Input Bar. You can multi-select items in this filter. The default values are: All reporting servers and All application directories.

  Note: To learn more about enabling multiple servers, see the TIBCO WebFOCUS Security and Administration technical content.

Once you have made your selections, click Search to see your results display in the Results section. Otherwise, click Clear to bring your search options to their default state.

The Results Toolbar is located above the Results section. Similar to the Page Toolbar in the Workspaces area, the Results Toolbar allows you to customize how you view the items that currently display in the Results section. An example of the Results Toolbar is shown in the following image.

The Results Toolbar features the following elements and controls:

• Search Results count. Indicates the total number of search results after the search query is run.
• Sort by. Provides a drop-down list of sorting options that you can use to quickly locate an item in the results section. The options include: User-Defined Sort, Title, Name, Summary, Type, Path, Created On, Last Modified, Owner, Size, and Tags. The default value is User-Defined Sort, which is derived from the Sort Order property configurations of the displayed items. This list is only available in the tile view.
• Sort items in ascending or descending order. Alternates between ascending and descending orders for the selected sort option. This button is only available in the tile view.
• View as tiles. Displays your search results in the tile view.
• View as list. Displays your search results in the list view.
• Select Display Columns. Allows you to specify which columns display in the Results section. This button is only active in the list view.

The Results section displays the items that match your search query. An example of the Results section is shown in the following image.

You can right-click any item to access its shortcut menu options. The following shortcut menu options are available in the Results section.

Run

Runs the item in the new browser window. This option is only available for the types of items that can be run.

Edit

Edits an item with the tool that was used to create it. This option is only available for the types of items that can be edited.

Edit with text editor

Edits an item in the Text Editor.

Locate Item

Opens the directory where the item resides and selects the item.

You can also toggle the view of your search results between the tile and list views by clicking the View as tiles and View as list buttons on the Results Toolbar. By default, the items display in the tile view.

The tile view allows you to see the thumbnails of your items. You can sort the items in the tile view by using the Sort by dropdown list in the Results Toolbar. Additionally, you can use the Sort items in ascending or descending order button to reverse the sort order. When you hover over an item that contains summary, the summary displays as a tooltip in both tile and list views.

The list view is useful when you need to see a large number of items at a glance. In this view, you can sort your items by clicking any column title. Each column features a two-step toggle sorting: ascending and descending. You can also specify which columns display in the list view by clicking the Select Display Columns button, and selecting the columns you want to view from the list.

You can customize the width of the search results section by placing your cursor on top of the right edge of the section, as shown in the following image, then clicking and dragging it to achieve the desired width. Your new width is remembered, and displays the next time you sign in to WebFOCUS.

You can navigate between the pages of your search results using the pagination bar on the bottom of the Results section. These options make it easy to view large amounts of data quickly, without scrolling. An example of the pagination bar is shown in the following image.

The pagination bar contains two components: a record count that dynamically changes as you move between pages and a set of controls that you can use to advance pages, return to pages, or enter specific page numbers. You can use the Items per page dropdown list to increase or decrease the number of items displayed on a single page. The First Page, Previous Page, Next Page, and Last Page buttons allow you to navigate between pages. The page number in the middle indicates the current number of the page you are viewing. You can click this number, and enter a new number to jump to a different page.

How to: Index Content and Data

On occasion, you might need to index the content and data in your environment to ensure they appear correctly in your search results. Indexing in WebFOCUS is a quick and simple process. Once your content and data are indexed, all subsequent changes to the repository content and data directories are indexed automatically by WebFOCUS.