MEDITECH-L Archives Search Tips

At its simplest, a query can be just a word or a phrase. But with the tips on this page, you can expand the focus of your query to give you more complete results. These tips will get you started with basic query language and acquaint you with the full power of Microsoft Index Server.

Search with the keyword NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. For example, both of these queries, system and manager and system near manager, look for the words system and manager on the same page. But with NEAR, the returned pages are ranked in order of proximity: The closer together the words are, the higher the rank of that page.
Refine your queries with the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text from your search. For example, if you want to find all instances of npr but not job, write the following query:
npr AND NOT job
Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for example:
Reports OR NPR
This query finds all pages that mention Reports or NPR or both.
Enclose the OR keyword in quotation marks to treat it as a literal search phrase (such as the acronym for Operating Room), for example:
"OR" scheduling
Put quotation marks around keywords if you want Index Server to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:
"system near manager"
Index Server will literally look for the complete phrase system near manager. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:
system near manager
Index Server searches all documents for the words system and manager.
Find all messages related to a single topic or thread by searching for the original message's subject line encapsulated in quotation marks. For example, if you want to find all instances of a message with the subject line [MEDITECH-L] Controlling Top Margin in NPR, simply write the following query:
"[MEDITECH-L] Controlling Top Margin in NPR"
NOTE: Be sure to remove any extra RE: or FW: notations from the subject line.