Content Manager 25.2 Content Manager

# Using the string-based search editor

The string-based search editor enables you to use search strings to take full advantage of Content Manager's advanced search capabilities.

You can use it to search for any item in Content Manager that you can search for.

1. On the Search menu, click what you are searching for, for example, Find Records to find records or Find Locations to find Locations
2. If it is not set, use the button Editor at the bottom and select String to use the string search editor
3. In the Search tab, use the field Enter search string to build your search.

   You can type your search clauses manually or use KwikSelect to select them and string them together.

   1. Click KwikSelect and the Search Methods dialogue box appears.
      - By Category - displays the search methods in categories
      - By Format - displays the search methods by their data format
      - Alphabetical - displays the search methods in alphabetical order
      Select a search method and review the text below the listto find out more about it.

   You can use the tabs to define your search further:

   Filter tab - see Search Filter tab.

   Record Types tab - see Record Search Record Types tab.

   Sort tab - see Search Sort tab.

   Options tab - see Search Options tab.

4. Click OK.
   Content Manager displays the search result.

Format

The format to use is METHOD:PARAMETERS - one of the methods listed when you click KwikSelect followed by a colon (:) and then by the parameter you are looking for - these two together make a search clause.

You can use Boolean AND, OR and NOT to combine search clauses.

You can use brackets to give a clause precedence.

Example

- Title:Reef - searches for records with the word Reef in the title

Methods

The methods you can use depend on what you are searching for, e.g. overdue is not a method you can use to find a record - the data does not exist for records.

One notable string search method is uri, which will return Content Manager objects based on their Unique Record Identifier, which is a numeric value assigned by Content Manager.

For most methods, you can set Content Manager to sort the search result by using the Sort tab.

Parameters

The parameters you can use depend on the format of the method; for example, when you choose a date method, you must choose a date as parameter.

See String-based search method formats.

NOTE: When you use a number as parameter, whether in quotes (") or not, Content Manager also returns records with a uri that match that number.

Examples

- Title:reef and Assignee:Fred - returns all records with reef in the title and the Assignee Fred
- Title:reef or editedOn:17/04/2009 - returns all records with reef in the title or that have a Date Modified of 17/04/2009
- Title:reef and not Assignee:Fred - returns all records with reef in the title that have a value for Assignee other than Fred
- Title:reef and not (Assignee:Fred and class:Top Secret) - returns all records with reef in the title that neither have the Assignee value Fred nor the Record Class value Top Secret
- Title:"Doctoral Dissertation - Joanne Bloggs" - returns all records that match the exact phrase Doctoral Dissertation - Joanne Bloggs.

  The phrase search is available only for title word searches.

- container:[all] - returns all records that have a container
- container:[none] - returns all records that do not have a container
- content:watches or clocks - returns all records with attached electronic documents that contain the word watches or clocks
- createdOn:this week and content:watches or clocks - returns all records that were created this week and that have electronic documents attached which contain the word watches or clocks

Searching for strings containing spaces

When you are searching for text or numbers, i.e. a string, that contains spaces, for example when searching for records with a particular assignee by using assignee: The Authority, you do not need to use inverted commas before and after the string if your search meets these criteria:

- You are using just one method
- Your search string does not contain:
  - quotes (')
  - commas (,)
  - square brackets ([])
  - not
  - and
  - or
- You are using a string or object method

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Version 25.2 | Last updated April 2025
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Product: Content Manager 25.2

Topic Title: Using the string-based search editor