Search#
The search page is located at /search.
Type-specific search pages are also available, such as /search/variables and /search/studies.
Search Query#
Enter some text in the search query box and press Enter or click the Search button. Only items containing this text somewhere in their definitions will be included in the search results.
If the administrator has enabled the search targets dropdown, you can choose whether to search All fields, or only the Name, Label, or Description.
Query Syntax with Elasticsearch#
When the portal uses the optional Elasticsearch backend, the following types of queries are available. Language specific stopwords and stemming are also available. Click the Syntax button next to the search results to see these examples in the portal.
Example |
Description |
|---|---|
work |
Searches for different forms of the word work (e.g., work, working, worked) |
work place |
Searches for different forms of the word work AND place |
work AND place |
Same as above; The “AND” is optional |
work OR place |
Searches for either work or place |
“work place” |
Searches for the exact phrase work place |
work -place |
Searches for items that contain work but that do not contain place |
+work |
Searches for the exact term work; working and worked would not be included |
~work |
Fuzzy search for work; may include close words like words and worse |
<work place> |
Searches for work and place in close proximity to each other |
(work OR job) place |
Parentheses group parts of the query |
Without Elasticsearch, the built-in database search treats the entire query as a single phrase, and the operators above are not available.
Search Facets#
The Filter bar above the search results offers several facets to control which search results will be displayed. After choosing facets, click the Filter button to perform the search, or click Reset to clear all facets.
Note
Colectica Portal is highly configurable. Which options are available here depends on the configuration of your portal. See Site Information.
Item Type#
The Item Type facet determines which types of items will be returned in the search results. The most common types of items are shown directly in the list. Click the More… link to see every searchable item type, and click a type to open its type-specific search page.
When Elasticsearch is used, the number of matching items of each type is shown next to the type.
Series, Study, and Data File#
Colectica Portal may be configured to allow you to search within certain items. For example, the Study facet allows you to select one or more studies, and only see results that are part of those studies.
Language#
The Language facet allows you to choose which language of metadata content is searched. Choose All to search every language, or Other to enter a language code.
Options#
- Include deprecated items
Determines whether items marked as deprecated will be shown in the search results. By default, deprecated items are not displayed.
Custom Facets#
Portals that use custom indexing addins may show additional facets, such as text boxes that search a specific field, lists of values to choose from, or date ranges. See Extensibility.
Results#
Search Summary#
The search summary shows the number of results returned and the time taken to perform the search.
Results List#
Each search result contains several pieces of information:
An icon indicating the item type, and a label for the item, which links to the item’s detail page
Breadcrumbs to show the context of the item, such as the study and dataset that contain a variable
The name, label, and descriptive text for the item, including the text that matched the query
An Add to basket checkbox, which allows you to add the item to your basket. If you are not logged in, a Log in to add to basket link is shown instead.
When searching for variables or questions, a Compare checkbox. Check two or more items and click Compare Checked to view them side by side. Up to ten items can be compared.
Use the First, Previous, Next, and Last links at the bottom of the page to move through the results. The number of results per page is configured by the administrator.