Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : November/December 2004

Searching Punctuation in the Basic Index on Dialog

Search terms containing punctuation require special treatment when entered in a SELECT command. The specific treatment depends on whether you are SELECTing the term from a word- or phrase-indexed field.

1. When SELECTing from a word-indexed field, all punctuation marks in a term must be replaced with the (W) operator in order for the term to be searchable. When the searchable terms are indexed from the original record, all terms are stripped of punctuation. The punctuation marks are treated as spaces, and each part of the term is entered in its own position in the index. For example, the term PRIME-TIME is indexed as two words PRIME and TIME. To search the full term, you must reconnect the pieces using the (W) operator:
   S PRIME(W)TIME
   
   
2. In phrase-indexed fields, punctuation is indexed as part of the search term. If a phrase contains slashes (/), apostrophes, or a logical operator, the phrase must be placed in quotation marks in a SELECT command. You can use either single or double quotes; double quotes are recommended since single quotes can be confused with apostrophes:
   S "ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE"
   
   By clicking the title, the complete article displays in the Word report for users with eLinks-enabled User IDs.

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