Support : Dialog Search Aids : Successful Searching : EXPAND

EXPAND (continued)

If you enter an Additional Index EXPAND statement using only the prefix code (e.g., EXPAND JN=), Dialog places you at the beginning of the index. This is useful for obtaining a complete listing of a field's contents.

In response to the EXPAND command, Dialog displays a 50-line "page" of index terms. At the left side of the list is a column (marked "Ref") that contains sequential reference numbers preceded by an E (e.g., E1, E2, E3). These E numbers not only identify the index entries in the EXPAND, but can themselves be SELECTed as the search terms they represent (see SELECTING from an EXPAND Display). Entering a PAGE command will display the next 50 entries of the index. (If accessing Dialog through DialogClassic, the first 12 index terms are displayed.)

The next column, marked "Items," lists the number of unique records containing each term. The term may occur more than once in a given record, but the record is counted only once for the "Items" column. You can determine the total number of occurrences of a term by entering the command SET POSTINGS ON before entering the EXPAND command.

The list of "Index Terms" appears on the right. The term entered with the EXPAND command is usually third on the list, and is marked with an asterisk (*). It is listed whether or not there are any items (records) containing that term. Multiple-word entries in the Basic Index are terms, such as descriptors, that have been phrase indexed.

Note: Do not use truncation, proximity operators, or suffix codes in an EXPAND command (see Punctuation and Spacing in EXPAND Commands).

Viewing Subsequent Pages of an EXPAND Display

To see index entries that follow the last line of an EXPAND display, enter the command PAGE (abbreviation P) or repeat the EXPAND command with no search term following it.

A sequence of E numbers runs from E1 to E50. To view beyond entry E50, enter another PAGE or plain EXPAND command; the next 50 sequential entries will appear, with the numbering reset to E1. Any entry among the first 50 that you want to retrieve must be SELECTed before the renumbering starts. (In DialogClassic, the first 12 index terms are displayed. Entering a PAGE command (abbreviation P) will display the next 12 entries of the index.)

Note: To retrieve an entry from an EXPAND list, be sure to SELECT it before entering a new EXPAND <search term> command.

(EXPANDing in Dialindex) 

top