Background:We have a db that has a field used to contain part numbers. Our PNs look like 001-00001ABC. The db is FT indexed, no exclusions except for encrypted fields (and we have no encrypted fields).
If a user enters 001-00001 into the search bar, the search returns no hits.
If a user enters 001-00001ABC into the search bar, we see all expected docs.
I’ve done a search on the issue and found: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd6forum.nsf/55c38d716d632d9b8525689b005ba1c0/6baea89db0385c0c8525700d00539841?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,search,dash
which is more about creating a programmed search, not using the search bar. If I try entering
FIELD MyField CONTAINS 001-00001
Into the search bar, no hits, if I append the ABC, I get the expected hits.
How do I get Notes to ignore dashes in a search string without making the user type some nasty search code into the search bar?
TIA
Doug
ps - if I use the forum’s ‘search’ feature and type in
search -
all words
here’s the hit:
SearchView&query=search%20and%20-&SearchOrder=1&SearchMax=0&Start=1&Count=100
HTTP Web Server: Lotus Notes Exception - Full text error; see log for more information
Choose a view from the “Forums views and search” box to the right.
dashes must be evil…I’m guessing something in the search engine see’s dash characters as minus and somehow is trying to use the dash/minus as a keyword in the search string…justa guess.
Subject: RE: Search bar and dash character causing problem (ps)
It makes a difference whether your search terms are enclosed in quotes.
Full-text searches are indexed by word – not by punctuation. You can’t search for just a dash.
To find a partial match, use *
Subject: Wild card
never mind - I’m multi-tasking and doing it badly…wildcard, good.
Subject: RE: Search bar and dash character causing problem (ps)
Andre,
To clarify, I don’t want ‘just the dash’, I want 'a string that starts with ‘000-0001’ and has any ending.
Quotes, no quotes, 000-0001 or “000-0001” returns nothing.
The * does the trick! 000-0001* shows me exactly the two docs that are 000-0001ABC. Thanks!
Doug
Andre,
I’ve been playing a bit <gasp…a designer PLAYING??? Actually TRYING something, no, can’t be! 
# >
Turning on fuzzy search and/or word variants can also help but probably returns too many hits. I suspect the user complaining of problems had neither of these options selected. The * character is exactly what he’ll want to use since it provides the best match to what he’s trying to find.
- off topic. I get a big chuckle when you suggest folks might actually try writing some code and seeing what happens before they post. If there’s one thing that is a personal pet peeve it’s all of the posts asking ‘what happens if I do xyz?’. Well, do xyz and SEE WHAT HAPPENS…
Anyway, thanks again for the wild card. I could swear I’ve tried that before but apparently, I’d be wrong about that cuz it works a charm.
Subject: Search bar and dash character causing problem (ps)
Are you sure it’s the dashes? We use dashes in all of our art tracking systems and don’t have any problems with searching.
Example: I have specs named Gr6-03, Gr6-04, Gr6-05, Gr6-03-01, Gr6-03-02, etc. If I type Gr6- in the search bar, it finds all of them.
Could you maybe have one of the advanced search options checked/unchecked that’s causing the problem? It sounds like maybe you have the “Use word variants” box unchecked.
Also, are your part numbers contained in a single field? Or are they split up - 001 is the prefix field, and 00001ABC is the identifier, or something like that. We ran into that issue at one point - we were naming our specs like this:
Usage ID: Gr6
Chapter: -03
Position: -01
In the views we’d have a single column with the formula UsageID + Chapter + Position. The user would try to search the view for what they thought was the spec ID, but because there wasn’t a single field that contained Gr6-03-01, it didn’t return anything.
Subject: RE: Search bar and dash character causing problem (ps)
Actually, see Andre’s response and my responses to his response. It’s all about words and what gets indexed and how you ask for stuff. I was locking in on the dash when it’s just a general search by word issue and I’d see the same thing if I searched for ‘dog’ when the word was ‘doghouse’; unless I’m using word variants or fuzzy searching, ‘dog’ returns nothing.
Thanks for the reply.
Doug