Expert search

Search all features and relations in your system. Include AND, OR and RELATION operators. For experienced users.

Purpose

• Search within all asset properties and asset relations.

• Search over relations in an asset structure.

Context

• General functionality of the censhare user interface.

• The Expert search is part of the overall search functionality in censhare.

• The Expert search can be used together with the Quick search.

Prerequisites

To use the Expert search, you need a deeper understanding of the data model in censhare and assets relations.

Introduction

The Expert search is the most powerful tool of censhare to define search queries. The Expert search allows you to search all asset properties. The Expert search requires know-how of assets, asset properties and asset relations in your censhare system, including values and value types.

This article introduces the basic operations in the Expert search. It explains how to enter a search parameter, select search values and combine parameters with the logical operator AND or OR. Besides that, it introduces simple searches over relations with the RELATION operator.

Search terms

AND

Combine search terms with AND:

AND ( 
	(Type = Image) 
	(Workflow = Image editing) 
	(Workflowstep = In verification) 
	)

OR

Combine search terms with OR:

OR 
	(MIME-Type = JPEG) 
	(MIME-Type = PNG)

Relations

The Expert search allows to search over asset relations. For example, search all images that are placed (i.e. that have a Placement relation): 

AND ( 
	(Type = Image) 
	RELATION( 
		(Direction = Parent relation, 
		(Type = Placement) 
		) 
	) 
)

You can also search hierarchically over multiple relations or combine different searches for relations.

Open the Expert search

The Quick search field with the field for search parameters (2): Advanced searches menu to start a new search, add a Detailed search or an Expert search (1).    

To open the Expert search: 

1. Click the Advanced search menu in the top navigation.

2. Select Expert search. The Expert search dialog opens.

3. Use the + icon to add operators and search terms.

4. To start a search, click SEARCH.

The Expert search: Start screen with the buttons SEARCH (1), RESET (2), CANCEL (3) and the inquiry window (4), for creating a search query. Use the "Parameter" button (5) to enter the queries for asset properties. The parameters are then linked with AND (7). Use the "Operator" button (6) to create operators (AND, OR, NOT, RELATION) to link parameters.

Edit the Expert search

The Expert search: The Quick search field with the field for search parameters (5): Advanced search menu to start a new search (1), Tag for the Expert search (2), Edit the Expertsearch (3), Delete the Expert search (4).    

To edit the existing Expert search: 

1. Click the Edit icon of the Expert search tag in the Quick search field. The Expert search dialog opens.    

2. Edit existing search terms.

3. Use the + icon to add operators and search terms.

4. To start a search, click SEARCH. 

Start a new search

There are two ways to start a new Expert search.

An Expert search has already been executed:

1. Click the Edit icon for the Detailed search tag in the Quick search field. The Detailed search dialog opens.

2. Click RESET.

Any other search has been executed:

1. Click the Advanced searches icon in the Top navigation.

2. Select New search.

   censhare stores an existing search in another tab in the Side navigation.

3. A blank search page opens.

4. Click the Advanced searches icon.

5. Select Expert search.

If you do not execute New search first, censhare keeps the Quick search query and combines it with the Expert search.

Enter a single search term

Search in an asset property

The simplest form is to search in an asset property for assets with a certain value. For example, search assets that have the asset type Image:

1. Click the + icon at the top to add a new line.

2. In the Condition name field, select the desired asset property.

3. In the next field to the right, select a relational operator. If you want to match a certain value, select "=".

4. In the value field, select or enter a matching value. To start the search, click SEARCH.

5. To start the search, click SEARCH.

6. To remove all search terms, click RESET.

Do not use the Return key on your keyboard to select an entry. Pressing Return starts the search.

The search: (Type = image).

After selecting the asset property (5) specify the relational operator (4) like "=". In the input field (3), enter the desired value or select it from the list. If you click the "Remove parameter" button (2), it will remove the search term. Click the "Parameter" button (1) to add another search term.

Relational operators in a search term

If you do not select a comparison operator, a "like" will be used as default.

When comparing the fields, censhare takes into consideration the data type. Date entry values are recalculated into a UTC time specification and compared which value is smaller, that is, which one is earlier. For strings, the comparison is alphabetical. The result can therefore be different depending on the selected language.

Selection list in a search term

If the asset property of the search term stores values from a static or dynamic list, an asset reference or asset resource key, a selection list is shown. Open the list and select the matching value.

When you create a search term, censhare recalculates continuously the number of matching results taking into account previous search parameters. Therefore, a selection list only contains values that have at least one match.

If the asset property of the search term is a string or a numeric value, a text field is shown. Enter the matching value in the field.

If the asset property of the search term is a date/time, a date/time picker is shown. Select the matching date and adjust the time in the respective fields. If you select a date, censhare sets the time automatically to the current time. If you select a time first, censhare sets the date automatically to the current date. Depending on the data type, only a date or a time can be set.

The operator is important here. For example, the search in the domain "Magazine 1" with "=" finds all assets in this domain. The search in the domain "Magazine 1" with ">" finds all assets in sub-domains below "Magazine 1".

If you enter the desired value directly in a text field, censhare does not check if there are any results before you run the search. For example, if you are looking for images with a certain price, the search looks as follows: (Type = image) AND (Price <= 200). For this search, there is no indication if there are any matching assets unless you execute the search. For example, there are no results if all images are more expensive than 200.

The AND operator

In an AND query block, all conditions must match to get a result. By default, any search query that you create in the Expert search dialog is wrapped in an AND. This AND cannot be changed or removed.

To combine multiple parameters with AND, click the + icon next to the last search term to add another search term. All elements that you add this way are logically related with AND.

The search: (Type = Image) AND (Workflow target =Marketing ) AND (Workflow = Catalog).

There are three parameters (1) that are linked with an AND (5). The expected line of connection (4) upward shows which operator the parameters are connected with, in this case AND (5). Click the Delete parameter icon (2) to remove the associated search parameter. Click the Parameter icon (3) to add a parameter.

The OR operator

The logical OR operator requires at least two search terms, of which one must match.

To build search queries with OR operators:

1. Click the second + icon at the bottom left and select OR.

2. Add the search term for one parameter.

3. To add a new search term, click the + icon next to the search term.

4. Create the search term for the following parameter.

5. Repeat the steps for each parameter.

By default, any search query that you create in the Expert search dialog is wrapped in an AND. This AND cannot be changed or removed. Therefore, to create a search query that consists of multiple OR-related search terms, you must add an OR query block first and define the search terms inside this block. The wrapping AND has no effect on this search.

The search: ((Workflow target = person 1) OR (Workflowtarget = person 2)).

OR search (7) with the two parameters (2) and (3). Use the Parameter button (4) to add an entry for the OR condition. If you follow the line (6) upward you will come to the associated operator, OR. Use the Remove operator button (1) to then delete the entire OR condition. Using the Operator button (5) you can add an OR condition.

The RELATION operator

The RELATION operator allows to search over one or more asset relations. This means, the matching condition is that an asset is assigned to another asset. The relation type and the properties of the target asset can be defined in the search.

To add a relation condition to the search:

1. Click the + icon on the left below the last search term and select RELATION.

2. Specify the direction. For the upward direction, select Parent relation. For the downward direction, select Child relation.

3. Select a relation type.

4. Optionally, select a subtype for the relation types Assignment, Variant and Placement. Depending on your system configuration, different types and subtypes can be available.

You can add a target query to define conditions that the related asset must match. Add the target query as follows:

1. Click + icon below the "Relation" block for the target query.

2. A new AND operator and a new search query block are displayed indented to the right.

3. Define search parameters for the target query.

For example, search for images that are placed in an Layout asset:

AND ( 
	(Type = Image) 
	RELATION ( 
		(Direction = Parent relation, 
		(Type = Placement) 
		AND ( 
			(Type = Layout) 
			) 
		) 
	)

You can leave any or all of the relation parameters empty and execute a search. For example, you do not specify a relation type and direction. The search results show all assets that match the other conditions and have an asset relation to any other asset. If you specify only the relation type but no direction, the search results show all assets that have the respective relation as parent or child relation.

The search: (TYPE = Image) AND RELATION(Direction = Parent relation, Type = Placement)

When searching for a relation, you can use the parameters Direction (2) and Type (3). Click the Parameter icon (5) to add further conditions for the relation. The operator (6) above the line indicates that the following parameters are valid for a relation. Click the Delete operator icon (1) to remove the RELATION query block. Click the Operator icon (4) if you wish to add another relation as a search criteria, for example.

Result

You know how to start or edit an Expert search. You can search for the properties of an asset. You can execute simple searches using the AND, OR or RELATION operator.