Search Syntax Help
| Syntax | Operation | Description of Syntax Usage |
|---|---|---|
| ; | AND | AND operation is denoted by the symbol ';'.
For Example 'computer;science' will find all the files containing both
'computer' AND 'science' (in any order).
Check the "Searched keywords must be near each other:" option and keywords will need to be approximately in the same paragraph. Leave it unchecked and they can be anywhere in the file. |
| , | OR | OR operation is denoted by the symbol ','. For Example 'computer,science' will find all the files containing 'computer' OR 'science'. |
| ~ | NOT | NOT operation is denoted by the symbol '~'. Its output may sometimes seem counterintuitive. Use with care. For Example 'fame;~glory' will find all the files containing 'fame' but do not contain 'glory'. |
| # | Wild Card | '#' is used to denote a sequence of any number (including 0) of arbitrary characters. |
| [ ] | Classes of Characters | A list of characters inside [ ] (in order) corresponds to any character from the list. For example, [a-ho-z] is any character between a and h or between o and z. The symbol `^' inside [ ] complements the list. For example, [^i-n] denote any character in the character set except character 'i' to 'n'. The symbol `.' (don't care) stands for any symbol (except for the newline symbol). |
| < > | Exact Matching | Any pattern inside angle brackets <> must match the text exactly even if the match is with errors. For example, <mathemat>ics matches mathematical with one error (replacing the last s with an a), but mathe<matics> does not match mathematical no matter how many errors are allowed. |
Do not insert spaces before or after search terms -- this will alter the search results! In glimpse the following characters $ ^ * [ ] | ( ) ! \ , ; # < > - . are special characters and should be preceded by '\' if they are to be matched as regular characters. For example, abc\,xyz\\ corresponds to the string abc,xyz\, whereas abc,xyz corresponds to the search for abc OR xyz.
Examples:
Search for a single word or an exact phrase:
Type the exact word or phrase (no punctuation marks allowed, no leading or trailing spaces).
Search for any of several keywords:
Separate the search words by the "," (comma) character. For example a search entered as "Logos,Sophia,Christ" will return all documents containing the words "Logos" OR "Sophia" OR "Christ". Do not insert spaces before or after search terms -- this will alter the search results.
Search for all of several keywords:
Separate the search words by the ";" (semicolon) character. For example entering "Logos;Sophia;Christ" will return all documents containing the words "Logos" AND "Sophia" AND "Christ". Do not insert spaces before or after search terms -- this will alter the search results.
Use wildcards:
The symbol "." (period) is a wildcard used to denote any single character or space. For example the search "lo..s" will return all documents containing "Logos", "loves", "lords", etc. -- all these words match the search pattern. Do not insert spaces before or after search terms -- this will alter the search results.
The symbol '#' is a wildcard used to denote any
number of characters or spaces between two terms. For example the search
"Logos#Sophia" will return all text where "Logos" is found preceding "Sophia" by
any number of characters or words.
The search "truth#sophia#void" finds this phrase: "...truth;
it falls into void and darkness: for their wisdom (Sophia)
was void...". Notice that the order
of the words is specified in the search. A search on "truth;sophia;void" would
return any text with all three words, regardless of the word order.