Searching
Simple search (Enhanced)
At the top of the Fred Window you are able to type in text relevant to a document or topic you are looking for.
The search will look for the text in any metadata field and in the text of the document if it is text-searchable. The search will be restricted to the folder set in the breadcrumb and its subfolders.
A generic search will look for this value in:
Folder names
File names
Metadata fields
Document searchable content
Format
If you select a metadata field, the search will be restricted to this metadata field.
If you select “Full Text”, the search will be restricted to searchable content.
Some simple rules to optimize your search result:
Blanks between words will provide a search result where both words appear
Use wildcards before and/or after the word (e.g. *health*) when you are looking for that text in a part of a metadata field, document, etc.
The search result will be presented in a separate tab as a list view, and show all available field values of the selected columns. You can select the column set you want to see, and the list can be sorted by clicking on the column header.
Your system administrator can configure a default search field.
Dropping an Alfresco Link or Fred link in the Search field
If you have received an Alfresco or Fred link to an object, you will be able to copy and paste it into the Search field. The object will appear in the search result.
Advanced search
A simple search can be extended to an advanced search. To add or delete
search criteria, click on
.
If you wish to refine your search, you can add as many metadata fields
as you want. Click on the
to execute the search.
Facetted search (Enhanced)
Where SOLR indexing has been activated on the Alfresco Server, you will receive additional filtering functionality in the search result. On the left side of the search result, a list of facets and the values present in the found records will be presented.
The facets appearing in the left column are predefined by your organization. Contact your IT team if you require additional fields to be made in this list to optimize your search.
For each facet defined in the search pane, a list of values that appear in your search result, and the number of records containing that value, are presented.
Selecting one of the values will filter the search results to those documents containing that value. The facets pane will be updated to the new search result. The Facet fields and the number of records will be updated to those appearing in the filtered result.
In the example below, selecting “Created Date” filters the search result to all the documents based on created date, and the facet values and the number of hits will be filtered based upon this selection.
By selecting multiple facets, you can quickly narrow down the search result to locate the document you are looking for.
Filtering using facets
From Version 5.0 onwards, Alfresco supports SOLR 4.x. This brings with it a new range of facet features. Facets allow you to filter the search result according to the facet value you select.
With Fred 3.3 or higher, combined with Alfresco 5.0 or higher, you will have facet buckets available for dates and volumes.
AND, OR and () operators in text fields
In text fields, you can use OR, AND & () operators to conduct an advanced search on a specific field.
The behavior in this field is as follows:
| Input user | Presentation after pushing Enter | Search result |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Jerry | Tom AND Jerry | Tom AND Jerry |
| Tom OR Jerry | Tom OR Jerry | Tom OR Jerry |
| “Tom and Jerry” | “Tom and Jerry” | “Tom and Jerry” |
| Tom Jerry OR Goofy AND “Donald Duck” | Tom AND Jerry OR Goofy AND “Donald Duck” | ((Tom AND Jerry) OR Goofy) AND “Donald Duck” (Tom AND Jerry) AND “Donald Duck” Goofy AND “Donald Duck” |
| Tom Jerry OR (Goofy AND “Donald Duck”) | Tom AND Jerry OR (Goofy AND “Donald Duck”) | (Tom AND Jerry) OR (Goofy AND “Donald Duck”) Tom AND Jerry Goofy AND “Donald Duck” |
Messages in search result
The system administrator can limit the search results on the Alfresco server. Where limits are triggered during the specific search action launched by the user, Fred will display a message that additional search results might be available.
You can limit the time during which the search is executed, and the number of results that are evaluated, against access rights. If one of the limits set are met, the search ceases and the current result is evaluated against access rights and presented as the final search result.
A message is displayed with guidance on how to proceed to obtain a better search result.
While executing a result, Fred displays multiple messages:
At the bottom left of the screen:
While searching
When result is found
In the search tab:
While searching
When the result is found
If you launch a new search while the previous search is still running:
You will receive a warning message
If you confirm, then the running search will not be cancelled on the server, but the result will not be presented in Fred. Instead, Fred will present the result of the new search.
Search in a part of the tree structure
If you want to limit your search to a part of the repository, you can set the folder in which you want to search. The search will be limited to the folder and its subfolders.
You can also select the Favorites folders as a location.
Saved Search
You can save your current search by clicking on the star icon next to the search tab, usually in the upper right corner of the User Interface. This enables you to quickly perform the same search again in the future.
Preview your search
When you select a document displayed in the result list of a search, the metadata is shown directly in the metadata pane as well as a preview of the selected file.
Grouping on metadata values
You can group the search results on the values in one metadata field. Right click on the column header and select “Group by”.
Remove the grouping by deselecting the metadata field in the list.
Open file location
The search result is shown in a list view. Many of the file commands are available in the Search pane.
Clicking “Open File Location” will show you the folder or file selected in the tree structure. This will allow you, for example, to find a folder in which you have put a file, and add a new file to the same folder.
