Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- searching [2017/11/12 19:53] – external edit 127.0.0.1
+++ searching [2017/11/23 10:14] – Update for Zotero 5. bwiernik
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-<html><p id="zotero-5-update-warning" style="color: red; font-weight: bold">We’re
-in the process of updating the documentation for
-<a href="https://www.zotero.org/blog/zotero-5-0">Zotero 5.0</a>. Some documentation
-may be outdated in the meantime. Thanks for your understanding.</p></html>
 ======Searching======
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 {{ :center-column-toolbar-z3.0.png?nolink&|}}
-To begin searching, click inside the search box at the top-right of the center column and start typing your search terms. As you type, only those items in the center column that match the search terms will remain.
+To begin searching, click inside the search box at the top-right of the center pane (or type Ctrl/Cmd-F) and start typing your search terms. As you type, only those items in the center column that match the search terms will remain.
 ====Quick Search Options====
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   * "Title, Year, Creator" - matches against just these three fields.
   * "All Fields & Tags" - matches against all fields, as well as tags and text in notes.
-  * "Everything" - matches against all fields, tags, text in notes, and indexed text in PDFs (this requires that [[pdf_fulltext_indexing|PDF indexing]] is enabled).
+  * "Everything" - matches against all fields, tags, text in notes, and indexed text in PDFs (this requires that [[pdf_fulltext_indexing|PDF indexing]] be enabled).
 ====Speeding Up Quick Searches====
-When you have very large collections, the quick search's "search-as-you-type" search might become slow. To speed things up, place your search term in quotes. This prevents searches from taking place until you type in the second quotation mark.
+When you have very large collections, the quick search's "search-as-you-type" search might become slow. To speed things up, type a quotation mark " mark at the start of your search. This prevents searches from running until you type Enter/Return or a second quotation mark.
 =====Advanced Search=====
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 ====Running an Advanced Search====
-To open the Advanced Search window, click on the magnifying glass icon ({{quick_start/advanced_search_icon.gif?nolink&nocache}}) at the top of the center column.
+To open the Advanced Search window, click on the magnifying glass icon ({{quick_start/advanced_search_icon.gif?nolink&nocache}}) at the top of the center pane.
 {{advanced_search/advanced_search_window.png?nolink&nocache}}
@@ Line 45: / Line 39: @@
 {{advanced_search/full_search.png?nolink&nocache}}
-You can filter items by the collections they belong to by searching by "Collection". To include items in subcollections of matching collections in the search results, check "Search subfolders".
+Set the library to search in by using the "Search in libary:" option at the top of the window. It is not currently possible to search in multiple libraries at one time.
-To hide non-matching parent items with child items that do match the search criteria, and to collapse matching parent items with matching child items, check "Show only top-level items".
+By default, items only show up in the search results if they satisfy all search criteria. To change the search so that all items matching at least one criterion are returned, change the "Match" option to "any".
-By default, items only show up in the search results if they satisfy all search criteria. To match search criteria against both parent items and their children, check "Include parent and child items of matching items". In this case, all search criteria still have to be satisfied, but parent/child items still show up if just part of the criteria is met by the parent item, and the other part by a child item.
+You can filter items by the collections or saved searches they belong to by searching by "Collection". To include items in subcollections of matching collections in the search results, check "Search subcollections".
+To hide non-matching parent items with child items that do match the search criteria, and to collapse matching parent items with matching child items, check "Show only top-level items".
-It is not currently possible to search group libraries from the Advanced Search window. Instead, create a [[#saved_searches|saved search]] for the group by right-clicking on the group name and choosing "New Saved Search…".
+To match search criteria against both parent items and their children, check "Include parent and child items of matching items". If this option is selected and "Match" is set to "all", parent/child items will still show up if just part of the criteria is met by the parent item and the other part by a child item.
 ====Wild Cards====
-The % percent sign character acts as a wild card in advanced searches, substituting for zero or more characters. E.g. the search term "W% Shakespeare" will match "W Shakespeare", "W. Shakespeare" as well as "William Shakespeare".
+The % percent sign character acts as a wild card in advanced searches, substituting for zero or more characters. For example, the search term "W% Shakespeare" will match "W Shakespeare", "W. Shakespeare" as well as "William Shakespeare".
+To search for items where a field contains any content at all, search for the % percent sign character alone.
 ====Saved Searches====
-When you save an advanced search, it appears as a collection in your library (but with a saved search icon, {{advanced_search/saved_search_icon.png?nolink&nocache}}, instead of the regular collection icon). Saved searches are continuously updated. E.g., if you set up a saved search for "Date Added" "is in the last" "7" "days", the saved search will always show the items that have been added in the last 7 days. Saved searches only store the search criteria, not the search results.
+When you save an Advanced Search, it appears as a collection in your library (but with a Saved Search icon, {{advanced_search/saved_search_icon.png?nolink&nocache}} {{:saved_search_mac.png?direct|}}, instead of the regular collection icon). Saved Searches are continuously updated. For example, if you set up a Saved Search for "Date Added" "is in the last" "7" "days", the saved search will always show the items that have been added in the last 7 days. Saved searches only store the search criteria, not the search results.
+To save a search, click the "Save Search" button in the Advanced Search window and provide a name for the search. Saved searches can be edited or deleted by right-clicking the Saved Search and selecting "Edit Saved Search…" or "Delete Saved Search…", respectively.
+You can also create a saved search in a library by right-clicking on the library name and choosing "New Saved Search…".
+====Complex Search Criteria====
+It is possible to run complex Boolean searches by using multiple Saved Searches. For example, to run the search ''(a OR b) AND (c OR d)'', first make a Saved Search called "Condition1" for ''(a OR b)'', then make a Saved Search called "Condition2" for ''(c OR d)''. Finally, run a third Advanced Search and search for ''"Collection" "is" "Condition1" AND "Collection" "is" "Condition2"''.
-To save a search, click the "Save Search" button in the Advanced Search window and provide a name for the search. Saved searches can be edited or deleted by right-clicking (ctrl-click on OS X) the saved search and selecting "Edit Saved Search" or "Remove Saved Search...", respectively.
-To create a saved search in a group library, right-click on the group name and choose "New Saved Search…".
 =====Fulltext PDF Indexing=====
-Fulltext PDF indexing allows (embedded) text within PDFs to be searched with quick search ("Everything" option) and advanced search (via "Attachment Content"). To enable PDF indexing, you need to install the third-party open-source plugins pdftotext and pdfinfo, which can be done with the click of a button in the [[preferences/search|Search tab]] of the [[preferences|Zotero preferences]] window (these plugins can also be installed by hand when automatic installation fails; see the [[pdf_fulltext_indexing|manual installation instructions]]).
+Fulltext PDF indexing allows (embedded) text within PDFs to be searched with Quick Search ("Everything" option) and Advanced Search (via "Attachment Content"). You can control how much text in a PDF is indexed in the [[preferences/search|Search pane]] of [[preferences|Zotero preferences]] (default: 500000 characters, 100 pages). Indexing happens automatically in the background when Zotero is idle. You can remove indexed text with the "Clear Index…" button or re-create the index from scratch using the "Rebuild Index…" button. You can check the index status of any PDF attachment by selecting the attachment item in the Zotero library and looking at the "Indexed:" field in the right pane.
+If PDF indexing is not working properly, ensure that the indexing tools are installed in Zotero. On the [[preferences/search|Search pane]] of Zotero preferences, click the "Install PDF Tools" button. If installation fails, follow these [[pdf_fulltext_indexing|manual installation instructions]]. If the tools are already installed, click "Check for Update".
-Once PDF indexing is enabled, PDFs are automatically indexed as they are added to your library. PDFs that already existed in your library before you activated indexing can be indexed by going into the [[preferences/search|Search tab]] of the [[preferences|Zotero preferences]] window, and clicking the "Rebuild Index" and "Index Unindexed Items" buttons. Individual PDFs can also be (re)indexed by right-clicking them (control-click on OS X) in the center column of the Zotero pane and selecting "Reindex Item".
+If an item is still not being indexed (e.g., if it is not showing up not showing up an 'Everything' Quick Search), verify that the item has searchable text and that the text is properly stored in the PDF (e.g., try to copy text out of the document and ensure that it is high quality). If the PDF has valid text, rebuild the item's index by right-clicking on it and choosing "Reindex Item". If you are still having issues, please ask a question on the [[/forum|Zotero forums]].