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Expanded Searches

You can expand basic searches by using a topic or wildcard.

Searching With Topics

Submit concepts to the Verity Internet-style Query Parser by including topics in your query. A topic is a predefined query that defines information related to a concept or a subject area. (Topics, which are defined in advance by an administrator for your application, are available to all users for searching.)

The subject area of a topic is typically identified by its name, which may be a single word or a hyphenated word, such as domestic-violence. If you use a word in a query that matches an existing topic, you will find that your results list includes documents that contain more than just the word itself, because the Verity search engine automatically expands the search to include all the words defined as part of the topic called by that name.

Examples of Topics

The following table shows how the Verity Internet-style Query Parser interprets various queries when a topic named domestic-violence exists.
Search Term Interpreted as a Topic?
domestic-violence Yes
Domestic Violence Yes
"domestic violence" Yes
'domestic violence' No
domestic violence in America No

Tip If you do not want the Verity Internet-style Query Parser to expand the search by treating domestic-violence as a topic, you can limit the search to the exact word by placing it in single quotation marks.

Searching With Wildcards

You can use a wildcard character (*) if you are not sure of the spelling of your search term. The asterisk (*) substitutes for one or more characters.
Search Term Finds Pages That Contain
col*r The words color, colour, and other words that begin with col and end with r.


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