How to Use Efficient Search Syntax

Search syntax differs depending on what type of search you are using.

Operators in Searches

You can use operators to combine terms and phrases, making your search more efficient.

A term is a single word, such as sales or analysis.
A phrase is a group of words surrounded by double quotes, such as "sales analysis".

You can use the following operators in searches:

Operators must be typed in all capital letters such as AND, not and or And.

OR: The default operator, used if terms are not separated by an operator. OR links terms and finds a matching object if any of the terms exist.

To search for objects that contain either the term SALES or the term REVENUE, type either sales revenue or sales OR revenue in the Search field.

AND: Finds objects where both terms exist anywhere in the object's name.

To search for objects that contain both SALES and REVENUE, type sales AND revenue in the Search field.

+ (the plus sign): Requires that the term exists in the object's name. The required term must be typed after the +.

To search for objects that contain SALES and could also contain REVENUE, type +sales revenue in the Search field.

NOT: Excludes objects that contain the term in the object's name. The search must contain a term to search for, as well as the term to exclude.

To search for objects that contain SALES but not REVENUE, type sales NOT revenue in the Search field.

- (the minus sign): Excludes objects that contain the term in the object's name. The search can use only the excluded term, unlike a search using the NOT operator.

To search for objects that do not contain REVENUE, type -revenue in the Search field.

If you need to search for a special character, such as + or -, type a backslash (\) before the character. This indicates that the character is part of the search, not used as operator. For example, to search for RATING +A -A REPORT, type rating \+A \-A report.

Operators and Wildcard Characters in Searches in View Filters

You can use wildcard characters, such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?), to represent one or more characters when you are typing search terms. Wildcard characters are often used in place of one or more characters when you do not know what the actual character is or you do not want to type the entire name.

Use the asterisk (*) to substitute for one or more characters.

Enter sales* to locate all words that contain the word sales. The location of the asterisk is important: sales* might bring back salesman, or sales tax, but it would not find dollar sales. To locate dollar sales, you could type * sales.

Use the question mark (?) to replace one character.

Enter sal?, to locate words like sale, or sal2, but not sales, since there are two extra characters in that term and the question mark only replaces one of them.

Examples of correct and efficient search syntax in view filters

The following examples assume that the attribute Name has two display (browse) forms: First and Last. First refers to the first name and Last refers to the last name.

Search keywords that do not include wildcards have wildcards added at the beginning and the end.

User Input: aaa

Filter: First Name like "*aaa*" or Last Name like "*aaa*"

Any text that is included inside of double quotes is treated as a literal comparison. For example:

User Input: "aaa"

Filter: First Name = "aaa" or Last Name = "aaa"
If you include wildcards, then MicroStrategy Web does not add any. For example:

User Input: aaa*

Filter: First Name like "aaa" or Last Name like "aaa"

User input: a*aa

Filter: First Name like "a*aa" or Last Name like "a*aa"

A blank space, a comma, or the word OR indicates a logical OR between two conditions. An OR is placed in between multiple forms.

User Input: aaa* *bbb User Input: aaa*,*bbb User Input: aaa* OR *bbb

Filter: (First Name like "aaa*" or Last Name like "aaa*") OR (First Name like "*bbb" or Last Name like "*bbb")

An ampersand symbol (&) or the word AND indicates a logical AND between two conditions. An OR is placed between multiple forms.

User Input: "aaa"&"bbb" User Input: "aaa" AND "bbb"

Filter: (First Name = "aaa" or Last Name = "aaa") AND (First Name = "bbb" or Last Name ="bbb")

A minus symbol (-) or the word NOT indicates a logical AND NOT between two conditions. If the - operator or the NOT operator is placed at the beginning of the search test, the operator is used as NOT. If the - operator or the NOT operator is placed at the end of the search text, the operator is ignored.

User Input: "aaa" NOT "bbb"

Filter: (First Name = "aaa" or Last Name = "aaa") AND NOT (First Name = "bbb" or Last Name = "bbb")

User Input: -"aaa"

Filter: NOT (First Name = "aaa" or Last Name = "aaa")

User Input: "aaa" AND "bbb" NOT

Filter: (First Name = "aaa" or Last Name = "aaa") AND (First Name = "bbb" or Last Name = "bbb")

A form name (not case-sensitive) followed by a colon can be used to search on a specific form.

User Input: [Last]:aaa

Filter: Last Name like "aaa"

User Input: [First]:aaa OR [Last]: bbb OR ccc

Filter: (First Name like "*aaa*") or (Last Name like "*bbb*") or (First Name like "*ccc*" or Last Name like "*ccc*)

A minus symbol (-) or the word NOT indicates a logical AND NOT between two conditions. If the - operator or the NOT operator is placed at the beginning of the search text, the operator is used as NOT. If the - operator or the NOT operator is placed at the end of the search text, the operator is ignored.

User Input: "aaa" NOT "bbb"

Filter: (First Name = "aaa" or Last Name = "aaa") AND NOT (First Name ="bbb" or Last Name = "bbb")

User Input: - "aaa"