Free Text Search

Search tries to match search terms against the values of indexed fields. For resources, this means that Search evaluates the value of all indexed resource attributes, from common attributes (except the resource type attribute) to attributes specific to a resource type. For services, this includes all page display names and service groups. For documentation, this includes the title and the contents of the topic. (Search doesn't query the topic description, topic category, or keyword metadata.)

To provide matching results to the text entered in a free text search, Search queries all indexed fields by applying the = (equals) operator to text that you specified. If you're familiar with advanced queries, the effect is the same as using a matching clause. For example, a free text search for the term "net" queries all resource types, service pages, and documentation for the string "net" in any indexed field. If the string appears as part or the whole of a value anywhere in an indexed field, Search considers the found item a matching result. Search doesn't require exact matching, but an exact match does improve a result's ranking.

If the free text search includes a delimiting character (for example, a hyphen), the delimiter causes Search to treat the text on either side of the delimiter as an independent search term. For example, a free text search for "2020-04" looks for the string "2020" and the string "04". If a potential result contains either string, then it's a match.

Free text search matches individual terms from the provided text. Search doesn't try to match specific combinations of characters that you might group by using quotes or by presenting terms in a specific order. Likewise, proximity of search terms doesn't matter. However, if you have more than one search term in a free text search, results that contain multiple matches to the search terms have a higher ranking in the search results.

Search evaluates each potential result for how closely it can match the search term or terms provided. Search also considers how many matches for the exact search term the result contains. Either a close match or multiple matching terms improves the result's ranking. A result's ranking in terms of match doesn't necessarily correlate to its order in a list of results.

When you search for services or documentation, exact matches occupy a higher rank in the results than partial matches. Services or documentation results with a higher rank are listed before results with a lower ranking in terms of match. When you search for resources, the order in which results are listed depends on whether you use the Console and what mode you use to find results. In the Console, in basic search mode, results are listed according to when the resource was created. Newer resources occupy a higher position in the list than older resources. In advanced query mode, results are listed in the order dictated by the sorted by clause. If you remove this clause, then results are listed in order according to best match.