Refining a Search

It's easy to refine a query to get precisely the results you want. Here are some effective techniques to try:

Identify a phrase.

Before: Artix Container running
After: "Artix Container" running
The Before query is ambiguous. Identifying "Artix Container" as a phrase eliminates the ambiguity. This is the most powerful query refinement technique.

Add a discriminating word or a phrase.

Before: ""Artix Container" running
After: "Artix Container" running port
The Before query is ambiguous. Adding port makes the query less ambiguous. You'll get more total matches (because the query is broadened with an additional term), but the relevance ranking will be better.

Capitalize when appropriate.

Before: orbix, corba event service, iiop, chris horn
After: Orbix, CORBA Event Service, IIOP, Chris Horn
These examples, when all lower case, have a variety of possible interpretations. For example, without capitalization, corba event could refer to a marketing event and not to the CORBA Event Service. Capitalization reduces the ambiguity. It is always a good idea to capitalize proper names.

Use a require or reject operator (+,-).

Before: Locator
After: Locator, +Orbix -Artix
Locator alone is ambiguous. Does it mean the Orbix or the Artix locator. You can use the reject operator (the "minus" sign) to eliminate the Artix interpretation. Or, you can require that the word "Orbix" be in the document. The After version above does both.

Use a field specifier.

Before: Session Manager
After: Session Manager title:Artix
If you are looking for a particular page and you know the title, use the title: field specifier to search for that the word or phrase in the title of the page. See Special Searches for more information on field specifiers.

Use the Support drop-down list.

When browsing the IONA Support pages, you can use a drop-down list to narrow your search to particular parts of the site. See Search Tips for details of using the options in this list.