Tips for Searching
The Technical Digest full text search utilizes Microsoft Index Server to search the complete text of articles stored on-line in the Adobe Acrobat format (pdf).The Miscellanea section of the Technical Digest is the section of each issue devoted to a listing of publications, presentations and colloquia to which APL authors have contributed. By selecting the "Technical Digest articles only" or the "Technical Digest Miscellanea Only" options, the search can be set to exclude or include this section. This can be useful if you wish to limit your name search to just names that appear in Technical Digest Articles, or if you wish to find only the publications or presentations listed in the Miscellanea sections for a given name.
The author and title searches search against a SQL database of article information.
The author and title searches may retrieve database records for which there is no on-line text. If the article is on-line, the title will be hyperlinked to the available pdf file.
Author Searching
Authors can be searched using just a last name, or if the the initials are known, the last name plus initials in the form:J. D. Doe
Note that there is a space between the first and second initial, as well as between the second initial and last name.
Boolean searching is also available for authors. Entering 'Doe and Smith' will retrieve articles for which both Doe and Smith are listed as authors.
Title Searching
A word or phrase contained in the title can be used, as well as the exact title or start of title, if known. Truncation is automatic; i.e., entering just "Magnetosphere" will retrieve any title with Magnetosphere or Magnetospheres anywhere in the title.Boolean searching will also work with title searches.
Full Text Searching
At its simplest, a query can be just a word or a phrase. But with the tips on this page, you can expand the focus of your query to give you more complete results. These tips will get you started with basic query language and acquaint you with the full power of Microsoft Index Server.
Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type key* to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on.
Search for all forms of a word. For example, in the form type sink** to find sink, sinking, sank, and sunk.
Search with the keyword NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. For example, both of these queries, system and manager and system near manager, look for the words system and manager on the same page. But with NEAR, the returned pages are ranked in order of proximity: The closer together the words are, the higher the rank of that page.
Refine your queries with the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text from your search. For example, if you want to find all instances of surfing but not the Net, write the following query:
surfing AND NOT the Net
Abbott OR Costello
This query finds all pages that mention Abbott or Costello or both.
Put quotation marks around keywords if you want Index Server to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:
"system near manager"
Index Server will literally look for the complete phrase system near manager. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:
system near manager
Index Server searches all documents for the words system and manager.