Introduction
The Search Forms
Entering Data Into The Search Form
Searching The Directory
Controlling Your Search - The Search And Expand Options
Simple Search

The Search Form is the WebDUA's interface to users for entering their search criteria. It shows a list of search fields and optionally, a list of available options for controlling the search.

To perform a search, you place the cursor into the relevant input field (via a mouse operation or the tab key) and enter a search criteria. This may be a whole, or part of a surname, a given name, part of a location, or whatever is relevant to you. You then only have to press the "Show" button to start the search.

The WebDUA then starts searching its database and should return a summary of the matched entries to you for your perusal.

Data is entered in the Search Form by positioning the cursor on the desired input field and typing. Use tab, or a mouse action to move from field to field and Backspace to make corrections. All your input can be reset by pressing the "Clear" button.

To start the search, press the "Show" button. It makes no difference whether you use upper or lower case characters; matching is not case sensitive unless exact matching is specified.

Directory information is easily searched using the WebDUA. You can search for a person by entering his/her Surname, Given Name, Telephone number or any other pieces of relevant information. Once the entry is identified, the WebDUA allows you to move up and down the directory relative to the entry, quickly and easily.

The Search Fields
How To Make A Search
Advanced Searching

The Search Fields

The search fields contain two parts: the input field and the 'label' of the search field. This label may be shown as a pull-down list which you can use to customise your search. For example, if the "Postal Address" field is desired and it is not shown, you can get the "Postal Address" by pulling down an unused field and selecting the "Postal Address" label.

The WebDUA normally shows only the first five search fields, but allows up to eight search fields if you require the WebDUA to search on more than five search fields. The extra fields, if available, are labelled "------". They can be "activated" just like the normal fields by moving to it, clicking on the drop down list and selecting from the list the label you require.

How To Make A Search

A search on the directory data can be performed via the Search Form by filling in the available search fields and submitting the query. If matches can be found for the query, the WebDUA will present the matches one entry per line. To see complete information about any one of these entries, you need to select the entry and expand it by clicking on the first attribute of the entry.

Once the entry has been expanded, you can easily visit a superior entry by expanding any of the superiors, listed at the top of the Expand Form.

Similarly, you can also visit its subsidiaries (if available) by expanding any entry from the list of entries shown at the bottom of the Expand Form.

To make a new search, you have to

1. Either press the [Advanced Search] button at the top of the form or use the "back" button available from your browser.
2. Fill in necessary input fields.

   For example, to look for a person, you can type in their surname and/or their first name. To look for a unit, you use the Tab key, or the mouse to move to the unit field and type in the name or an abbreviation of the unit. Usually a single field will suffice. However, for common names, you may need to enter two or three fields. Continue to fill in fields in the form until you think you have entered enough information. You do not need to enter the information fully or accurately as the WebDUA supports a wide variety of approximate match techniques.

3. Press the "Show" button to begin searching.

   A summary of all matching entries should be listed.

Advanced Searching

Approximate Matching
Using Wildcards
Advanced Searching

Approximate matching
There is no need for you to enter an exact value when entering your search criteria into the Search Form. This is because the WebDUA will attempt a wide variety of approximate matching techniques automatically on your behalf if the value you specified doesn't produce an exact match:
Prefix Matching.
This will match entered data such as "black" against entries with a prefix such as "Blackwell", "Blackwood", etc.;
Phonetic Matching.
This will correct for misspellings that sound alike. Thus "cambel" will match "Campbell", "Gamble", etc.;
Typing Correction.
This will correct for simple typing mistakes, such as transposing two letters or leaving one out. Thus "cunninhgam" will match "Cunningham";
Keyword Matching.
This will match a single word against a multi-word value containing that word. It will do intelligent suffix stripping to get a match. Thus "optics" will match "Optical fibres";
Abbreviations And Synonyms.
This will match certain abbreviations and synonyms against their full values. Thus "HR" will match "Human Resources" and "bob" will match "Rob or Robert". Not all of these approximate matches are available on all attributes.

Wildcards

Another way of matching values is to use the wildcard character '*' in an input value to denote a match against any number of unknown characters.

Thus

• "jo*" matches all words starting with "JO";
• "j*n" matches all words starting with "J" and ending with "n";
• "*n" matches all words ending in "n".

Note that a trailing wildcard ( such as in "JO*" ) is often performed automatically as a prefix match.

Complex Searching

Besides the matching techniques outlined above, the WebDUA allows you to specify your search in a more complex manner. To utilise this feature, you merely have to enter the search criteria separated by a special character. The following outlines how to perform your complex searches:

Exact Match Using "=value"

If you want the WebDUA to return only those entries which match exactly your query value, put a "=" sign in front of your query value. For example, entering "=John" in the search input field will return only those "John" entries.

Less Than Match Using "<value"

If you want the WebDUA to return only those entries which are less than your query value, put a "<" in front of your query value. For example, entering "<John" in the search input field will return "Andrew", "Bretty"... etc.

Greater Than Match Using ">value"

If you want the WebDUA to return only those entries which are greater than your query value, put a ">" in front of your query value. For example, entering ">John" in the search input field will return "Peter", "Susan"... etc.

And Match Using "value1;value2"

If you want the WebDUA to return only those entries that match both of your supplied values, put a ";" between them. For example, entering "Allan;John" will return all entries with "Allan" and "John" in them.

Or Match Using "value1|value2"

If you want the WebDUA to return only those entries that match either of your two supplied values, put a "|" between them. For example, entering "Allan|John" will return all entries with either "Allan" or "John" in them.

Not Match Using "!value"

If you want the WebDUA to return only those entries that do not match your supplied value, put a "!" in front of the value. For example, entering "!Allan" will return all entries which do not have "Allan" in them.

You can mix and match all of above.

( Depending on your system configuration, the options outline below might not be available).

Max. Time Per Query


The time taken to return query results can be restricted by changing the value in the text field, to a specific time frame in seconds.

Max. # Of Entries To Return
You can set this to limit the maximum number of matches returned for your query.

The following options affect what will be displayed when an entry is expanded. A subordinate of an entry is an entry below the expanded entry in the Directory Information Tree and have entry(ies) under it. A leaf is an entry which does not have any entry under it in the Directory Information Tree.

Don't Show Subordinate
You select this so that the WebDUA will show only the details of the expanded entry.

Show Subordinate(s)
You select this so that the WebDUA will show the subordinates of the expanded entry in addition to the entry's details when the entry is expanded.

Show Subordinate(s) And Leaves
You select this so that the WebDUA will show all subordinates and leaves of the expanded entry in addition to the entry's detail when the entry is expanded.

Show Icon Only
You select this if you want to use icons ( wherever possible ) to describe the attributes of the expanded entry.

Show Label Only
You select this if you want to use a text description to describe the attributes of the expanded entry.

Show Both Icon And label
You select this if you want to use both an icon and descriptive text to describe the attributes of the expanded entry.

Show Full Details If Single Match
You select this if you want the WebDUA to automatically expand an entry if that entry is the only match found.

How To Use Simple Search
When Simple Search Is Available

How To Use Simple Search

Simple search is designed to act with similar functionality as the Surname/Name of Advanced Search.

To search:

1. Enter the name of the item or individual you would like to search on.
2. Press "Go", this will return all search results for that name or individual.
   

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When Simple Search Is Available



Simple Search is designed to be a quick way to search or re-search for a particular individual. Keeping this is mind the simple search is found on most pages.