CATSWeb Full Text Search

Introduction

As organizations utilize CATSWeb for more and more business processes, the quantity and importance of unstructured data continues to increase. Unstructured data includes free-form information contained in memo fields, notes, attached files, and related documents and data stored in file shares and external information systems. CATSWeb users and other knowledge workers need an easy, powerful and quick way to locate and utilize this information.

CATSWeb’s traditional SQL-based querying techniques are extremely adept at finding structured (fielded) information in database records, but are less effective in locating unstructured information. CATSWeb Full Text Search provides a powerful new way to quickly search for and find structured or unstructured data, inside or outside the CATSWeb system.

Key Features of CATSWeb Full Text Search

• Searches have enterprise-wide and global reach. A single search may span across:
  
  • All live and archived CATSWeb records: Issues, Notes, Links, Electronic Signatures, etc.
    
  • The contents of File Attachments, to allow searching within attached MS Office, PDF, XML or other document types.
    
  • CATSWeb help files and related documentation.
    
  • Data from ERP, MES, CRM or other information systems that are data linked to CATSWeb.
    
  • External files and documents, such as standard operating procedures, test data files, etc.
    
  • Other search engines, information portals and data repositories linked via Web services technology: Google, Ovid, Factiva, HighBeam Research, etc.
    
• Search results from all sources are integrated into a common results display.
  
  
• Simple, natural language searches may be performed from any page header. The “search box” paradigm is well known and intuitive, requiring virtually no user training.
  
  
• Advanced Searches may be executed, saved and reused. Advanced Search capabilities include:
  
  • Fuzzy searches, which allow information to be located even when spelling or typographical errors are present. The level of fuzziness is configurable by the user.
    
  • Wildcard searches, in which parts of words or phrases may be located wherever they occur.
    
  • Concept or synonym searches using a built-in thesaurus and related words collection. For example, a related word search on string would also find violin, since violins use strings.
    
  • Stemming searches, which find grammatical or verb-tense variations in search terms. For example, a search for apply will also find applies, applying and applied.
    
  • Phonic (homonym) searches, which find words that sound the same as the search term.
    
  • Proximity searches, which allow words or phrases to be located when they occur near other words or phrases. “Nearness” may be precisely specified (number of words, before or after, etc.).
    
  • Regular expression searches, which enable precise pattern matching. For example, a search could locate all items containing phone numbers in a particular area code, or all references to part numbers having a particular pattern.
    
  • Numeric range searches, which allow numbers within a given range to be found within free-form text.
    
  • Boolean searches, which allow sophisticated searches to be contructed using boolean terms such as And, Or, Not, Contains, etc.
    
  • Field searches, in which terms may be sought only when they occur in particular fields. Fields may be referenced by their actual data table field name or by their caption, even if the same caption is used for different data table fields on different forms or record types.
    
  • Weighted searches, which allow the user to specify a different weighting for each of their search terms.
    
    
• Search results are user configurable in terms of ordering, column sets and presentation. A relevance score (0-100%) is automatically calculated for each result. Links allow the user to jump directly to the actual records or documents found, regardless of location.
  
  
• Records and documents may be viewed in HTML format with search terms highlighted. A variety of file formats are supported, including MS Office, Adobe Acrobat (PDF), XML, WordPerfect, etc. This capability also allows users to view file attachments in HTML format from CATSWeb Record View pages, even when a search was not used to locate the record. Search term highlighting techniques are fully configurable, allowing compliance with Section 508.
  
  
• True Zero Client administration of all Full Text Search features, including:
  
  • Scheduling and management of automated jobs that build and maintain the full text indexes.
    
  • Robust user permissions and restrictions that allow fine-grained access rights to be configured for users or collections of users. Access to each index and results column may be individually permitted or restricted, and boolean search restrictions may be used to limit the records or documents retrieved in searches.
    
  • Configuration and management of search templates, custom indexes, and custom search providers.
    
  • Fields may be included or excluded in searchable indexes on a per-field and per-form basis.
    
    
• International Language Support – Word stemming rules and noise (“stop”) word lists are configurable and language dependent. In addition to standard English, AssurX offers pre-configured language extension packs for language-specific indexing and searching. Supported languages include Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Dutch. Contact AssurX to determine the availability of other languages.