[SEARCHmate]

SEARCHmate Databases

This is the first of 3 files in this section.

This Section Covers --

About SEARCHmate                     Sorting Documents 
Accessing SEARCHmate Databases       Creating Columnar Reports 
Exiting SEARCHmate Databases         Printing with SEARCHmate
On-line Help                           Creating a Print File
SEARCHmate Terminology                   Columnar Report Print File
Using SEARCHmate                         RESULTS List Print File
Searching for Data                       Single Document Print
Word Search                              Printing several documents
  Previewing a Word Search               to a Print File
  Performing a Word Search                 Formatted Text Files
Formatted Field Search                     Unformatted Text Files
    Finding Formatted Fields            Printing to Your Printer
    Selecting an Operator            Emailing Documents to Yourself
  
    Literals
Viewing Documents
Advanced Search Techniques
  Complex Searches
  Logical Connectors
  Learned Searches
  Replaying a Learned Search Session
  Recalling Commands and Results

About SEARCHmate

This section applies to all SEARCHmate databases found on the Technet network. Technet services that use SEARCHmate databases are identified in their respective documentation sections by this symbol:

On-line Help

Help is available at any time from the MAIN MENU or the SEARCH MENU by typing "H" and pressing [Enter].

Type: Topic_number and press [Enter] for information about the desired topic. Press [F4] to Exit Help.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER DATABASE                HELP MENU                       
                                                                            
GETTING STARTED                          SORT MENU                 
  1. What is SEARCHmate                   13. How to sort documents  
  2. What is a SEARCHmate document                                   
  3. Keyboard layout and function keys   BROWSE MENU                 
  4. Correcting typing errors             14. Browse documents on the screen
  5. SEARCHmate menus                     15. Copy document text into a file
                                          16. Create a columnar report   
SEARCH MENU                               17. Print documents or document list
  6. Overview of a search session                                           
  7. Searching for words                 MISCELLANEOUS CONCEPTS               
  8. Searching for phrases                18. Multiple concurrent sessions
  9. Searching fields                     19. Printing on the terminal printer
 10. Retrieve a single document                                             
 11. Learn/Replay mode                                                      
 12. Hints for using Learn/Replay                                           
                                                                            
 _____________________________________________  ______  ______  ______  ______
|Key in the number of the topic for which     || Main ||      ||      || Exit |
|you want information and press RETURN        || Menu ||      ||      || Help |
|_____________________________________________||______||______||______||______|
                                                  F1      F2      F3      F4

SEARCHmate Terminology

SEARCHmate uses some special terminology which you may be unfamiliar with.

The list below defines some terms you will need.

Search Words -   Words you tell SEARCHmate to look for in the Search
                 Dictionary.

Stop Words -     Words that SEARCHmate ignores, including 
                 conjunctions, articles, and propositions.  These
                 words are not in the Search Dictionary.

Connectors -     Also known as logical connectors.  They are words
                 that you can use to link search words or different  
                 types of searches together.

Search Session - The period from the time you select the search menu
                 until you move to another menu.

Results List -   The list of documents that SEARCHmate retrieves
                 during a search session.  It exists until you exit
                 the search menu.

Hit -            The occurrence of a search word in a document. 
                 There can be more than one hit in a document.

Using Searchmate

All SEARCHmate databases search for and retrieve data in the same way. The information available depends on which database you have chosen.

Searching For Data

SEARCHmate offers two ways of searching for data:

Word Search

The simplest search is a word search. Simply type a single word that is pertinent to the subject you are interested in and press [Enter]. A list of documents containing the word you typed will appear. There are several variations on performing a word search which will make your
search more precise and take less time.

Formatted Field Search

Data in a database is contained in fields. A field contains a single piece of information such as a birthdate, address, name, etc. Sometimes names can be split into three fields; one for the first name, one for the middle initial and one for the last name. City, State and Zip Code can be either one field or three. These are formatted fields. Formatted fields contain a structure which defines the maximum number of characters they can accept and the type of data that is entered. There are several field types. Below are three:

Alpha      characters only

Numeric    numbers only (used for performing calculations)

Date       dates (calculations can be performed on date fields too)

Formatted Field searches in SEARCHmate are performed by typing:

the field name
an "operator" (the operator defines the parameters of the search)
the "literal" or specific information (word or phrase) you are looking for

Formatted field searches are more precise than word searches.

The following section explain how to perform both types of searches.