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Searching for Help Topics 969
following table shows how you can use each of
these operators. If no operator is specified, A ND
is used. For example, the quer y "spacing border
printing" is equivalent to "spacing AND border
AND printing."
Search for Example Results
Both terms in
the same topic.
dib AND
palette
Topics containing both
the words "dib" and
"palette."
Either term in a
topic.
raster OR
vector
Topics containing either
the word "raster" or the
word "vector" or both.
The first term
without the
second term.
ole NOT dde Topics containing the
word "OLE," but not the
word "DDE."
Both terms in
the same topic,
close together.
user NEAR
kernel
Topics containing the
word "user" within
eight words of the word
"kernel."
Note: The |, &, and ! characters don’t work as
Boolean operators (you must use OR, AND, and
NOT).
Using Nested Expressions When
Searching
Nested expressions allow you to create complex
searches for information. For example, "control
AND ((active OR dde) NEAR window)" finds
topics containing the word "control" along with
the words "active" and "window" close together, or
containing "control" along with the words "dde"
and "window" close together.
The basic rules for searching help topics using
nested expressions are as follows:
• You can use parentheses to nest expressions
within a query. The expressions in parentheses
areevaluatedbeforetherestofthequery.
• Ifaquerydoesnotcontainanestedexpression,
it is evaluated from left to right. For example:
"Control NOT active OR dde" finds topics
containing the word "control" without the word
"active," or topics containing the word "dde."
On the other hand, "control NOT (active OR
dde)" finds topics containing the word "control"
withouteitherofthewords"active"or"dde."
• You cannot nest expressions more than five
levels deep.
Procedures
To go to a topic from the Search tab:
1.
Click the Search tab, and then type the word or
phrase you want to find.
2. ClicktheBooleanbuttontotherightofthe
text field, and then one of the operator names
to add Boolean operators to your search.
3. Click List Topics, choose the topic you want,
and then click Display.
4. To sort the topic list alphabetically, click the
Title column heading.
You can precisely define a search by using wildcard
expressions, nested expressions, and Boolean
operators.
You can request simi lar word matches, search only
the topic titles, or search the results of a previous
search.
You can set the Help Viewer to highli ght all
instances of search terms that are found in topic
files. Click the Options button, and then click
Search Highlight On.
To hi ghlight words i n sea rched topi cs:
When searching for words in help topics, you
can have each occurrence of the word or phrase
highlighted in the topics that are found.
• To high lig ht all instances of a search word or
phrase, click Options on the toolbar, and then
click Search Highlight On.
To turn off this option, click Options on the
toolbar, and then click Search Highlight Off.