Performing Searches

This chapter provides overviews of entering a search request, search request processing, and search results and discusses how to:

• Submit search requests.

• Integrate Content Ratings with search result ratings.

Understanding Entering a Search Request

When you enter text for a search on the Search page, the search feature performs the following actions to optimize your search results:

1. Changes the case of the entered text to all uppercase characters.

   By default, the Verity search engine searches for all mixed-case variations when a query string is entered in all lowercase or all uppercase. However, search queries that are entered in mixed-case automatically become case-sensitive. The portal changes the case of the query string to all uppercase characters, prohibiting users from truly carrying out case-sensitive searches. This change avoids situations in which mixed-case searches would otherwise return no results. On the Search page, the original case is displayed for the user.

2. Formats the query string to pass to the Search API (application programming interface).

   The search feature filters out expired and hidden content references and content references that are not yet valid. It also performs additional security filtering by role for Managed Content, and thesaurus searching, if it’s enabled.

3. Calls the Portal Registry API.

   Security filtering is applied to the results that originated from the portal registry search index. Security is applied in PeopleCode by checking the Authorized property.

4. Formats and displays search results.

   PeopleCode retrieves the search collection result key, which is formatted according to the fields that are expected on the Search page. This action completes the user’s search request.

Understanding Search Request Processing

The following process occurs after you submit a search request:

1. The query text is submitted to the PeopleSoft web server from the Search field located in the portal header frame.

2. The query string is passed to the Search API, as a parameter named PortalSearchQuery, to find matching results.

   Searching within previous results is also passed as an option.

   The query string is applied to all available and relevant search indexes. If the scope is only the local site, then other indexes are ignored. If the scope is the entire portal, then all registry related search indexes are used.

3. The Portal Registry API filters the results for security through PeopleCode for the portal registry collection.

4. The results are filtered for security based on the roles defined by the search administrator, which are specified for the collections.

   Note. Additional security filtering is performed for Content Management results.
   
   Users must have member or viewer privileges to access the content, and only published content is displayed for News Publications, Categorized Content results, and managed content.

5. The Search page echoes the user’s original query string and displays a list of content that matches the request.

   Note. If the user clicks the Go button but does not enter a search query, the system displays the Search page without any results.

Understanding Header Search Results

The Search page displays these types of search results:

• Files

  Includes results from file system indexes and Managed Content documents. Click the link to open the document directly from your browser.

• URLs

  Includes results from HTTP spider indexes and managed content URLs. Click a link to open the URL inside the portal.

• Transactions

  Includes results from the portal registry index, record-based indexes, and Managed Content HTML or text. Click a link to open a specific PeopleSoft transaction or to display HTML or text content.

The purpose of a general search result is to display different types of information in view-only mode. On the Search page, you can view results from all index types, including managed content. Managed Content documents, URLs, HTML, and text are displayed for viewing purposes only.

Generating File System Search Index Results

To generate file system search index results, specify an alias in the Remap to URL field on the Filesystem Index page. For example, if the web server PSMITH has C:\files\mystuff aliased to MYSTUFF, then the Start Location field value would be set to C:\files\mystuff and the Remap to URL field value would be set to http://psmith/mystuff.

Generating Managed Content Search Index Results

Managed Content search results types include:

• Document.

  This link uses the View Attachment PeopleCode function to directly open an attached document.

• HTML/Text.

  This link points to a page that renders the HTML or text inside the portal in view-only mode.

• URL.

  This link points to a URL, which opens inside the portal when clicked.

Note. The search result link is generated differently depending on the content type.

Submitting Search Requests

This section discusses how to submit search requests.

Note. The Enterprise Portal Search page is an enhanced version of the standard Search Results page, which is discussed in the PeopleTools documentation.

See Also

Enterprise PeopleTools 8.48 PeopleBook: Using PeopleSoft Applications, “Using Keys and Search Pages,” Understanding Search Pages

Pages Used to Submit Search Requests

See Also

Using Saved Searches

Submitting Search Requests

Access the Search page.

Search Results

The Search Results scroll area displays the results of your search. Click a link to access content that matched your search criteria. If the content is a file, the system opens the file and displays it correctly by type by using the browser's plug-in settings. The Rating value represents the relevance rating for the content.

Note. Clicking a search result link opens a new window for the following: content outside of the current portal and header search results of a file system.

Integrating Content Ratings with Search Result Ratings

Select the Include Content Rating Results option on the Portal Solutions Installation Options page to indicate that you want to include content ratings results in the search relevance rating. If you don’t select the option, content ratings results are not used in the relevance rating.

Integrating results from content ratings into the Verity search results score enables past input to affect the outcome of searches. If a particular registered content reference was rated highly, it increases the content’s relevance rating on the Search page. The content may be ranked higher or lower than the initial Verity relevance score.

Only results from content ratings feed into the search relevance rating. This feature allows content to be rated between 1 and 5. A rating of 3 is considered average and does not affect the Verity score. A rating of 1 or 2 decreases the Verity score; a rating of 4 or 5 increases it.

This formula is used to calculate the adjusted score:

(Adjusted Score) = (Verity Score) + (0.05 x (Content Ratings Score − 3)) x (1 − Verity Score)

Verity Score represents the unadjusted Verity relevance rating, Content Ratings Score is the content rating (1 through 5). The magnitude of the score adjustment is inversely proportional to the original Verity rating.

The Search page displays the combined relevance score for each result. Only content ratings for the current user are considered when adjusting the score.