Custom Searches

You may want to completely customize the query acquisition forms to express the query in terms your users understand. For example, you may wish to employ a fill-in-the-blanks form approach coupled with the Perceptive Enterprise Search field-level search capability.

An example of such a form is shown below:

In this example the user completes whatever fields they wish. On submitting the form Perceptive Enterprise Search generates an appropriate Perceptive Enterprise Search "IN" search command.

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>Author:</td>
    <td><input name="IW_FIELD_IN_AUTHOR"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Description:</td>
    <td><input name="IW_FIELD_IN_DESCR"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Reference Number:</td>
    <td><input name="IW_FIELD_IN_REF"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Commentary:</td>
    <td><input name="IW_FIELD_IN_COMMENT"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Classification:</td>
    <td>
      <select name="IW_FIELD_IN_CLASSIF">
        <option value="HIGH">High classification</option>
        <option value="MED">Medium classification</option>
        <option value="LOW">Low classification</option>
      </select>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

Note that a number of IW_FIELD_IN_xxxx entries are employed. Each one is the name of an input box. Wherever a field has been filled in by the user Perceptive Enterprise Search generates an appropriate "IN" clause. If multiple such fields are completed on a single form Perceptive Enterprise Search combines them with the AND operator.

For example, if the user typed "Smith" in the Author box and "Fiction" in the Description box, Perceptive Enterprise Search would generate the following query command:

(SMITH IN AUTHOR) AND (FICTION IN DESCR)

Note that the name of the Perceptive Enterprise Search field to search within is comprised of the HTML field name and the value of which to search. These may be obtained by any valid means such as an input text box or a drop-down combo-box as shown above.

Although the above example uses a one-step process, where the user completes the desired fields and clicks the OK button, you could also choose to have an iterative approach. Placing an "OR" button next to the OK button and including an IW_FIELD_TEXT field to support the iteration.