Run an advanced search

AODocs provides advanced ways of searching and filtering files in your libraries. You can search documents by filtering on views and you can use search operators to focus your search on a specific property or combination of properties.

Learn more: Use beta views in your AODocs libraries.

This article covers advanced search queries with filters and boolean operators. Learn more about the basic AODocs search feature: Search for documents in your AODocs library.

Note: When searching in a view where the Display documents from other classes feature is enabled, using the advanced search operators described in this article will automatically filter out documents that are not in the view's main document class. Learn more: Configure views in your library and Manage views in your library.

This article explains how to:

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Search for a property with (or without) a specific value

Note: The basic AODocs search includes a search for document properties by keyword. Learn more: Search for documents in your AODocs library.

1. To search for a property with a specific value, enter the property name and the value in the search bar separated by a colon.
For example: Status:Published

To search for a property that does not contain a specific value, enter the property name and the value in the search bar separated by a colon and add a minus sign or NOT before.
For example: -Status:Published

If the property name contains more than one word, use double quotes. If the property value contains more than one word, there is no need to use double quotes. 

For example: -"Document Status": Initial state or NOT "Document Status": Initial state

Note: The property name is case sensitive and must match exactly what is defined in your document class. The property value isn't case sensitive and supports only searches for complete words or strings. 
In the example below, results are found if you search for:
– "Type of service": basic (or "Type of service": Basic)
– "Type of service": premium (or "Type of service": Premium)
– "Type of service": service (or "Type of service": Service)
However, no results are found if you search for:
– "type of Service": basic
– "Type of service": bas

2. Choose to search in properties and attachments.

3. Click the search button or press Enter.

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Search for date properties

You can search for dates defined in the document’s properties.

1. Enter a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format.

2. Choose to search in properties and attachments.

3. Click the search button or press Enter.

The search results display all the documents that have one ore more properties set with the date you entered.

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4. To narrow your search down to a specific property with a specific date, enter the property name and the date in the search bar separated by a colon. If the property name contains more than one word, surround it by double quotes.

For example: "Invoice date": 2024-01-04

You can also use the relational operators < , <= , > , >= to perform an advanced search on date properties.

For example, to search for all documents with the "Invoice date" property set with a date on or before 4 May 2022, enter: “Invoice date”<=2022-05-04.

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Search for numerical properties

You can search for values defined in decimal or integer type numerical properties:

1. Enter the property name and the numerical value query in the search bar separated by a colon. If the property name contains more than one word, surround it by double quotes.

You can also use the relational operators < , <= , > , >= to perform an advanced search on numerical properties.

For example, to search for all documents that have the "Amount" property set with a value greater than 200, enter: Amount>200

2. Choose to search in properties and attachments.

3. Click the search button or press Enter.

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Search for system properties and custom properties

You can search for documents by the following system properties:

    • title:[text]
      Search all or part of the title of the document.
    • class:[document class]
      Search for documents of a specific document class.
    • creation_date:[YYYY-MM-DD]
      Search for documents created on a specific date.
    • last_update_date:[YYYY-MM-DD]
      Search for documents last updated on a specific date.
    • created_by:[email address]
      Search for documents created by a specific person.
    • updated_by:[email address]
      Search for documents last updated by a specific person.
    • state:[workflow status]
      Search for documents in a given workflow state (if you have set up a workflow in your library). Use the exact name of your workflow state. You can use quotes.

In addition to the searches for custom properties with specific values, date values and numerical values, you can use these search criteria:

    • incomplete:true (or incomplete:false)
      search for documents that have (or do not have) missing values for mandatory properties
    • invalidValues: true (or invalidValues:false)
      search for documents that have (or do not have) one or more invalid property values
    • empty:[propertyname]
      search for documents that have no value set for a given property
    • hasEvaluationError: true (or hasEvaluationError: false)
      search for documents that have (or do not have) a calculation error in one or more formulas used to calculate property values or the title – learn more: Handle errors in conditional logic

    • notEmpty:[propertyname]
      search for documents that have a value set for a given property

Combine search operations using boolean operators

All search operations can be combined using the boolean operators AND, NOT and OR to perform a range of search functionalities. The boolean operators must be in upper case.

For example, to search for all documents with the "Amount" property set with a value greater than 200 and with one or more mandatory properties not filled in, enter:

Amount>200 AND incomplete:true

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To run a search on properties and a keyword simultaneously, use parentheses to separate the property and the keyword search.

For example, to search for documents with the Amount property set with a value greater than 200 and with one or more mandatory properties not filled in, and also for documents that contain the word Department, enter:

(Amount>200 AND incomplete:true) OR Department

image05.png 

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Comments

4 comments
  • Search for 1234 returns plenty of extra results where the filename does not contain 1234. For the extras 1234 appears inside the file, which is helpful sometimes, and overwhelming sometimes. 

    When you want to limit the search to just filenames/titles the syntax explained on this page doesn't always work: for me title:1234 often returns zero results in AODocs.  When it doesn't work I assume the property did not get filled in during import to AODocs. 

    ...I discovered that title:1234 works great in Google Drive (searching the same folders that AODocs searches). It limits the results appropriately. 

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  • Hi Team,

    Is it possible to specify that you have supplied the full value in your search operator and require an exact match when working with a string?

    So if for example I have a document for each point of the compass and the interim points (North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West and North West) and I want to search for "North" and return the document for 'North' only but not return the documents for 'North West' or 'North East'? Can that be done?

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  • You can try the following:
    "Cardinal points":North AND NOT "Cardinal points":"North West" AND NOT "Cardinal points":"North East"

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  • Ok, works in this simple example. But if I had hundreds of documents and I didn't know all the combinations of "North [xyz]" then could I force it to accept only "North"?

    I.e. "North" AND NOT [anything else]?

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