Full-Text Search (Enterprise)
Users of the Enterprise version of dbFront 1.1.3 have direct access to the Full-Text search functionality found in MySQL, Oracle and SQL Server.
dbFront automatically detects and uses any Full-Text indexes that are configured on table columns. Full-Text search works at both the Simple Search (table) and Advanced Search (field) levels. If a user enters a Simple Search query in the table then dbFront will automatically query all appropriate Full-Text indexed fields along with all of the columns in the table grid. If a user uses Advanced Search then dbFront will automatically submit the query to use a Full-Text index if present.
Note: Full-Text search must be enabled at the database level and/or specialized indexes must be created in order for full-text search to work.
Default Full-Text Search
By default, dbFront treats all searches in the Simple Search box and the appropriate Advanced Search fields as an AND search. If the search string is "John Smith", then it will only return records where both "John" and "Smith" were found in that record, or if specified, in that field. In addition, dbFront will treat the keywords as prefixes so that "John" will also match "Johnny" and "Johnson", and where "Smith" will also match "Smithville" and "Smithy".
This matches the standard dbFront search functionality and is easy to understand and use.
LIKE Search (Bypass Full-Text)
Sometimes it is necessary to revert to a standard LIKE search. For example, a full-text search can't find embedded text or words that were not properly split. A full-text search for "Text" will not find "FullText", but a LIKE search on "%Text%" will.
To trigger a LIKE search, prefix the search text with "L:" or include "%". NOTE: Oracle uses "%" as a full-text wildcard so it will not trigger a LIKE search.
Note & Warning:
- A LIKE search has no access to document blobs and so reverting to a LIKE might inadvertently exclude documents.
- Unlike a Full-Text search, a LIKE search of "%Text%" will trigger a full table scan which could cause serious performance issues on large tables.
Advanced Full-Text Search
As soon as dbFront sees any advanced search operator then it will pass the query directly to your database. You can also force dbFront to use a specific search mode by preceding the search string with one of the mode hints below.
- MySql Full-Text Search can be run in three different modes:
- Oracle Text Search has a single flexible mode:
- SQL Server Full-Text Search can be run in two different modes: