Search Syntax

The search syntax gives you more flexibility when creating searches, through the use of operators, wildcards and search filters. Although it is possible to perform most searches without using search syntax, this capability provides additional options for more powerful searching.

Performing Search Syntax Searches

To perform a search syntax search, click Search Filters next to the search box at the top of the Folder Browser. The Search Filters pane will open. In the Search Filters option, select Add Filter, select Search Syntax, and then click OK. You can then type the desired search syntax in the Search Syntax box. See Search Syntax Reference, below, for more information about individual search types.

Search Syntax Considerations

When using search syntax, keep the following in mind:

Multiple search syntaxes can be combined in a single search.
Use operators to combine different search syntaxes.
Parentheses and the order in which the search syntax is listed determine how the search syntax will be interpreted. For example, each of the following will produce different search results:

(A & B) | C
A & (B | C)
C | A & B

Search syntax supports the use of wildcards (i.e., *, ?, [], and -).
Characters that are neither in the alphabet nor are a number can only be searched upon if enclosed in double quotation marks. There are four exceptions to this rule: #, $, %, &.
- For example, searching for "in the city, a car" will return any one of the following results:
  - in the city? A car
  - in the city. A car
  - in the city! A car
  - in the city a car
- In other words, the search will return any result that has non-alphanumeric character in the place of the original non-alphanumeric character (in this case the comma) or it will ignore the delimiter altogether.
If other search filters are used, a document or folder will not qualify as a search result unless it meets all of the specified criteria.

Viewing the Search Syntax for an Search

When performing an search, you can view the search syntax for the search as you create it. To do so, open Search Filters and click Show search syntax at the bottom of the dialog box. This will display the syntax for the search you currently have configured. As you make edits to your search, the syntax will automatically be updated. This is a useful way to learn how to create a search syntax search. You can also copy the syntax from this box and paste it into the Search syntax search option, and then fine-tune it without having to write the syntax from scratch.

Search Syntax Reference

For each search type, the sections below will provide the basic syntax and one or more examples.(See Records Management Search Syntax Reference, below, for information about records management searches.)

Annotation Comments Search Syntax

This search type searches for the comments associated with annotations in your documents. Annotation comment searches search across all types of annotations.

By default, an annotation comment search with multiple words will match any annotation comment that contains both words, even if they are not present as that exact phrase. To search for an exact phrase, enclose it in single quotes within the double quotes of the syntax.

Annotation comment:

{LF:AnnComment~="Value"}

Annotation Content Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for text contained in sticky notes, callout text, comments, and text boxes.

By default, an annotation content search with multiple words will match any annotation comment that contains both words, even if they are not present as that exact phrase. To search for an exact phrase, enclose it in single quotes within the double quotes of the syntax.

Any text annotation (sticky note, callout text, or text box):

{LF:AnnText~="Value", Type=Type}

Type is optional, and can be set to S, T, and/or C for sticky notes, text boxes, or callout text respectively. If the Type parameter is omitted, the search will be performed on all three annotation types.

Sticky note:

{LF:Sticky~="Value"}

Callout text:

{LF:Callout~="Value"}

Text box:

{LF:Textbox~="Value"}

Value is the annotation text to be searched for; it must be enclosed by quotation marks.

Creation and/or Modification Date Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to find items created or modified on a certain date.

Creation date:

{LF:Created="mm/dd/yyyy"}

Modification date:

{LF:Modified="mm/dd/yyyy"}

Note: Valid month/day/year search patterns are: mm/dd/yyyy, mm/dd/yy, mm/yyyy, and mm/yy. The order in which the month, day, and year are specified is determined by the short date format of your browser.

Document Relationship Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to perform searches for documents that have been linked together.

Document relationship:

This search will return entries given either side of a specific document relationship. This search will return at least two entries.

{LF:Relation = "Relationship Name"}

Relationship Name is the name of the document relationship being searched for; the name must be enclosed by quotation marks.

Source relationship:

This search will only return entries given the source relationship half of a document relationship.

{LF:RelationSRC = "Relationship Name"}

Relationship Name is the name of the source side of the document relationship being searched for; the name must be enclosed by quotation marks.

Reverse relationship:

This search will only return entries given the reverse relationship half of a document relationship.

{LF:RelationDST = "Reverse Relationship Name"}

Reverse Relationship Name is the name of the reverse side of the document relationship being searched for; the name must be enclosed by quotation marks.

Note: Relationship and reverse relationship names are configured in Repository Administration.

Electronic File Type Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for electronic documents associated with electronic files with specific file extensions.

Electronic file extension:

{LF:Ext="Extension"}

Entry ID Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents or folders by their entry ID, a unique number assigned to each document and folder in a Laserfiche repository.

Entry ID:

{LF:ID = EntryID}

The entry ID of a particular document or folder can be found by selecting the Metadata tab of the right pane in either the Document Viewer or Folder Browser. Click Show advanced to display the entry ID.

Entry Name Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to look for all entries with a particular name. Entry name search is performed as an exact search unless you use wildcards.

Entries with a specific name

{LF:Name="EntryName", Type=Type}

Entries whose parent folder has a specific name

{LF:ParentName="EntryName"

Folders containing entries with a specific name

{LF:ChildName="EntryName", Type=Type}

EntryName is the name of the document or folder you want to search for; the value must be enclosed in quotation marks.

The Type parameter is optional and should be set to the type of entries that you want to be included in the search results. This parameter can be set to include any combination of folders (F), documents (D), shortcuts (S), etc. that you want to include. Note that the ParentName search does not support the Type parameter, as parents are always folders. The following table explains the acceptable values for the Type parameter:

Type Parameter Values for Entry Name Search
Value	Description
D	Documents
B	Documents without templates
F	Folders
S	Shortcut

Folder Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to find items located in a particular folder.

Folder:

{LF:Lookin="Path", Subfolders=Y/N}

Path represents the folder path searched, and must be enclosed by quotation marks.

Subfolders is an optional term; it determines whether subfolders of the specified folder path will also be searched. This parameter can be set to "Y" for yes or "N" for no. The default is “yes”; if the term is omitted, subfolders will be searched.

Full-Text Search Syntax

One of the benefits of using search syntax to perform text searches is performing more complex text searches, such as searching for multiple words or phrases.

To perform a simple text search, type the word you want to search for. To search for the word pruning, type the following:

pruning

To search for a phrase, enclose it in quotes. To search for the phrase “pruning shears” type the following:

“pruning shears”

You can make searches more powerful by combining words or phrases with operators. To find all documents that pertain to "pruning" and contain the word "maple" or "cherry," you would use one of the following:

pruning & (maple | cherry)
(maple | cherry) & pruning

In the search criteria specified above, the pipe "|" represents "OR" and the ampersand "&" represents "AND." In the above example, the order in which search criteria are listed does not matter, however, in other cases, the order can make a huge difference. If you remove the parentheses from the above example, you end up with the following:

pruning & maple | cherry

This would find all documents containing the words "pruning" and "maple." It would also find all documents that contain the word "cherry."

maple | cherry & pruning

This would find all documents containing the word "maple." It would also find all documents that contain the words "cherry" and "pruning."

Proximity searches can also be performed using search syntax. To specify a proximity search, separate two phrases with a caret (^) followed by the maximum number of words that can come between the two phrases. If you were only interested in documents where the word "pruning" occurs within 15 words of either the word "maple" or "cherry," you would use one of the following:

(maple | cherry) ^15 pruning
pruning ^15 (maple | cherry)

Image Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents that do or do not contain image pages.

Image page:

{LF:Img=Y/N}

This search parameter can be set to "Y" for yes or "N" for no.

Searchable Text Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents by whether searchable text has been generated for them or not.

Searchable text:

{LF:OCR=All/Some/None}

The following table explains the acceptable values for the OCR parameter of the searchable text search.

Values for Searchable Text Search
Value	Description
All	Only documents where all pages have been processed by OCR will be considered valid search results.
Some	Documents where at least one page but not all pages have been processed by OCR will be considered valid search results.
None	All documents without a single page that has been processed by OCR will be considered valid search results.

Location Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents within a specified distance of a particular location, or by location description. Locations in search syntax use GPS coordinates.

Location description:

Search syntax allows you to search for entries with a specific description.

{LF:GeoText="Value"}

Value is the location description that will be searched for.

Location:

Search syntax allows you to search for entries within a certain distance of a specified location, as defined by GPS coordinates. The distance is specified in meters.

{LFGEO:Type="POINT"} & {LFGEO:Distance<Distance, Object="POINT(CoordinateTwo CoordinateOne)"}

Distance is the distance in meters within which you want to search, and CoodiateTwo and CoordinateOne are the pair of GPS coordinates that define the center of the radius. Note that the coordinates are reversed from the GPS standard.

Tip: Use a mathematical operator (=, >, >=, <, and <=) and wildcards to determine the results that will be returned.

Page Count Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents with a particular number of pages or a number of pages that fall within a particular range.

Page count:

{LF:PageCount = Value}

Value must be an integer that represents the number of pages in your target documents.

Pages Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents that do or do not contain pages.

Pages:

{LF:AssociatedPages=Y/N}

Note: For the purposes of this search, a document is considered to have no pages if it contains neither TIFF image pages nor text pages.

Size Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents with a particular image, text, thumbnail, or location data size. You can search based on whether you want to find a document where one or more individual image pages, text pages, thumbnails or location data items are a particular size, or to find a document with a specific total image, text, thumbnail or location data size.

Size Search Syntax Options
Entry component	Syntax
Individual Image Page	{LF:ImageSize = Value}
Individual Text Page	{LF:TextSize = Value}
Total Image Pages	{LF:TotalImageSize = Value}
Total Text Pages	{LF:TotalTextSize = Value}
Electronic File	{LF:EDocSize=Value}

Value must be an integer that represents the target size in bytes.

Tag Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to find documents and folders assigned a particular tag.

Tags:

{LF:Tags="TagName"}

TagName is the name of the tag being searched for; it must be enclosed by quotation marks.

Template and Field Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to look for all entries associated with a particular template, field, or field value.

Templates:

{[TemplateName]}

To search across any template, leave the Template name blank "[]".

TemplateName is the name of the template being searched for.

Fields:

{[]:[FieldName]="Value"}

Value is the field content you are searching for. To search across any field, leave the name blank: "[]", or to search for fields that are unpopulated, leave the Value blank: {[]:[FieldName]=""} (this is the only way to search for a blank field; wildcards will not return blank fields).

FieldName is the name of the field whose values are being searched for.

Text fields:

If the field you are searching for is a text field, you may be able to use the following syntax:

{[]:[FieldName]~="Value"}

This will allow you to take advantage of additional search features such as fuzzy search and the ability to find variants of root words (such as searching for "ran" and also returning "run" and "running"). However, in some cases this search may not be possible. In that case, you should use the standard field search syntax ({[]:[FieldName]="Value"} ).

Template and field:

{[TemplateName]:[FieldName]="Value"}

Value is the field content you are searching for. To search across any template or field, leave the name blank "[]".

As noted above, in some cases you can use the syntax {[TemplateName]:[FieldName]~="Value"} if the field is a text field, to take advantage of additional features.

Multiple fields:

When searching for multiple fields/values, the following search syntaxes are interchangeable:

{[]:[Field1]="Value1", [Field2]="Value2"}
{[]:[Field1]="Value1"} & {[]:[Field2]="Value2"}

The following Search Filters syntax uses operators and will return a range of values:

{[]:[Field1]>="Value1", <="Value2"}

Value is the field content you are searching for.

Date and Date/Time Fields

The order in which the month, day, and year should be specified is determined by the short date format configured on your workstation.

Example: A date/time value is: 05/31/2012 09:45:13 AM.

Date or date/time field:

[]:[FieldName]="mm/dd/yyyy"}
{[]:[FieldName]="mm/dd/yyyyhh:mm: tt"}

Template and date or date/time field:

{[TemplateName]:[FieldName]="mm/dd/yyyy"}
{[TemplateName]:[FieldName]="mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:sstt"}

Show me date and date/time operators.

Date and Date/Time Operators
Symbol	Description
dd	The desired day of the month.
mm	The desired month.
yyyy	The desired year. A four-digit year must be specified (i.e., 2004).
hh	The desired hour.
mm	The desired minute.
ss	The desired second.
tt	The time of day (i.e., AM or PM).

User Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to find all documents and folders created by, checked out by, or last modified by a particular user.

Created by:

{LF:Creator="User Name"}

Checked out by:

{LF:CheckOutUser="User Name"}

Last modified by:

{LF:LastModifiedBy="User Name"}

Version Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for documents that contain a particular version. A document under version control will contain multiple versions, and each version will have its own attributes (such as the date the version was created, the user who created the version, and the version comment). You can perform a search for characteristics of a single version, or a search for characteristics contained in any version or combination of versions in that document. In order to allow you to specify more than one search criteria within a single version, we use a special version search namespace.

The following version searches can be used separately or combined:

Version created by:

{LFVER:ModifiedBy="User Name"}

User Name is the name of the user in Laserfiche who created the version you are searching for. It must be enclosed in quotes.

Version comment:

{LFVER:Comment~="Value"}

Value is the comment or part of the comment on the version you are searching for. It must be enclosed in quotes.

Version modified date:

{LFVER:Modified="mm/dd/yy"}

mm/dd/yy is the date on which the version you are searching for was created. It must be in the format mm/dd/yy, mm-dd-yy, mm/dd/yyyy, or mm-dd-yyyy, and must be enclosed in quotes.

Version number:

{LFVER:Version=Value}

Value is the version number of the version you are searching for. It must be an integer value.

Records Management Search Syntax Reference

For each records management search type, the sections below will provide the basic syntax and one or more examples.

Current Location Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to perform searches for records that are currently in a specific location.

Current location:

{LFRM:CurrentLocation="Value"}

Value is the location that will be searched for and must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Cutoff Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for all records that have specific cutoff characteristics.

Cutoff:

This search will return records that are already cutoff or records that are due for cutoff before a certain date.

All records:
- {LFRM:ActualCutoffDate="*"}
Specific date:
- {LFRM:ActualCutoffDate="mm/dd/yyyy"}

Cutoff instruction:

This search will return records that have a specific cutoff instruction.

{ LFRM:CoffCritID="ID"}
ID represents the automatically assigned ID number of the cutoff instruction.

Tip: Located the cutoff instruction's ID number by searching for the cutoff instruction from the Search Pane and opening Search Filters from the Customize Search drop-down. Show me.

Cutoff instruction type:

This search will return records that are assigned specific types of cutoff, such as Event or Time+Event cutoff instruction. If you select more than one cutoff instruction type, results will be returned for either.

{LFRM:RetentionType="Value"}

Value specifies whether search results will contain records with Event-based cutoff instructions, Time-based cutoff instructions, Time+Event-based cutoff instructions, or no cutoff instructions. Use the table below to choose values.

Cutoff Instruction Type Search Syntax Options
Value	Description
E	All records with an Event-based cutoff instruction.
T	All records with a Time-based cutoff instruction.
N	All records with a Time+Event-based cutoff instruction.
S	All records with a Superseded-based cutoff instruction.
I	All records with an Interval-based cutoff instruction.
R	All records with an Interval+Event-based cutoff instruction.
L	All records with a Disposition Action-based cutoff instruction.
NULL	All records with no cutoff instruction.

Cutoff eligibility:

This search will return records that are eligible for cutoff on or before a specified date. Records that are already cutoff are not returned in a search of this type.

{LFRM:EligibleForCutoff<="mm/dd/yyyy"}

Tip: Use a mathematical operator (=, >, >=, <, and <=) and wildcards to determine the type of results that will be returned.

Disposition Authority Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to perform searches for records governed by a specific disposition authority.

Disposition authority:

{LFRM:DispositionAuthority="Value"}

The DispositionAuthority parameter determines the disposition authority that will be searched for, represented by the term Value, which must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Disposition Eligibility Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to perform searches for records that have a calculated disposition eligibility date. It can also be extended to perform searches for records that have a disposition eligibility date on a given date.

Disposition eligibility:

{LFRM:DispEligibilityAction="Value"}
{LFRM:DispEligibilityAction="Value", EligibilityDate="mm/dd/yyyy"}

Value specifies the type of disposition action to search for. The EligibilityDate parameter specifies the disposition eligibility date.

Disposition Eligibility Search Syntax Options
Value	Description
U	All records that have a calculated eligibility date for any disposition action.
T	All eligible records with a projected transfer eligibility date.
A	All records with an Accession final disposition and a final disposition eligibility date.
D	All records with a Destruction final disposition and a final disposition eligibility date.

Event Type Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to perform searches for records that have been assigned a certain event or have had a certain event set.

Assigned event types:

{LFRM:Event="Value"}

Value specifies the assigned event that you want to search for. When you enter the event name, it must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Set event types:

{LFRM:SetEvent="Value"}

Value specifies the set event that you want to search for. When you enter the event name, it must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Final Disposition Action Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to perform searches for records that are assigned a specified type of final disposition action.

Final disposition action:

{LFRM:FinalDispAction="DispositionAction"}

DispositionAction specifies the type of final disposition action to search for; choose values from the table below.

Disposition Action Search Syntax Options
Value	Description
A	All records that follow a retention schedule with an accession final disposition.
D	All records that follow a retention schedule with a destruction final disposition.
N	All records with no assigned final disposition action.

Hold Status Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for entries with or without holds, with a specific hold reason, or with a specific hold due date.

Entries with holds:

{LF:Hold="Y"}

Entries without holds:

{LF:Hold="N"}

Hold reasons:

Search syntax allows you to search for entries with a specific hold reason.

{LF:HoldReason="Value"}

Value is the hold reason that will be searched for.

Hold due date:

Search syntax allows you to search for entries with a specific hold due date.

{LF:HoldDueDate="mm/dd/yyyy"}

Tip: Use a mathematical operator (=, >, >=, <, and <=) and wildcards to determine the results that will be returned.

Immediate Disposition Eligibility Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to perform searches for records that are currently eligible for the specified disposition action.

Immediate disposition eligibility:

{LFRM:ImmediateDispEligibility="Value"}

Value represents the type of disposition action to search for, use type values from the following table.

Disposition Action Search Syntax Options
Value	Description
U	All records currently eligible for any disposition action.
T	All records currently eligible for a transfer.
A	All records currently eligible for accession.
D	All records currently eligible for destruction.

Permanent Record Search Syntax

Search syntax can be used to search for permanent records or non-permanent records.

Permanent records:

{LFRM:PermanentRecord="Y"}

Non-permanent records:

{LFRM:PermanentRecord="N"}

The PermanentRecord parameter specifies whether search results will contain permanent records or non-permanent records.

Series Code Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to search for record series by either their record series code or their description. Searching by record series code or description will also return the record folders that are contained in that record series.

Record series code:

Search syntax can be used to look for all record series with a given series code. It will also return all records and folders contained within the record series.

{LFRM:Code="Code"}

Code represents the record series code that will be searched for.

Record series description:

Search syntax allows you to perform searches for record series with a given description. It will also return all records and folders contained within the record series.

{LFRM:SeriesDesc="Description"}

Description represents the series description that will be searched for.

Vital Records Search Syntax

Search syntax allows you to search for vital or non-vital records, or for vital records that are assigned particular review dates or review cycles.

Vital records:

{LFRM:VitalRecord="Y"}

Non-vital records:

{LFRM:VitalRecord="N"}

The VitalRecord parameter specifies whether search results will contain vital records or non-vital records.

Specific review dates:

Search syntax can be used to search for vital records that need to be reviewed on a certain date or vital records that were last reviewed on a given date.

{LFRM:NextReviewDate="mm/dd/yyyy"}
{LFRM:LastReviewDate="mm/dd/yyyy"}