Net LineDancer Search Query Syntax

  • Terms
  • Wildcard Searches
  • Boolean Operators
    • OR
    • AND
    • +
    • NOT
    • -
  • Grouping

Terms

The search engine inside of Net LineDancer allows you to search documents (configurations or terminal proxy logs) for specific terms. When creating the search index, Net LineDancer separates the text into words by treating certain characters as special. The characters that Net LineDancer uses to separate text into words are:

; { } [ ] < > ( ) ! ` ~ # $ % & * = + , ? | / \ <space>

For example, the following configuration text:

interface GigabitEthernet1/0/6 switchport access vlan 10 switchport mode access !

This text would be separated by the special characters above into the following individual "words":

  • interface
  • GigabitEthernet1
  • 0
  • 6
  • switchport
  • access
  • vlan
  • 10
  • mode

A search of all documents can be performed for any of these words. Understanding how Net LineDancer separates document text into words is important to using search effectively.

A query is divided into terms and operators. There are two types of terms: Single Terms and Phrases.

  • A Single Term is a single group of characters with no spaces such as GigabitEthernet1/0/6 or switchport.
  • A Phrase is a group of words surrounded by double quotes such as "vlan 10".

By default, document searches are OR operations. If you search for the text:

switchport access vlan 10

The results will probably not be what you expect. This search will find any config that contains the word switchport or the word access or the word vlan or the number 10. If you wish to find documents that contain only that exact text, you must use a phrase query by putting the text in double quotes like this:

"switchport access vlan 10"

Multiple terms can be combined together with Boolean operators to form a more complex query (see below).

Wildcard Searches

Net LineDancer supports single and multiple character wildcard searches using the ? and * symbols. However, there are certain limitations for wildcard searches:

  • Highlighting in results is not available when wildcard searches are used
  • Wildcards can only be used within a Single Term, not within a Phrase
  • Wildcards cannot be used within a Single Term if that Single Term contains any of the special characters listed in the Terms section above
  • Wildcards cannot be used as the first character of a word

Use the "?" symbol to perform a single character wildcard search. Use the "*" symbol to perform a multiple characterwildcard search.

The single character wildcard search looks for words that match with only the single character replaced. For example, to search for documents that contain the word "text" or "test" you can use the search:

te?t

The multiple character wildcard search allows zero or more unknown characters to be matched. For example, to find documents that contain the words "test", "tests" or "tester", you can use the search:

test*

You can also use the wildcard searches in the middle of a term.

te*t

Boolean Operators

Boolean operators allow terms to be combined through logic operators. Net LineDancer supports AND, +, OR, NOT and -(minus) as Boolean operators. Note: Boolean operators must be ALL CAPS.

OR

The OR operator is the default conjunction operator. This means that if there is no boolean operator between two terms, the OR operator is used. The OR operator links two terms and finds a matching document if either of the terms exist in a document.

To search for documents that contain either "enable secret" or just "enable" use the query:

"enable secret" enable

this is equivalent to:

"enable secret" OR enable

AND

The AND operator matches documents where both terms exist somewhere in the text of a single document. This is equivalent to an intersection using sets.

To search for documents that contain "enable secret" and "service password-encryption" use the query:

"enable secret" AND "service password-encryption"

+

The "+" (plus) operator is also called the required operator, and requires that the term after the "+" symbol exist somewhere in the document. If the document does not contain the required term, regardless of other search parameters, it will not be considered a match.

To search for documents that must contain "enable secret" or may contain "logging" use the query:

+"enable secret" logging

NOT

The NOT operator excludes documents that contain the term or after NOT.

To search for documents that contain "enable secret" but not "enable password" use the query:

"enable secret" NOT "enable password"

Note: The NOT operator cannot be used with just one term. For example, the following search will return no results:

NOT "enable password"

-

The "-" (minus) operator is also called the prohibit operator, and excludes documents that contain the term after the "-" symbol.

To search for documents that contain "enable secret" but not "enable password" use the query:

"enable secret" -"enable password"

Grouping

Net LineDancer supports using parentheses to group clauses into sub-queries. This can be very useful if you want to control the boolean logic for a query.

To search for either "secret" or "password" and "version 12.4" use the query:

(secret OR password) AND "version 12.4"

This eliminates any confusion and makes sure that "version 12.4" must exist and either term secret or password may exist.