Using Search in Outcomes

Forming a Keyword Search

Keyword searches can be between two and ten characters long, using properties like:

• Applicant name
• Applicant email address
• Program Name
• Current Stage
• Current Phase
• Current Decision

To clear your search, click back into the search field and delete your entry.

Forming a Lucene Search

Searches written in the Lucene query language are made of the following parts:

• Field: the name or ID of a specific data point within your Outcomes database.
• Terms: the item(s) you're searching for.
• Operators: the symbol or keyword used to represent an action or process.

Using these principles, you can develop queries to find anything you need to locate. Once you've formed a query, you can enter it into the search bar to see the results.

Tips for Searching with Lucene Query Syntax

Use the following tips when developing and experimenting with Lucene searches:

• To search for a value in a specific field, prefix the value with the name of the field. For example, you could enter forms.biographic_information.birth_location.country: CN to find all applications where an applicant entered CN as their birth country.
• To search for a range of values, you can use the bracketed range syntax, [START_VALUE TO END_VALUE]. For example, entering applicant.familyName: [alvarez TO anderson] returns all applications where the last name is within the specified range alphabetically.
• To specify more complex search criteria, you can use the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. 
• Use * as a wildcard for multiple characters in the middle or at the end of string. For this to work, the string should also end with *. For example, tony.*@avengers.** is a valid query.
• Use ? as a wildcard for single characters. In Outcomes, this can only be used when the string ends with *. For example, tony.star?@avengers.* is a valid query, while tony.star?@avengers.gov is not.
• Use “_exists_:” to find if a field has a value (similar to *).
• Many queries are case sensitive. For example,  _exists_:first_name will generate results, but _exists_:First_Name will not.
• You can reference other objects using @. For example, _include:@134584954395 would include everyone in that segment ID.
• You can use any special characters that are part of the query syntax. The current list of special characters are: + - && || ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ * ? : \
• To escape these characters, use \ before the character. For example, to search for (1+1):2 use the query:  \(1\+1\)\:2