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FAQ-0233 I have trouble using the search utility with the SDK HTMLHelp

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Classification: Java Category: Documentation
Created: 06/10/99 Modified: 09/01/2001
Number: FAQ-0233
Platform: ER5

Question:
I type an expression into the search window in the left pane and get a list of references. I double click on one but have difficulty tracking down where in the page that comes up on the right the expression appears.

Answer:
One possibility is you can switch on search highlighting, choosing "Options | Search Highlight On" from the menu bar.
Further or in the alternative, you can click in the right pane, hit ctrl-f, then type your expression into the "find" box that should pop up. The usage should be clear and is indeed standard for Windows.

However there are a number of significant differences in the operation of the search engines employed in the left and right panes. A consequence of this is that a search expression which succeeds in the left pane can fail in the right. Below are listed some of these differences.

  • The left engine is always case-insensitive, while the right engine lets you choose.
  • The left engine always assumes you are trying to match whole words, while the right engine lets you choose. However, the left engine employs a fuzzy logic by way of compensation, so that grammatical variants like serve, serves, server and served will all be found by typing in serving; also information will be found by typing info.
  • The left engine lets you use wildcards * and ? with their usual meaning ("string" and "single character"), while the right engine doesn't. Note that the use of ? inhibits the search for grammatical variants mentioned above so, e.g., a search for dll will find dlls, but one for dl? will not.
  • The left engine supports Boolean expressions like
    (Release)and((3)or(5)))
    (TUint8)not(TUint16)

    while the right engine doesn't.
  • The default behaviour with the left engine for typing a two-word expression like active object is to assume an or relationship between two search strings, while the right engine treats this input as a single string. However, you can force the left engine to look for a single string by using quotes: "active object"
  • Because of these special uses of double quotes and parentheses in the right engine, it is not possible to search for these characters in a string. In particular a search string containing parentheses not enclosed in quotes will cause an error. So it does not appear to be possible to do a search for Draw() while ignoring draw.