Can't we use = in the global search?

[Community Alums]

Hi folks, we have some CIs with '=' in the name. We can't find it using the global search unless we remove the '=' character. Is there anyway we can enable the global search to accept '=' character or is it the platform limited capability? Thanks!!

[gauravchoudhury · Accepted solution]

Hi Anna,

I referred to some documents and I believe the reason this has been a problem for you is probably because Zing offers users several search interfaces and search operators to conduct text searches. The '=' is considered as a search operator that is used to search terms from global text searches.

However, wildcard characters allow searching for patterns and variations. The system supports both single-character and multiple-character wildcards.

Note: Wildcard text searches are only effective with multiple character words. A wildcard within a sequence of pictogram characters returns too many options for an efficient search. Wildcards are best used with letter-based words.

To perform a single-character wildcard search, use the percent sign (%) character. This wildcard finds words that contain any one character in place the percent-sign-character. For example, to find words such as text or test, search for: te%t

To perform a multiple-character wildcard search, use the asterisk (*) character. This wildcard finds words that contain zero or more characters in place of the asterisk-character. For example, to find words such as planned or placed, search for: pl*d

Zing text search is:

• an index split into multiple database shards for parallel querying
• created entirely with ServiceNow code
• implemented purely within the relational model
• yields fast results with search engine logic
• provides search results with an emphasis on relevancy scoring
  • frequency points
  • proximity points
  • field-level scoring (such as title, metadata, and short description)
• provides search suggestions
  • Type-ahead search suggestions
  • Did you mean: global search suggestions

Administrators and users with the ts_admin role can configure:

• match relevance
• field weights for each table
• global stop words
• stop words for each index
• synonym dictionaries for each table
• tables with attachment indexing

By default, the system uses the Zing text indexing and search engine to search record data.

• Features of Zing text indexing and search engineEnable and configure Zing text indexing and search engine features.
• Available search optionsZing offers users several search interfaces and search operators to conduct text searches.
• Zing generates search results in four phasesGenerate search results by dividing documents among shards, searching shard documents, scoring shard documents, and merging scores into an index.
• Zing filters search results with access controlsFilter search results to only display records the user can access.
• Zing computes document scores using three componentsThe Zing search engine computes document scores based on the frequency, sequence, and weight of search terms in the document.
• Zing indexes wordsIndex documents by dividing them into words. Depending on the languages your instance supports, a word may be a single character such as a Chinese or Japanese pictogram or a sequence of characters separated by spaces such as with Latin, Arabic, and Pinyin languages.
• Zing can include attachments in search resultsExpand search results to include attachments from indexed tables.
• Zing removes stop words from queriesRemove common words from search queries that do not produce meaningful results.
• Zing matches derived words with stemmingConvert any multiple-character search keyword to its stem form to find derived versions of the word.
• Zing can expand search results with synonymsExpand search results to include additional search terms.
• Installed with ZingSeveral types of components are installed with Zing.
  

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[Community Alums]

Thanks for the fast response, Gaurav.   I think it makes sense as '=' is considered as a search operator.

[gauravchoudhury]

If you are satisfied with my answer, please mark my response as correct.

[Aditya Telideva]

the simple answer is you can, it depends on where you are using it