Boolean Search Reference
The Kazinex Workflows Document Register supports a boolean query language for precise document discovery. This page is the complete syntax reference — for a guided introduction, see Advanced Search.
Operators
| Operator | Symbol | Precedence | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| AND | AND or space | Highest | Both terms must match |
| OR | OR | Lower | Either term must match |
| NOT | NOT or - | Highest (unary) | Term must not match |
| Grouping | ( ) | Explicit | Override precedence |
Default operator
When two terms are written without an explicit operator, the default is AND:
structural drawing → structural AND drawing
Precedence without parentheses
AND binds more tightly than OR. A OR B AND C is parsed as A OR (B AND C). Use parentheses to change this: (A OR B) AND C.
Wildcard patterns
| Pattern | Symbol | Example | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero or more characters | * | draw* | drawing, drawings, drawingset |
| Exactly one character | ? | Rev? | RevA, RevB, Rev0, Rev1 |
| Prefix wildcard | *text | *structural | Geotechnical-structural, Non-structural |
| Infix wildcard | te*t | te*t | text, test, testament |
Performance note: Leading wildcards (*structural) are computationally expensive. Use them sparingly and combine with other terms to narrow results.
Escaping wildcards: To search for a literal asterisk or question mark, escape it with a backslash: Rev\? finds the literal string "Rev?".
Phrase search
Wrap a multi-word phrase in double quotes to require an exact match:
"structural layout plan" → exact three-word phrase
"for construction" → exact phrase, not just both words anywhere
Phrases are matched in order. Word proximity searches are not supported — use AND with individual terms for fuzzy proximity.
Field-specific search
Use field:value to restrict a term to a specific metadata field:
| Prefix | Field | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
title: | Document title | title:"foundation slab" | Supports phrases |
number: | Document number | number:STR-PLAN* | Supports wildcards |
type: | Document type | type:drawing | Exact match |
discipline: | Discipline code | discipline:STR | Case-sensitive code |
zone: | Zone | zone:Zone-A | Exact match |
stage: | Stage | stage:FC | Exact match |
status: | Current status | status:approved | Lowercase |
revision: | Revision code | revision:P* | Supports wildcards |
originator: | Originator org | originator:ACME | Partial match |
comments: | Comments field | comments:urgent | Text search |
Field-specific terms can be combined with boolean operators:
discipline:STR AND status:approved AND NOT zone:Zone-C
title:"foundation slab" OR title:"basement slab"
number:STR-* AND type:drawing
Case sensitivity
- Field values: Case-insensitive for text fields (title, comments, originator). Case-sensitive for code fields (discipline codes, status codes, zone codes).
- Operators:
AND,OR,NOTmust be uppercase.
Complete example queries
# Find all approved structural drawings in Zone A or Zone B
discipline:STR AND type:drawing AND (zone:Zone-A OR zone:Zone-B) AND status:approved
# Find all documents with revision starting P (preliminary revisions)
revision:P*
# Find documents mentioning "concrete" in title or comments, excluding archived
(title:concrete OR comments:concrete) AND NOT status:archived
# Find transmittal-cover or specification documents
type:specification OR type:"transmittal cover"
# Find documents from contractor ACME, not yet approved
originator:ACME AND NOT status:approved
# Find drawings with a sequential number between 0100 and 0199
number:*-01??
Unsupported features
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Full-text PDF search (OCR) | Not supported — searches metadata only |
| Fuzzy matching (misspelling tolerance) | Not supported |
| Date range search via query | Not supported — use filter panel date picker instead |
| Regex patterns | Not supported |
| Proximity operators (NEAR/WITHIN) | Not supported |
What's next
- Advanced Search — practical guide with examples
- Saved Searches — save frequent queries