Using the Include Metadata Option

For all query-based searches, the Include Metadata option by default expands the search of each keyword in a query to include a common set of metadata fields as well as content. If you want, you can select the Metadata Search Fields you want.

By default, the Include Metadata option is enabled, which means that all individual keywords as well as the keywords in phrases, and in special searches such as Proximity Search, are subject to expansion.

If you are going to perform a Clause Proximity Search, be sure to disable Include Metadata first; Clause Proximity and Include Metadata are incompatible.

When Include Metadata is enabled, and you specify the keyword smith, the software automatically generally searches for content, and expands the search to include a common subset of metadata fields such as subject::smith and author::smith. The search results will therefore contain documents responsive to the expanded search.

Since each term is evaluated in a query, you can selectively disable the expansion of a keyword in the query while Include Metadata is enabled by using the format content::<keyword>. For example, the following query expands the search of the keyword war to include a common subset of metadata fields such as subject::war author::war, but restricts the search of the keyword peace to content-only:

war OR content::peace

Group keywords in parentheses to apply the content-only syntax to a set of keywords. For example, the following query restricts the search of the keywords lions, tigers, or bears to content only:

content::(lions OR tigers OR bears)

Note: Any part of the query that uses the field specification prefix <name>:: (for example, a metadata field such as filename::, tag_view::, cluster_view::, or token-), is not subject to expansion.

The Include Metadata option expands the entire search query to include the following list of Search fields by default:

  • author
  • category
  • checkedby
  • client
  • comment
  • comments
  • company
  • contents If you want to restrict a given clause keyword in a search query to content only, you can type content:: followed by the keyword, or content:: followed by a set of grouped keywords separated by the appropriate Boolean (for example, content::memo or content::(brokerage OR memo). If you provide a query such as war OR content::peace, the software will expand the search of the keyword war to include a common subset of metadata fields such as subject::war OR author::war, but will restrict the search of the keyword peace to content only. Note that for emails, a content:: search applies to both the email subject and the email body.
  • department
  • editor
  • edocsubject
  • filename
  • fullparticipants
  • group
  • keywords
  • modifiedby
  • owner
  • subject
  • title

See The Metadata List for descriptions of these fields.