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[Introduction] [Search Tips] [Reference Documentation]

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Introduction

MFM uses WebGlimpse to search portions of our web site. This page lists tips on how to use WebGlimpse to search MFM's web site . Advanced users should see the reference documentation for WebGlimpse .

MFM's web site has the following searches available:

• Search the Entire MFM Web Site
• Search MFM's Support Pages
• Search on the PC Access for Windows Reference Guide for PC Access version 4.30
• Search on the PC Access for Windows Reference Guide for PC Access version 4.20

In addition, if you subscribe to an MFM mailing list you will receive instructions on how to search the mailing list archive with WebGlimpse .

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Search Tips

Use the tips below to help you search MFM's web site more effectively. If you receive too few matches see: Too Few Matches. If you receive too may matches see: Too Many Matches.

Too Few Matches

The more requirements you specify, the fewer matches you will find. Use the tips below to broaden your search criteria.

1. Use a semicolon to search for combinations of words anywhere on a page rather than exact phrases.
   For example, if you search for:
   • gpf in pcawin.exe
   WebGlimpse may not find any matches. When you separate words with spaces you tell WebGlimpse to search for pages containing your search words in the order that you type them. The words in your search string might appear on a page, but in a different order, or with different punctuation, or the words may contain HTML codes that make them look different to WebGlimpse. If you don't get any matches when you type a phrase, try separating the words in your phrase with semicolons instead of spaces and try again. For example, if you search for:
   • gpf;pcawin.exe
   the semicolon tells WebGlimpse to find pages that contain the words gpf and pcawin.exe anywhere on each page. To get even more matches, separate words with a comma:
   • gpf,pcawin.exe
   This tells WebGlimpse to search for pages containing either of the words gpf or pcawin.exe. Caution: using the comma may produce too many matches.
2. Search for fewer words at a time.
   The more words you require WebGlimpse to find on a page, the fewer pages WebGlimpse is likely to find. By searching for fewer words at once you may increase the number of pages WebGlimpse can find. If you search for a specific error message such as:
   • User Authorization error 8001-0009-0003
   and get no matches, try reducing the search string to just the numeric error code:
   • 8001-0009-0003
   If that does not work, reduce the search string even more, to just one number out of the error code:
   • 8001
   WebGlimpse searches in a two step process:
   • First WebGlimpse ignores all non-alphanumeric characters in your search string, and looks for files containing each "word" that remains.
   • Then WebGlimpse opens each file that contains all the "words" in your search string and sees whether they actually contain the search string as you typed it.
   Thus when you type a search string such as:
   • 8001-0009-0003
   WebGlimpse begins by finding all pages that contain all three of the numbers 8001, 0009, and 0003. Then WebGlimpse scans each page to see whether it contains the string 8001-0009-0003.

   You can reduce your search string to any of the three individual numbers and find all pages containing the complete error code, as well as many pages containing similar error codes.

3. If you are looking for a specific error message such as, 11002 -Non-Authoritative Host not found sending e-mail, type in the exact error number.
   • 11002
4. If you have checked the Case sensitive box, un-check it. A case-sensitive search may find fewer matches than a search for words in any case.
5. Check the Partial match box and search for shorter parts of the words you are trying to match.
6. You may be searching for a word which appears on a page as a substring of a larger word, or a long word that has more than one form. For example, if you check the Partial match box and search for pages containing:
   • direct
   you will find many pages containing words such as directory, directions, and indirect.
7. Allow misspellings by selecting a number greater than 0 (zero) on the misspellings allowed list box.
8. If you specified a number in the field:
   Return only files modified within the last [  ] days
   enter a larger date or leave the field blank to match all possible files.
9. Watch out for "funny" characters in your search string.
   To WebGlimpse many punctuation characters indicate commands. Sometimes you may accidentally type a command as part of your search string that reduces the number of matches WebGlimpse can find. To instruct WebGlimpse to search for a punctuation character literally rather than interpreting the character as a command, precede it with a backslash.

Too Many Matches

The more requirements you specify, the fewer matches you will find. Use the tips below to narrow your search criteria.

1. Search a smaller subset of the MFM Web site. For example, if you search the entire MFM Web site for a particular phrase or set of keywords, you may get numerous matches from pages in old versions of the PC Access for Windows Reference Guide. Try searching just the product support pages or a specific version of the PC Access for Windows Reference Guide if searching the entire MFM Web site gives you too many matches.
2. Do not use short words or numbers.
   • For example, the words to, and, of, or short numbers such as 1, 2, 3 etc. If you use short words WebGlimpse may display matches that are irrelevant to what you are looking for.
3. Search for more words at a time.
   For example, if you search for:
   • pcawin.exe
   WebGlimpse will find many pages because this is a common word on the MFM Web site. You can find fewer pages by telling WebGlimpse to search for combinations of words, for example:
   • pcawin.exe;gpf
   That search is more specific if you are looking for information on a gpf in pcawin.exe. The semicolon tells WebGlimpse to find pages that contain both gpf and pcawin.exe.
4. Do not use the comma.
   If you separate words with commas, for example:
   • pcawin.exe,gpf,crash
   WebGlimpse finds pages containing any of the words pcawin.exe, gpf, or crash. This can produce too many matches. To get fewer matches, remove some words from the search string, or separate words with a space or a semicolon.
5. Use phrase search.
   If you separate words with spaces, you tell WebGlimpse to search for an exact phrase. Adding more words to the phrase usually reduces the number of matches you get.
6. Search for longer words or codes.
   If you are looking for an error message such as: User Authorization error 8001-0009-0003, type in the full error code, for example:
   • 8001-0009-0003
   If you type just one number out of the error code, such as:
   • 8001
   you may get too many matches.
7. Use Return only files modified within the last [  ] days
   When you use this field you eliminate old versions of the PC Access for Windows Reference Guide. This will shorten your search results. Use this option with caution because you will also eliminate all other older files.
8. Try checking the Case sensitive box.
   A case-sensitive search may find fewer matches than a search for words in any case.
9. If you have checked the Partial match box, try un-checking it.
10. If you have selected a number greater than 0 (zero) on the misspellings allowed list box, try selecting a smaller number.
11. Watch out for "funny" characters in your search string.
    To WebGlimpse many punctuation characters indicate commands. Sometimes you may accidentally type a command as part of your search string that increases the number of matches WebGlimpse can find. The main suspect would be a comma. If you are trying to search for a phrase that contains a comma, either precede the comma with a backslash character, or type a semicolon instead of the comma in your search string.
12. Try excluding pages that contain particular words or phrases with the ~ (tilde) character.
    • For example, if you search for:
      • gpf;~pcawin.exe
      WebGlimpse will find pages that contain gpf and not pcawin.exe.
    • Here is another example, if you search for:
      • 0003;~000D
      WebGlimpse will find pages that contain 0003 and not 000D.
13. Simply read the search results.
    WebGlimpse shows you a line of context for every instance of your search string. Even if you get too many matches, you can usually scroll through the search results fairly quickly to find the pages you want to see. By studying the results and seeing how WebGlimpse is matching your search string you can usually see how to edit your search string to narrow down your search, if necessary.

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Reference Documentation

Advanced users should see the following reference documentation for WebGlimpse:

• WebGlimpse uses the same search string syntax as the Glimpse command-line search program that runs on Unix. When you read the Glimpse documentation, keep in mind that WebGlimpse does not use the same command-line syntax outside of the search string (for example, in WebGlimpse you always search on all files in the index; you cannot specify filename wildcards).
• Very advanced users who want to get technical can read about the glimpseindex files. You can browse the index file for any of MFM's WebGlimpse searches by adding .glimpse_index to the search form URL. For example, here is the index file for the WebGlimpse search on the MFM Web site:

      http://www.mfm.com/webglimpse/.glimpse_index
      

  The index file is somewhat readable. Each line shows what WebGlimpse considers a "word" and then a binary code representing the files that contain the word. Only the word information is useful to you. You can view the index file as a last resort if you cannot find any pages containing a particular search word and you want to double-check whether the word is in the index file. Use your browser's local search command to look for words.

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