LIST: how to search the PARKINSN list archives - part 1 of 2

[janet paterson <janet313@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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                   the search and ye shall find tutorial
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                               introduction
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     You don't need a PhD in computer science to use the a LISTSERV
     archive database; au contraire, it's a pity not to take advantage
     of it. The new software is easier than ever to use, too!

     In the next sections, you will find some sample searches of the
     Opera-L archive. Find one that suits your need and copy & paste
     it into your mail program. Then edit it for your specific search,
     send, and voila! You can use your prowess to search any archive
     on any LISTSERV: just substitute our listname PARKINSN for OPERA-L
     and change the LISTSERV address, of course.

     A few basics to keep in mind
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     1. The examples following illustrate how to search a LISTSERV archive
     by e-mail using the SEARCH command and how to request messages of
     interest from the listserver computer with the GETPOST command.

     2. Make certain your search command is a on a single line in
     a new message with no subject header. The subject header is ignored in
     by LISTSERV; if your e-mail program requires that you have one, you
     can type in a single character like "/".

     3. Send all search command messages to:
          LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

     4. Capitalization generally does not matter. In the examples, the
     words of the search language are shown in upper case for clarity
     only: lowercase works just as well.

     5. A more detailed document (not without its own problems) explaining
     the more advanced searching features, is available directly from the
     listserver computer. To request it, send this command message:
          GET LISTDB MEMO

     5. If you do trial searches to gain familiarity with the search
     commands and the results which they produce, you can help keep your
     LISTSERV system running smoothly (especially for archives of high-volume
     lists) by limiting the time period so that only a small portion of the
     archive is searched.

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                          search examples summary
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          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN

          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN FROM date1 TO date2

          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN SINCE date

          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN UNTIL date

          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN SINCE TODAY-numberofdays

          SEARCH * IN PARKINSN WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS word

          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN WHERE SENDER CONTAINS name

          SEARCH word IN PARKINSN WHERE SENDER DOES NOT CONTAIN name

          SEARCH * IN PARKINSN SINCE date WHERE SENDER CONTAINS name

          SEARCH * IN PARKINSN SINCE date WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS word

          // SEARCH * IN PARKINSN FROM date1 TO date2 WHERE ,
          SUBJECT CONTAINS word AND SENDER CONTAINS name

          *      =  "everything"
          word   = search criterion word or part word
          name   = sender name or part name
          date   = search date
          date1  = first date in search range
          date2  = last date in search range

          Note that when you have both a WHERE expression and a time frame,
          the time expression goes before the WHERE expression.

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                         search examples detailed
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     SEARCH domingo IN PARKINSN

     This is the basic form of the search command. Changes in the
     capitalization of any of the words in this example will not affect
     the results. Note that there are no quotation marks. No dates are
     specified, so the entire archive is searched. Each post is searched
     in its entirety, including the sender, subject line and message.

     SEARCH tosca price IN PARKINSN
     or
     SEARCH tosca NEAR price IN PARKINSN

     Searches for all posts that contain "tosca" in the post near "price".
     NEAR is the "default operator", thus the two examples above give
     identical results. [The manual, LISTDB MEMO, incorrectly states
     that the default operator is AND, when it is in fact NEAR: the two
     examples above are identical.] For a NEAR search to consider a post
     to be a match, there must be five or fewer intervening words and the
     two words can be more than one line distant (the order of the two
     words, however, is not important). Matches for this example would
     include cases like "priced", "caprices" and "Toscanini" - the "keyword
     in context" in the search results should help you decide which posts
     might be of interest. Note that there are no quote marks. Since no
     dates are specified in this search, all posts in the archive are
     searched.

     SEARCH tosca AND price IN PARKINSN

     The AND operator must be used if you want posts that have the two
     words anywhere in the post.

     SEARCH boehm OR bohm OR bo"hm IN PARKINSN FROM may 96 TO july 96

     Searches for all posts with any of these spellings. The OR operator
     is used when any of your criteria will do. If you mistakenly use AND
     in this search, it will probably come back with no matches, since no
     single post will have all the variants. FROM...TO is always used as a
     pair, with two dates. Time frame includes all of May and all of July.

     SEARCH 'light baritone' IN opera-L SINCE jan 97

     The quote marks mean you want these words to be adjacent in the post.
     Note that single quote marks ensure a wide search net, catching both
     "Light baritone" and "light baritones". But a search without the quotes
     might be better here, as this example misses a post that contains
     "light-timbred baritones". A SINCE expression takes one date. The
     search will begin with 1 Jan        97andendwiththelatestarchivedpost.

     SEARCH light NEAR bariton IN opera-L SINCE jan 97
     or
     SEARCH light bariton IN opera-L SINCE jan 97

     Probably a better way of handling the previous search. The two forms
     are identical, since NEAR is the default operator in a search for
     separate words. Dropping the "e" in "baritone" caught one post that
     had "light" near the adjective "baritonal". In general use the root
     or base form of a word: ticket will find ticket, tickets, ticketing,
     etc. Take into account common misspellings and variants, e.g.
     traveling or travelling; center or centre.

     SEARCH 'opera news' IN opera-L SINCE TODAY-15

     Finds all posts containing the string "opera news" in the last 15 days:
     the archive is searched forward, not backward, in time. There can be
     no spaces on either side of the minus sign. The single quotes ensure
     that the two words are adjacent yet will find any combination of
     capitalization: Opera News, opera news, OPERA NEWS, etc.

     SEARCH 'opera news' IN opera-L UNTIL feb 96

     Finds all posts containing the string "opera news" from the earliest
     archived post through Feb. 1996. Only the first 100 matches (of over
     200 in this time frame) are returned. Search again with a
     FROM...TO.. expression to list those after the first 100.
     An UNTIL expression takes one date.

     SEARCH "White" IN opera-L FROM jan 96 TO dec 96
     or
     SEARCH "White" IN opera-L FROM 96 TO 96

     Assume you're looking for a name, White, Whiteman, Whiteside, or
     something similar that you can't quite remember, in all of 1996. The
     double quote marks means you want an exact match in capitalization.
     The 131 matches is more manageable than the 487 matches for the same
     search without quotes (only the first 100 are returned; change the
     time frame to see others). Note that all of 1996 is covered in these
     equivalent searches.

     SEARCH 'ashoka''s dream' IN opera-l

     If you need an apostrophe inside single quotes, you must double the
     single-quote mark(s). Note that before the 's' there are two
     apostrophes. BTW, SEARCH ashoka IN opera-l would really be sufficient
     for the search in this case. Double quotes inside double quotes must
     also be doubled. Single quote mark(s) inside double quotes (and vice
     versa) should not be doubled. Got that?

     SEARCH * IN opera-L SINCE jan 97 WHERE SENDER CONTAINS rkosovsk

     Finds all posts that Bob Kosovsky sent since January 1, 1997. The
     asterisk (*) is used to represent "everything". N.B. the SENDER is
     the e-mail address of the sender only and does not include the "name"
     portion that you usually also see in the FROM line.

     If you need the current e-mail address of someone, you can use the
     SCAN command with all or part of the name. For example:
          SCAN OPERA-L pete

     returned a list of 21 names containing the substring "pete" along
     with their e-mail addresses. Note: some lists cannot be scanned; this
     decision rests with the listowner.

     SEARCH arabella IN opera-L WHERE SENDER CONTAINS jared

     Searches for all of Jared's posts containing "arabella". (I've posted
     from more than one address, which is why I did not use my full,
     current mailing address.)

     SEARCH arabella IN opera-L WHERE SENDER DOES NOT CONTAIN jared

     All posts containing "arabella" except for Jared's. Only the first
     100 posts are listed. Search with a FROM... TO... date expression
     to list more.

     SEARCH * IN opera-L UNTIL may 96 WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS tosca

     Finds all posts from the earliest through May 96 where the subject
     line contains "tosca". Note that * is needed to represent "everything".
     While there are some 180 posts meeting this criteria, only the first
     100 are returned (use a FROM...TO expression to list the others). Note
     that UNTIL may 96 is the same as UNTIL 31 may 96. UNTIL or SINCE with
     a month name and no day always includes the whole month in the search.

     SEARCH * IN opera-L WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS (tosca OR butterfly)

     Finds all posts with either word in the subject line. Note that multiple
     words in the CONTAINS expression must be placed inside parentheses. This
     CONTAINS expression is equivalent to: ...WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS tosca
     OR SUBJECT CONTAINS butterfly

     SEARCH manon BUT NOT 'manon lescaut' IN opera-L

     BUT NOT is the same as AND NOT. It is perhaps easier to understand.
     There are 380 posts compared to the 653 for a search of manon alone
     (only the first 100 are returned). Beware, however, that there is a
     price to pay with this technique: you will not catch posts that
     mention both operas!

     // SEARCH * in opera-L SINCE mar 97 WHERE SUBJECT CONTAINS tosca and ,
     sender IS johndoe@xxxxxxx

     Finds all posts from johndoe@xxxxxxx with tosca in the subject line
     from March 1, 97 to the present. The IS means that you want an exact
     match; CONTAINS will generally suffice (see example above). This
     search command may well be longer than the width setting of your
     e-mail program, but LISTSERV requires it be on "one line". The
     solution is to start long commands with // SEARCH (note the obligatory
     space after the double slash) and end each but the last line with
     a space and a comma. This ensures that all the text is interpreted
     as one line.

     SEARCH tosca IN opera-L.100-210
     SEARCH tosca IN opera-L.-20000
     SEARCH tosca IN opera-L.20000-

     This form of SEARCH is useful when you want to search a range of posts
     by their item # (which you might have, for example, from the results
     of a previous search). The first example searches post #100 through
     #210; the second searches from #1 to #20000; and the third from
     #20000 to the most recent post.

     The best way to learn is to experiment
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     Even when you make a mistake, the error message that LISTSERV sends
     back explains where you went wrong. For more complex searches and
     other advanced search features, see the above-mentioned file
     LISTDB MEMO available from LISTSERV.

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