Expanding and Refining Search Results

As well as providing easy-to-use search options for NEs and tiles, the search engine also provides sophisticated search options that take full advantage of the DNE's database.

Searching the DNE is a little different from searching the internet. When you search the web, you are looking, generally, for web pages you haven't seen before, or at least web pages you aren't that familiar with. So you have to make guesses, and your search results often list far too many hits.

When you search your desktop, you are in a better position, because you know what you are looking for. But your search options are still limited. Generally you can conduct meaningful searches only on file names and text content, and both types of searches can give really long lists of results. The search engine makes the haystack a manageable size, but you still have to find the needle.

Because the DNE's database is built by you, according to whatever your own needs are, you are in an excellent position to leverage the power of the database to get very precise results. This is done by refining and expanding search results. Search expansion and refinement can be done by NE or tile name, and by any combination of data fields.

Data fields are not only fully user-determined, but are also prominently displayed on the NE. These two characteristics make DNE data fields better candidates for searches than data fields in many other information management applications. You built the fields, so you have a good idea how to find NEs and tiles via the fields. And you see the fields whenever you see NEs and tiles, so you probably haven't forgotten what NEs and tiles are likely to have what fields.

Refining a search will make the list of results shorter. It searches within the current search results list, and keeps only the NEs and/or tiles that also have the new search criterion. Expanding a search will make the list of results longer. It searches the full database and adds any NEs and/or tiles that have the new criterion.