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yaz_search

(PHP 4 >= 4.0.1)

yaz_search -- Prepares for a search

Description

int yaz_search ( resource id, string type, string query)

yaz_search() prepares for a search on the connection given by parameter id. The parameter type represents the query type - only "rpn" is supported now in which case the third argument specifies a Type-1 query in prefix query notation. Like yaz_connect() this function is non-blocking and only prepares for a search to be executed later when yaz_wait() is called.

The RPN query

The RPN query is a textual representation of the Type-1 query as defined by the Z39.50 standard. However, in the text representation as used by YAZ a prefix notation is used, that is the operater precedes the operands. The query string is a sequence of tokens where white space is ignored unless surrounded by double quotes. Tokens beginning with an at-character (@) are considered operators, otherwise they are treated as search terms.

Table 1. RPN Operators

ConstructDescription
@and query1 query2intersection of query1 and query2
@or query1 query2union of query1 and query2
@not query1 query2query1 and not query2
@set nameresult set reference
@attrset set queryspecifies attribute-set for query. This construction is only allowed once - in the beginning of the whole query
@attr [set] type=value queryapplies attribute to query. The type and value are integers specifying the attribute-type and attribute-value respectively. The set, if given, specifies the attribute-set.

Example 1. Query Examples

You can search for simple terms, like this 
computer
which matches documents where "computer" occur. No attributes are specified.

The Query 
"knuth donald"
matches documents where "knuth donald" occur (provided that the server supports phrase search).

This query applies two attributes for the same phrase. 
@attr 1=1003 @attr 4=1 "knuth donald"
First attribute is type 1 (Bib-1 use), attribute value is 1003 (Author). Second attribute has is type 4 (structure), value 1 (phrase), so this should match documents where Donald Knuth is author.

This query 
@and @or a b @not @or c d e
would in infix notation look like (a or b) and ((c or d) not e).

Another, more complex, one: 
@attrset gils @and @attr 1=4 art @attr 1=2000 company
The query as a whole uses the GILS attributeset. The query matches documents where art occur in the title (GILS,BIB-1) and in which company occur as Distributor (GILS).

You can find information about attributes at the Z39.50 Maintenance Agency site.

Note: If you would like to use a more friendly notation, use the CCL parser - functions yaz_ccl_conf() and yaz_ccl_parse().

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