About Transcription Search syntax

The Transcription Search page supports a standard syntax in its search query. Queries are broken up into terms and operators. Terms can be a single word (hello) or a multiple terms (“hello world”) enclosed in double quotes. You can combine multiple terms with operators to form complex queries. The following table defines each of the supported operators and provides short examples of how to use the operators to form a search query.

Operator Definition Sample Query Query Explanation

~

Use this proximity operator to find words or phrases within a specific number of words. No space before or after this operator. AND logic is applied to all words within the quotation marks of a proximity search.

“speak supervisor”~2

The words “speak” and “supervisor” are searched within two words of each other, with “speak” before “supervisor.” The number two indicates the maximum number of words that can appear between “speak” and “supervisor.”

&&

Operates like a Boolean AND logic operator. Add a space before and after.

“cancel subscription”~2 && “renew subscription”~2

This query searches for occurrences of the words “cancel” and “subscription” within two words of each other, that are found along with occurrences of the words “renew” and “subscription” within two words of each other.

||

Operates like a Boolean OR logic operator. Use a space before and after. The OR logic is the default logic used when searching for two independent words.

speak supervisor

“cancel subscription”~2 || “renew subscription”~2

The first example searches for either or both of the words “speak” or “supervisor.”

The second example searches for occurrences of the words “cancel” and “subscription” within two words, or occurrences of the words “renew” and “subscription” within two words, or both word pairings.

!

Operates like a Boolean NOT operator (performs a negative search). Do not add space before or after this operator. You cannot use this operator and accompanying term or phrase by itself. You must combine this operator with a positive search, where specific terms or phrases are located. The accompanying word that you enter becomes a stem word, and other variations of the word are detected.

(upgrade OR renew)!free

hello!“thank call”~2

The search produces a positive result each time the word “upgrade” or “renew” is detected without the word “free” anywhere in the transcript.

The second example shows a search for the word “hello” with no occurrence of “thank” and “call” within two words of each other.

()

The parenthesis are used for grouping or nesting words.

(premium || gold) && (upgrade || renew)

The search is looking for any of the following combinations of two words:

  • premium upgrade
  • premium renew
  • gold upgrade
  • gold renew

Wildcards

You can modify query terms with single and multiple character wildcards within single terms (but not within phrases).

? (single character)

TE?T finds TEST and TEXT

* (multiple character)

TEST* finds TESTS, TESTER, TESTING, and TEST

IMPORTANT   Wildcards might give you unexpected results if you put them into words that have suffixes. For example, “tests,” “tester,” and “testing” all add different suffixes to the same root: “test.” A search for “te*ting” might not find all occurrences of the words “texting” and “testing.” If you get unexpected results with wildcards, try removing the suffix and using just the root word instead.

NOTE   You cannot use either wildcard symbol as the first character of a search.