SharePoint Foundation Search Keyword Syntax

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[This documentation is preliminary and is subject to change.]

Search in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 includes new keyword syntax for building keyword queries. This syntax is simpler to use than the SQL search syntax because you do not have to parse through search terms to build a SQL statement; you pass the search terms directly to the search service.

You can pass two types of terms in a SharePoint Foundation Search keyword query:

  • Keywords (the actual query words for the search request)

  • Property filters (the property constraints for the search request)

Keywords

You can use any of the following as keywords:

  • A word (includes one or more characters without spaces or punctuation)

  • A phrase (includes two or more words together, separated by spaces, but the words must be enclosed in quotation marks)

  • A prefix (includes a part of a word, from the beginning of the word)

The following table describes the three types of keywords: simple, included, and excluded terms.

Name

Definition

Character

Example

Simple term

Keyword with no special requirements

N/A

Weather

Included term

Keyword that must be in content items returned in search results

"+"

+sunshine

Excluded term

Keyword that must not be in content items returned in search results

"-"

-rain

See Also

Concepts

Building SharePoint Foundation Search Queries

Reference

Microsoft.SharePoint.Search.Query.KeywordQuery

SharePoint Foundation Search Property Filters

SharePoint Foundation Search Keyword Syntax Inclusion and Exclusion