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About Searching for Keywords
Transana lets you search for clips and episodes that
contain specified keywords.
- This is useful:
- When you want to look for evidence to support a
certain hypothesis.
- When you have large amounts of video data.
- Give your searches a name.
- Searches appear under the Search node in the database
tree.
- Search names keep track of what you have searched for,
and what you found when you searched.
- You can save the results of a search as a collection.
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Perform a Search with One Keyword
To search with one keyword follow the steps below.
- Right-click the Search node
in the database tree in the Data window.
- Choose Search from the pop-up menu. Note: Transana
opens the Boolean Keyword Search dialog box shown below.
- Type the keyword you wish to search for in the
field Search Name to give your search a name (Symmetry
in the example below).
- Choose the Keyword Group your keyword is in.
- Highlight the keyword you want to search for in the
right hand pane.
- Scroll down to see this keyword if there are several
keywords in the right hand pane.
- Click Add Keywords to Query. You can also double-click
the keyword to add it to your search.
- Click Search
to begin searching.
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Once the search is complete Transana will do the following
procedures:
- Transana finds one episode (Sample Video) and six clips
that have the keyword Symmetry assigned to them in the example above.
- Transana returns the result of the search under the
Search Name Symmetry, under the Search node.
- The search name appears under the Search node with
an icon of a magnifying glass
next
to it.
- The series/episode and collection/clip
structure you have set up is preserved in the search results.

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Perform a Search with Two Keywords
To search with two keywords follow the steps
below.
- Right-click the Search node in the database
tree in the Data window and choose Search from the pop-up menu.
- Transana opens the Boolean Keyword Search dialog
box.
- Type the "Keyword1 and Keyword2" for keywords
in the field labeled Search Name. In the example below, Symmetry and
Confusion are the two keywords.
- Highlight Keyword1 in the list of keywords in the
dialog box (Symmetry in the example below).
- Click Add Keywords to Query or double-click Keyword1.
- Click the AND button under the label Operators in the
dialog box. (This means both keywords must be in the search results).
- Highlight Keyword2 in the list of keywords.
- Click Add Keywords to Query or double-click Keyword1.
- Click Search to begin searching.
- Note: Transana displays the results of your search in the database
tree:

Symmetry and Confusion in the example above is the Search
Name. To review your search results, right-click the Symmetry collection
and select Play All Clips.
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Dropping a Clip or Episode from a Search
If you find the clip (ex.Proof) to be a false positive
result in the example above
- Right click the clip in the search result.
- Select Drop for Search Result from
the pop-up menu.
- Note: The clip disappears from the search (but remains in the
collection).

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Troubleshooting Search Results
To trouble shoot search results, right-click
on the Search Results node on the database tab of the data window to give
the option to search your Episodes and Clips for the presence of assigned
keywords.
- This dialog box has been carefully designed
to only allow valid entries and to produce only valid searches.
- If something you want to choose is not available,
it is because you have missed something required to make your specification
complete.
- For example, if the "Search" button is not
enabled, it is most likely because you have not closed a set of parentheses
or because you just selected a logical operator and have not yet specified
the next Keyword Group : Keyword pair.
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Performing Complex Searches
This screen allows you to specify complex searches,
including using boolean logical operator (AND, OR, and NOT,) but you must
do so carefully to be sure to get the results you want.
For example, the search"(A or B) and C"
and the search "A or (B and C)" produce different results.
- The first search will find all Episodes and Clips
that have Keyword C and also have either Keyword A or Keyword B, producing
hits on combinations AC, BC, and ABC.
- The second search will find all Episodes and Clips
that have Keyword A, as well as those that have both B and C, producing
hits on A, AB, AC, BC, and ABC.
- These are obviously very different results, with the second search
including more results.
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Understanding Boolean Searching
The following provides information on Boolean Searching.
Examine the more ambiguous search "A or B and
C."
Understand the following about searches.
- Many people initially expect this to be equivalent
to the first query above.
- Because AND is higher than OR in the "order
of operations,") this search is actually equivalent to the second
search described above, and will find all Episodes and Clips that have
keyword A, as well as those that have both B and C keywords.
- The order of operations for Boolean searching
in Transana is as follows:
- Combine keyword results for keywords separated
with AND so that "B and C' returns only clips or episodes with
both B and C keywords in the result.
- Reading left to right, combine results so that
only clips or episodes can contain "A" keyword. Search
results can also contain both "B" and "C" keywords.
Perform the following search: (A AND B) OR (C AND D)
- Reading left to right, perform any operations in parentheses
first:
- Combine A and B together so that search results must
contain both A and B keywords.
- Combine C and D together so that search results must
contain both C and D keywords.
- Reading left to right, search results can contain either
the combination of A and B keywords or the combination of C and D keywords
in the clip or episode found in the search results.
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Boolean Search Rules Summary
Some tips to remember about Boolean searches.
- Perform any operations in parentheses first.
- Always read from left to right.
- Perform any operations with AND or NOT second.
- Perform any operations with OR last.
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