Library and Craft Resources

 

WORD WHEEL

Overview
What to Do
Dialog Controls
Troubleshooting


OVERVIEW

The Word Wheel dialog appears when you click a Word Wheel button on a search screen.

The Word Wheel dialog shows indexed information that you can search for. To do a search, paste an item from the dialog onto the search form, then submit the query. This eliminates trial-and-error searching and makes searching easier. The Word Wheel uses Index Streaming™ technology to download only the part of the index you are browsing, to minimize load on the server. NOTE: The Word Wheel requires version 3.0 or later of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.


WHAT TO DO

  1. To make the Word Wheel dialog display words or terms (complete entries), use the Words List or Terms List control at the bottom of the dialog.
  2. Select a word or term from the list:
    If scroll bars do not appear, click in the list and use the keyboard keys to navigate.
    -OR- Type one or more characters in the Find box and click Go to to move to that item or the nearest match in the list.
  3. Click Paste to paste the word or term onto the search form.
  4. [optional] Paste additional items, in which case an "OR" search will be done (cat / dog).
  5. Click the Search button on the search form.


DIALOG CONTROLS

Each part of the Word Wheel dialog is explained below.

Find / Go to

Type one or more characters then click the Go to button to move to that item (or to the closest matching item) in the Choices List.

Choices List / Keys / Hits

The Choices List consists of two columns, Hits and Keys. The Keys list shows indexed information that you can search for. You see words or terms, depending on which option is selected at the bottom of the dialog. The Hits list indicates the number of records that contain that word or term in the field you are searching (see the "Field" list at the bottom of the dialog).

Words List / Terms List

A term is a complete entry, such as the title of a document. If a field has both types of indexes, you can switch between them by selecting Words List or Terms List. For example, the Terms List for a Title field shows the complete title of each document ("New Marketing Survey"), while the Words List shows each word individually. This means you can search for either a single word (just "marketing") or a complete term.

Field

The Field list shows which field's index you are viewing. This is useful when a box searches more than one field. For example, a box labeled "Any word or phrase" could search several different fields. Select a different field from the list to see information stored in that field. You can paste criteria from any field listed, to search for the pasted item(s).

Paste

Click Paste to paste the selected item from the Choices List into a box on the search form. You can paste more than one item (one at a time). A Boolean "OR" symbol is added between items that you paste. For example, if you paste "sales" and "marketing" the search form will contain sales / marketing. When you submit the query, you will find documents that contain either the word sales OR the word marketing (or both). Before submitting the query, you can change the Boolean symbol to & (which represents AND) or ! (which represents NOT).


TROUBLESHOOTING

Having trouble using a Word Wheel? Some of the most common problems are listed below.

The Word Wheel buttons on a search form don't appear or don't work.

Word Wheel buttons are an option that the administrator may have included on a search form. They provide access to a dialog that allows you to browse indexes. To display Word Wheel buttons and run the Word Wheel, you need version 3.0 or later of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

The Word Wheel dialog is empty.

Try selecting a different field from the "Field" drop-list in the Word Wheel dialog. If the drop-list does not contain any other fields, the textbase may be inaccessible, missing, or damaged. Contact the site's webmaster. Another possibility is that your web browser does not the requirements listed above. Obtain a newer version of the browser.

To verify that the problem is with the Word Wheel itself (and not with the search screen), do a simple search in the same search box. If the search does not work, then the problem is not specifically with the Word Wheel.