Structured search

You can create a structured search, which searches for data in specific properties of chart items. You can find entities or discover relationships.

To describe the items that you are looking for, you create a search structure. The structure can consist of one entity type, or two entity types and a link type between them. For each part of the structure, you can specify that a chart item must be of a particular item type or semantic type to satisfy the query. Then, you can then use search conditions to add item characteristics to the query.

The characteristics of an entity can be described by its own properties and the properties of its linked items. For example, to find a Tom Smith who lives at 12 Main Street, you can use a linked entities structure. You can specify that one entity of a linked pair of chart items must have a semantic type of Person and a label that contains "Tom Smith". Then, you can specify that the other entity must have an entity type of House and have '12 Main Street' for its 'Address 1' attribute value.

You can use a structured search to find relationships. For example, to identify the accounts that are involved in high value transactions, you can search for links that represent transactions of value greater than $75000.

Tip: To search for items that are indirectly linked through intermediate items, use Find Linked Items or Find Path.
To create a structured search:
  1. Click the Analyze tab, and then in the Find group, click the Visual Search icon.
  2. Select the type of search:
    OptionDescription
    Single Entity Searches for data in entities only.
    Linked Entities Searches for data in entities and links.
  3. To select the item types or semantic types to search for, click each part of the search structure then select an entry from the Type list.
    You can choose from the following options:
    • To search for chart items that have any item type, select (any).
    • To search for items that have an item type from a specific palette, select (is member of) and then select a palette from the Palette list.
    • To search for items that have a specific semantic type, select (semantic types), select a type of match from the list, then click Browse to select a semantic type. The Semantic Types list contains semantic types that are used on the chart.
    • To search for items that have a specific item type, select the item type from the Type list. The list contains item types that are used on the chart.
  4. Optional: For each part of the structure, you can specify a search condition in each of the Identity/Label, Date & Time, and Attribute Class areas. To satisfy the query, an item must satisfy all the conditions.
  5. To specify a link direction in a search for linked entities, click the link in the structure, then select a direction from the Direction list.
  6. Specify the items to search in the Search Items drop-down. The option defaults to All unless some items are selected on the charting surface. Then the option to restrict the search scope to Selected or Unselected items becomes available. Selected only searches the currently selected chart items, and Unselected searches the items not currently selected. When searching for linked entities, the search returns the relevant link and both ends.
  7. When you search for Single Entities or Linked Entities, you can choose what Analyst's Notebook does with the items that form the search results. Select an option from the Matched Items list. If items are selected on the charting surface, click Add to Selection to add the search results to the current selection, or Remove from Selection to remove the search results from the current selection. In any scenario, you can replace the selection with the search results.
    Note: When you search for Linked Entities, Matched Items gains an Apply to option. Turn on one or more of the Entity A, Link and Entity B checkboxes to specify which item type the Matched Items setting should apply to. You must select at least one. When both ends of a link match the conditions specified for Entity A and Entity B, both are selected even if you specified "only A" or "only B" because both entities match the required conditions. You can then decide whether your selected Matched Items action applies to all search results, or only the items that match specific parts of the structure. For example, if you are searching for people who own vehicles, your results include a person, a vehicle, and the link between them. You can choose to further refine the results and select only the people in this relationship by selecting the relevant Apply To checkbox, Entity A for example. You should be aware that the Apply To option is not directly related to the Search Items option in Step 6, although can be used to further refine the selections resulting from such searches.
  8. To include hidden chart items in the search and reveal them as part of the operation, select Reveal Hidden.
  9. Click OK.
    Analyst's Notebook runs the search.