TextSearch [source,form]
searches for files referenced by source that contain text matching form.
TextSearch [source,form,"prop"]
returns the property prop for each result.
TextSearch
TextSearch [source,form]
searches for files referenced by source that contain text matching form.
TextSearch [source,form,"prop"]
returns the property prop for each result.
Details and Options
- TextSearch supports the following basic search forms, which can be combined arbitrarily:
-
"string" complete string must occur in the document{s1,s2,…} all si must occur in the documents1|s2|… at least one of the si must occur in the document"field"s1 the si must occur in the given fieldAll all indexed documents are returned
- TextSearch also supports the alternative forms ContainsAll […], ContainsAny […] and ContainsNone […], as well as And […], Or […] and Not […].
- TextSearch allows the following to be used as sources:
-
"name" SearchIndexObject ["name"]{obj1,obj2,…} list of objects
- TextSearch [source,form] returns a SearchResultObject […] expression.
- The properties prop can be any of the properties for ContentObject , in which case TextSearch [source,form,prop] is equivalent to SearchResultObject […][All ,prop].
- The following additional properties are supported in TextSearch [source,form,prop]:
-
"Count" total number of search results"ContentObject" search results as content objects in a list"Association" search results in an association
- The property "Score" defines the default order in which search results are sorted.
- Possible options include:
-
- Files with an extension typical of binary files as well as files that contain non-textual byte values will not be indexed or searched.
- TextSearch supports many file formats that can be imported as plain text. Some of these include: "TXT", "CSV", "JSON", "XML", "PDF", "NB", "EPS".
- TextSearch does not support most image, audio and other kinds of file formats that do not have a text component.
- TextSearch reads the "Plaintext" element of a file, which is given by Import [file, "Plaintext"].
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (3)
Create an index over a specific directory:
Search for files in the specified directory that contain the word "dog" using the index:
Search for files containing "man" but not "animal" using advanced query syntax and show a contextual snippet:
TextSearch can also query a directory without indexing it:
Search for files containing both words:
Search for files containing either word:
Queries can be combined:
Scope (1)
Create an index using example text:
Add a second index:
Search in both indices:
Options (3)
ContentFieldOptions (1)
Specify weights for the fields in the index at query time:
Set a weight of 2 for the "Keywords" field:
When no weight is set, "doc1" gets a higher score:
DocumentWeightingRules (1)
Define a "ConfidenceLevel" field and use it for document weighting:
MaxItems (1)
Get only the first result:
Properties & Relations (1)
Queries are case insensitive:
Queries only match entire words:
Possible Issues (2)
Only field weights can be specified at search time, while other content field options need to be specified at index creation time:
The following search returns a result because "IgnoreCase" is True by default, and "IgnoreCase" cannot be specified at search time:
When the same option is specified at index time, no result is returned:
The "Score" fields of objects matched in different indices are not comparable in general:
And indeed, in general a search on multiple indices returns results not sorted by "Score":
See Also
TextSearchReport SearchIndexObject ContentObject CreateSearchIndex SearchResultObject SearchIndices FindList StringCases FindTextualAnswer MailSearch
Function Repository: ConcordanceWords
Related Guides
Text
Wolfram Research (2015), TextSearch, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TextSearch.html (updated 2017).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2015. "TextSearch." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2017. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TextSearch.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2015). TextSearch. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TextSearch.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_textsearch, author="Wolfram Research", title="{TextSearch}", year="2017", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TextSearch.html}", note=[Accessed: 19-November-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_textsearch, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={TextSearch}, year={2017}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/TextSearch.html}, note=[Accessed: 19-November-2025]}