Exact or inexact basic search and ranking

Search fields are configured to match exactly or inexactly. An exact match of a field returns a result that matches the search string exactly. An inexact match of a field returns a result that starts with, contains, is a synonym of, or sounds like the search string.

For example, exact and inexact matching returns the following names if you search for Mary:

• Mary – Exact.
• Marybeth – Starts with.
• Rosemary – Contains.
• Molly – Synonym. A synonym is a word that has the same meaning. For names, you can think of a synonym as a nickname.
• Marie – Sounds like.

PolicyCenter ranks the search results with a score that reflects the degree to which the result matches the search criteria.

A configuration file defines for each search field how to rank exact matches and the various types of inexact matches. For more information, see Configuring free-text search for indexing and searching.