Access Firmex Search by clicking the Search tab.
What does Firmex search for when I perform a search?
Firmex Search searches for documents, folders, tags, comments, and content statuses that match your search term or phrase. Firmex will search the titles of folders and documents, as well as the body of a document. If Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is enabled for a site, and documents have undergone Firmex's OCR conversion on upload, then the text in those documents can be searched (learn more about OCR).
Can I use boolean terms in my search?
Yes, the boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT may be used. Note that boolean terms are case sensitive.
Can I use a wildcard in my search?
Yes, the wildcard operators ? and * may be used, though not at the beginning of a search term. Wildcards must also be preceded by two characters. See the examples below.
Types of Searches
Only Search Document Names
To search for matches against the document name only, ignoring the body text of a document, click the "Search document names only" checkbox below the search box.
Searching for a Specific Word
To search for a specific word, type the word in the Search box.
In this case, any document containing the word “payment” will be returned.
Searching for a Phrase or String
To search for a specific string of words, type the words inside quotation marks. This will also return an exact match of the search term.
In this case, any document containing the exact phrase “summary of payments” will be returned.
However, a document containing “summary of 2012” will not be returned since it is not an exact match.
Searching for Multiple Words (OR Search)
To search for any instance of one or more words, type the words with “OR” separating them.
In this case, any document containing the word “payment”, “invoice”, or both, will be returned.
However, a document containing the word “payments” will not be returned since it is not an exact match.
Searching for the Use of Multiple Words (AND Search)
To search for an instance where multiple specific words are present, but not as a specific phrase, type the words with “AND” separating them.
In this case, any document containing the words “payment” and “invoice” will be returned. Both words have to be present for the document to be returned.
Search Excluding Certain Words (NOT Search)
To exclude a word from a search, precede the word with a “NOT” or “-”.
In this case, any document containing the word “payment” but without the word “invoice” will be returned. A document containing both words will not be returned.
Single Character Wildcard (?)
Use a single character wildcard (?) to find variations on a single character, substituted with the wildcard (?).
In this case, search will return documents containing the words “boat”, “boot”, “bolt”, etc.
Note that you cannot use a ? symbol as the first character of a search.
Multiple or Zero Character Wildcard (*)
Use a zero or more character wildcard (*) to find variants on a root word stem.
In this case, search will return documents containing the words “boost”, “bot”, “boast”, etc.
Note that you cannot use a * symbol as the first character of a search.
Examples of Multi Tag Search and Content Status
Suppose ACME Investment Bank has a Firmex project titled “M&A Repository.” ACME uses this project as a template for all future M&A projects.
When a new M&A project is started, ACME uses Tags to identify documents and folders that may apply to the new M&A project.
How Documents and Folders are Tagged
Below are some of the tags used by ACME Investment Bank in the M&A Repository project:
- Pharmaceutical
- Mining
- Resources
Each folder in the Due Diligence request list has been tagged with one or more of the tags above.
For example:
- The Intellectual Property folder contains the tags “Pharmaceutical,” “Technology,” and “Resources.”
- The Environmental Matters folder contains the tags “Mining” and “Resources.”
- The Overview folder contains the tags “Mining,” “Pharmaceutical,” “Technology,” and “Resources.”
Using Tag Search to Identify Content
Suppose a new Mining M&A project is started, and an ACME employee would like to find all the material relating to “Mining” and “Resources”.
Searching for “mining” and clicking the Tags label will return all the folders and documents tagged with the keyword “mining”. Based on the examples above, the folders “Environmental Matters” and “Overview” will be returned.
In the second example, suppose the ACME employee wishes to locate documents related to both “mining” or “resources”. Searching for “mining AND resources” and then clicking the Tags label will return all the folders and documents that contain both the “mining” and “resources” tag. If only one of the tags is present, the folder or document will not be returned. Using the examples above, the folders “Environmental Resources” and “Overview” will be returned because they were tagged with Mining and Resources.
In the last example, the ACME employee is looking for any information that might be related to “mining” or “resources”, or both. Searching for “mining OR resources” and then clicking the Tags label will return all the folders and documents that contain either the “mining” tag, the “resources” tag, or both tags. If only one of the tags is present, the folder or document will still be returned. Using the examples above, the folders “Environmental Resources”, “Overview”, and “Intellectual Property” will be returned.
Ignored Characters
Please omit any of the characters below from your search, as searching for them may result in an incomplete search:
& | ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ ~ :
Related Resources
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