Search Functionality 🔍

General

We have quite a few different search abilities throughout the hub. Each search is implemented separately with it's own logic.

Hub search

The majority of user searches are passed to the backend via the respective API and then are parsed to SQL and added directly to a SQL query.

Admin dashboard search

The majority of search functionality via the Admin dashboard is done via dare filters.

There are however a few cases where a search is passed to the backend via the respective API and then is parsed to SQL and added directly to a SQL query.

See also: 5app Guides - Searching Dashboard

useSearchBar hook

When adding new search functionality to the frontend, e.g. with an ActionBar component, the useSearchBar hook can often be utilised.

It is a hook for syncing queries entered into a search box with the url query parameters.

See also: Storybook - useSearchBar

SQL based searches

When a search is passed to the backend as a search for a direct SQL query, the search fields and search expression need to be defined and formatted in order to be legible for a SQL query.

The util getSearchExpressionFilter can be utilised to create a simple filter for a SQL WHERE case.

Usage example:

import getSearchExpressionFilter from '../../utils/getSearchExpressionFilter.js';

export async function getExampleAudit(req, res) {
	const {domainId} = req.user;
	const {format, search, userId} = req.query;

	const searchFields = [
		'targetUser.name',
		'targetUser.first_name',
		'targetUser.last_name',
	];

	const searchExpressionFilter = getSearchExpressionFilter({
		search,
		searchFields,
	});

	const query = SQL`
		SELECT
			targetUser.id AS userId,
		FROM changelog
		JOIN users targetUser ON (targetUser.id = changelog.ref_id)
		WHERE
			changelog.ref_type = 'user'
			AND changelog.domain_id = ${domainId}
			${searchExpressionFilter}
	`;

    const queryResult = await db.queryReadOnly(query)

	res.send({
			items: queryResult,
	});
}

Dare bases searches and the parseSearch util

The parseSearch util is used in the frontend to format a received search value (input by the user) into a dare legible format.

The output of the util is then passed on to the dare query as a query filter. The filter can either be added directly to the dare query, if the query is located on the frontend. Otherwise the filter can be passed to the backend via the api and utilised accordingly there.

The parseSearch util is utilised for a lot of search functionality in the Admin dashboard.

Usage example:

import parseSearch from 'utils/parseSearch';

export function parseNewSearch(search?: string) {
    let filter = {}

    parseSearch(search, {

        text(values) {
			const name = `%${values.join('%')}%`;
			filter.name = value;
		},
		created([value]) {
			filter.created_time = value;
		},
		updated([value]) {
			filter.updated_time = value;
		},
		id(values) {
			filter.id = values;
		},
	});

    return filter // will filter a table for either `name`,`created_time` or `updated_time` or `id`
}

Dashboard Dare Search Syntax

Syntax	Example	Filter Description
value	Andrew	Words without protocol (:) are treated as search terms.
is:prop	is:admin	matches prop = true
not:prop	not:admin	matches prop = false
has:prop	has:team	Matches a non-empty SET prop
no:prop	no:team	Matches an empty SET prop
prop:value or prop:"value"	team:MyTeam	matches prop = value.
prop:..value	created:..2016-01-01	matches prop with values less than value.
prop:value..	created:2016-01-01..	matches prop with values greater than value.
prop:value1..value2	rank:1..100	matches prop with values between two values
sort:prop-(asc OR desc)	sort:updated-desc	Sorts the results by property (asc or desc)

Available Search Definitions (incomplete)

Search Common

Search definitions available to all search inputs

Type	Description
Andrew	Filter items by name "Andrew"
is:deleted	Match deleted items
not:deleted	(Default) Match only non-deleted items
created:2016-01-01	Matches created on "2016-01-01"
created:2016-01-01..	Matches created since "2016-01-01"
created:..2016-01-01	Matches created before "2016-01-01"
created:2015-01-01..2016-01-01	Matches created between "2015-01-01" and "2016-01-01"
updated:2016-01-01	Matches updated on "2016-01-01"
updated:2016-01-01..	Matches updated since "2016-01-01"
updated:..2016-01-01	Matches updated before "2016-01-01"
updated:2015-01-01..2016-01-01	Matches updated between "2015-01-01" and "2016-01-01"
sort:updated-desc	Sorts the results by most recently updated first.
sort:updated-asc	Sorts the results by most recently updated last.
sort:created-desc	Sorts the results by most recently created first.
sort:created-asc	Sorts the results by most recently created last.

Search Assets

Type	Description
My file	Search assets with titles
type:file	Match assets of type file
type:folder	Match assets of type folder
owner:common	Changes the bucket of assets, used to include assets in collections, and includes those shared via a parent hub
refid:MY_REF_123	Search for asset containing the customer refid
is:rated	Has been rated by a user
opened:2016-01-01	Opened in date range
folder:root	Match assets in the root folder only
folder:123	Filter assets in a folder, by id 123
folder:123,456	Filter assets in a folder with id 123 or 456

Search Nudges

Type	Description
My nudge	Matches nudges with name containing My nudge
logInAgain	Matches nudges with goal Log in again
logInFirstTime	Matches nudges with goal Log in for the first time
openContent	Matches nudges with goal Open content
completeContent	Matches nudges with goal Complete content
id:1	Matches nudges with id 1
id:1,2	Matches nudges with id 1 and id 2
created:2016-01-01	Matches created on "2016-01-01"
updated:2016-01-01..	Matches updated since "2016-01-01"

Search Playlists

Type	Description
My playlist	Matches title with My playlist
no:topic	Matches playlists which are not associated with a topic
has:topic	Matches playlists which belong on one or more topics
topic:"My Topic"	Matches playlists which belong to the topic "My Topic"
has:badge	Matches playlists which have a badge assigned to them

Search Users

Type	Description
Andrew	Matches users with andrew
is:admin	Filter only admin
not:admin	Filter out admin
is:invited	Filter users who have been sent an email invite
not:invited	Filter users who have not been sent an email invite
is:inactive	Filter users who have never logged in
not:inactive	Filter users who used who have used the system atleast once
no:team	Filter users who dont belong to any teams
session:2017-11..2018-01	Filter users who have had a session in the date range
openedasset:123	Filter users who have opened an Asset using Asset ID
activity:123	Last active inrange activity:2018-01
team:MyTeam	Filter users in team "MyTeam"
team:A-Team,B-Team	Filter users in either "A-Team" or "B-Team"
sort:active-desc	Sorts users by most recent active first.
sort:active-asc	Sorts users by most recent active last.

Further resources

• 5app Guides - Searching Dashboard
• Storybook - useSearchBar