Site Search

Help with Searching

The TR Website is effectively a vast computer database. As such, its contents must be searched according to the rules of computer database searching. This can be done by building a search expression using the features provided:

Using these features effectively will help refine your research and provide information more relevant to your needs.

The following guide provides a summary of this search process.

All, Any & Boolean

All
Selecting this option will return documents containing all words you enter into the search.

Any
Selecting this option will return documents containing any of the words you enter into the search.

Boolean
Much database searching is based on the principles of Boolean logic. Boolean logic refers to the logical relationship among search terms, and is named after the British-born Irish mathematician George Boole who amongst his teachings and publications founded the mathematical theories of logic and probabilities.

OR
AND
NOT

Each operator is summarised below:

Query: I need information about brass.
Boolean logic: OR
Search: screws OR steel
Result: yield results where documents containing either screws or steel will be found and displayed

Query: I'm interested in plating on screws.
Boolean logic: AND
Search: screws AND steel
Result: yield results where documents containing both screws and steel will be found and displayed

Query: I'm interested in screws, but not steel.
Boolean logic: NOT
Search: screws NOT steel
Result: yield results where documents containing screws but not steel will be found and displayed

Whole word, beginning of word, End of word & Part of word

Whole word
Selecting this option will return documents containing the exact word entered into the search

Beginning of word
Selecting this option will return documents where the search text entered, matches the same text present at the beginning of the word in the document. Example: 'mat' will find material & mating etc.

End of word
Selecting this option will return documents where the text entered in your search matches the same text present at the end of the word in the document. Example: 'ew' will find screw & skew etc.

Part of word
Selecting this option will return documents where the search text entered, matches the same text present in any part of the word in the document. Example: 'din' will find trading & DIN & expanding etc.

Whole site, Engineering FAQ & Product guide

Whole site
Selecting this option will return documents from anywhere on the site.

Engineering FAQ
Selecting this option will return documents from the engineering knowledgebase only. You will need to register before access to the found documents can be made.

Product guide
Selecting this option will return documents from the product guide only. You will need to register before access to the found document can be made.

Any of the above options can be used to build your search expression, effectively providing over 30 possible search options (or permutation).