TIP: Enable substring search for DNN Search

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Posted by: mamlin 6/7/2009 10:15 PM

For some reason I can't fathom, DNN Search does not perform substring searches. In this tip we'll look at the one-line tweak needed to enable this common search feature... 
  
 
Substring Search
A substring search is when you search for a subset of the characters/word/phrase you're after.  For instance, instead of searching for the term "programmers" you could increase your chances of getting results by searching for "program" which would also return results for "programs", "programmer" and "programmers".  This is how most search engines commonly work by default.  If you want a search to return results only for an exact match to your search term you generally need to do something extra to specify this behavior.
 
Strangely, DNN Search does not perform substring searches -- it always performs an "exact match" search.  This means that a search for "module" will not return results for "modules".
 
Fortunately it is easy to enable substring searches with a simple change to one line of one stored procedure.  
 
 
Stored Procedure:  GetSearchResults 
To enable substring searches we only need to change an "=" comparison to a "LIKE" comparison in the stored procdure GetSearchResults.
 
Within the WHERE clause of this procedure, the search term comparison line is as follows:
 
  AND (sw.Word = @Word)
 
To enable substring search, change the line to:
 
  AND (sw.Word LIKE '%' + @Word + '%') 

See?  Simple!  Now your search for "skin" will also return matches to "skins", "skinning", "skinmeister", etc. 
 
If you're not sure how to go about updating a stored procedure then this change may not be for you.  You really should learn a bit more about SQL and database management before attempting to alter any core DNN stored procedures.
 
 
Caution!
Unfortunately, since this is a "core" stored procedure, future DNN updates could overwrite your change and "disable" substring searches.  Make a note and be mindful to validate that substring searching is still the norm after performing any DNN version upgrades.
 
 
Another Solution for Substring Search
In case you hadn't noticed, this site has forgone the default DNN Search in favor of the free Google AJAX Search.  There are a number of advantages to doing this (as long as your site's searchable content is public).  You can read all about this option and see steps for updating your DNN skin here:  http://googleAJAXsearch.com
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