Configuring search
Before you begin
We recommend that you read the best practices before you configure the search. For more information, see Configuring-search-best-practices.
To configure search settings for enhanced results
Set the parameters that control different searches in BMC Helix Digital Workplace.
The following table describes settings you can configure:
Setting | Description |
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Limit the number of search results per source in a global search so that users are not overwhelmed by a large number of results. You can select any number from 1 to 100. The default value is 25. | |
Include or exclude requests and approvals from search results. If you disable this feature, the end user must click the Requests and Approvals tabs to search these categories. This setting is enabled by default. | |
Leverage conversational language (such as "I need to order a new laptop") instead of a keyword-based search. The main purpose of this feature is to determine whether a user is looking for a Catalog item or a knowledge article. The search engine picks up the meaning of a sentence or word group, recognizes the end user's intent, and defines the appropriate category, thus reducing the time spent searching. This setting is enabled by default. | |
Let users search for variations of a term by using shortened words or abbreviations. When enabled, the search can return alternate spellings and variations of the search term.
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Let users search for service requests based on the requestor's questionnaire responses. Limit to searches made from the requestor portal— After enabling this flag, catalog requests based on the requestor's questionnaire responses no longer appear in the search results when a search is performed from the Catalog console or BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT console. The setting limits this capability only to the end-user console. The search based on the responses is more relevant to end users, who can get the results based on the submitted responses and have an improved search experience. IT agents and catalog administrators experience improved system performance when searching in their respective consoles.
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Make search results precise by returning results that contain all search terms. The search engine searches for catalog items that match all search terms, narrowing down the search results.
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Let users quickly find the information they need when they use different word forms in a search. With FTS, end users can search for stem words and related terms, and the search engine will return the results that include all the words. For example, when you search for fire, the search results will include words such as firewall, backfire, firefighter, and firecracker. You configure the relevancy weight for fields.
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| Recent search history | Stores recent search history in the backend and uses it to generate suggestions for other users within the same tenancy. By default, a user's search history is not immediately visible to others. It becomes part of the shared search suggestions only after being processed by the backend scheduler. Important: The search history is retained as per the data archival policy configured for your tenant. For more information, see Archiving data.
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To configure search settings in the Admin console
- Log in to the Admin console.
- Select Configuration > Search .
- Specify the maximum results per source.
- To include requests and approvals in the All tab, select the check box.
- To leverage conversational language in search, enable the Natural Language Searching toggle key.
The following image shows the Search configuration page:
- Save the configuration.
(Optional) To configure the search scheduler settings
- As an administrator, log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
- On the Workspace tab, click Digital Workplace.
- On the Records tab, select the checkbox next to ConfigurationParams, and click Edit Data.
- Configure the following parameters:
Parameter name Description Example value searchTextMaxRecords Specify the cumulative number of search text records that the system fetches for all subtenants.
Default value: 100000
2000000 searchTextPageSize Specify the number of records that the system fetches in one batch for each search query.
Default value: 2000
5000 searchTextLoadDelay Specify the time in milliseconds when the search history of one user appears as search suggestions for other users in the same tenancy.
Default value: 60000 milliseconds (one minute)
1200000 (two minutes) searchTextLoadPeriod Specify the interval time in milliseconds that the search scheduler runs.
The scheduler runs in combination of the searchTextLoadDelay and searchTextLoadPeriod time. By default, it runs for one minute for every 24 hours until the values are changed.
Default value: 86400000 (24 hours)
43200000 (12 hours) The following image is ab example of the search scheduler parameters:
- Click Save.
To configure search settings for native catalog items
- Log in to the Catalog console.
- Open the Application Settings by clicking the Configuration
. - Click Search.
Configure the following search-related settings.
All settings are optional.Setting
Description
Allow wildcards
Enable search by shortened words or abbreviations. End users can enter partial strings with the percent (%) wildcard in search.
Important: Leading wildcards are not supported if the search is performed on fields that are indexed for Full Text Search (FTS). Only trailing wildcards are supported for these fields. For more information about wildcards, see How search with wildcards works.
If the wildcards feature is enabled, search does not display BMC Helix Digital Workplace catalog services with curly brackets {}.
Search questionnaire responses
Enable search for service requests by submitted responses.
Important: To enable search by service request answers for enhanced services that are built on SRDs imported from BMC Service Request Management, you must enable the search.by.answer.enabled setting in the Admin console by selecting Configuration > SRM Pluggable Provider.
Limit to searches made from the requestor portal— Restrict the search capability with questionnaire responses only to end users and improve the system performance for Smart IT agents and catalog administrators.
Limit to searches made from the requestor portal
Use ‘AND’ logic for Catalog services or Requests
Make search results precise.
Save the configuration.
See the image showing interface with search settings.
To enable full text search and the relevancy weight for fields
This functionality is available with the BMC Helix Digital Workplace advanced license.
Multi-word search relies on the full text search (FTS) capabilities of the BMC Helix Innovation Studio. When FTS is used, the search engine will weigh words according to their relevancy based on where they appear: in a title, a keyword, or the text. Set the relevancy of items in search results so that fields with higher relevancy appear higher in the search results. For mor information, see Enabling Full Text Search.
Configure the relevancy weights for the following fields:
- Title Field weight: Weight for the Title field
- Environment Field weight: Weight for the Description field
- Keywords Field weight: Weight for the Tags field
Environment Field Weight is set as the base measurement (1.000000), Keywords Field Weight is twice as important as the base, and Title Field Weight is considered four times as important as the base. Search terms that appear in fields with a higher weighting are granted a higher score than terms in fields with a lower weighting.
Where to go from here
Learn about satisfaction surveys and catalog reports that provide information on satisfaction surveys at Setting-up-surveys and Reports-and-analysis-of-the-enhanced-service-catalog.