This page explains how to use the search operator in APL.
The search operator in APL is used to perform a full-text search across multiple fields in a dataset. This operator allows you to locate specific keywords, phrases, or patterns, helping you filter data quickly and efficiently. You can use search to query logs, traces, and other data sources without the need to specify individual fields, making it particularly useful when you’re unsure where the relevant data resides.
Use search when you want to search multiple fields in a dataset, especially for ad-hoc analysis or quick lookups across logs or traces. It’s commonly applied in log analysis, security monitoring, and trace analysis, where multiple fields may contain the desired data.
Importance of the search operator
- Versatility: It allows you to find a specific text or term across various fields within a dataset that they choose or select for their search, without the necessity to specify each field.
- Efficiency: Saves time when you aren’t sure which field or datasets in APL might contain the information you are looking for.
- User-friendliness: It’s particularly useful for users or developers unfamiliar with the schema details of a given database.
Usage
Syntax
or
Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CaseSensitivity | string | A flag that controls the behavior of all string scalar operators, such as has, with respect to case sensitivity. Valid values are default, case_insensitive, case_sensitive. The options default and case_insensitive are synonymous, since the default behavior is case insensitive. | |
| SearchPredicate | string | ✓ | A Boolean expression to be evaluated for every event in the input. If it returns true, the record is outputted. |
Returns
Returns all rows where the specified keyword appears in any field.
Search predicate syntax
The SearchPredicate allows you to search for specific terms in all fields of a dataset. The operator that will be applied to a search term depends on the presence and placement of a wildcard asterisk (*) in the term, as shown in the following table.
| Literal | Operator |
|---|---|
axiomk | has |
*axiomk | hassuffix |
axiomk* | hasprefix |
*axiomk* | contains |
ax*ig | matches regex |
You can also restrict the search to a specific field, look for an exact match instead of a term match, or search by regular expression. The syntax for each of these cases is shown in the following table.
| Syntax | Explanation |
|---|---|
FieldName:StringLiteral | This syntax can be used to restrict the search to a specific field. The default behavior is to search all fields. |
FieldName==StringLiteral | This syntax can be used to search for exact matches of a field against a string value. The default behavior is to look for a term-match. |
Field matches regex StringLiteral | This syntax indicates regular expression matching, in which StringLiteral is the regex pattern. |
Use boolean expressions to combine conditions and create more complex searches. For example, "axiom" and b==789 would result in a search for events that have the term axiom in any field and the value 789 in the b field.
Search predicate syntax examples
| # | Syntax | Meaning (equivalent where) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | search "axiom" | where * has "axiom" | |
| 2 | search field:"axiom" | where field has "axiom" | |
| 3 | search field=="axiom" | where field=="axiom" | |
| 4 | search "axiom*" | where * hasprefix "axiom" | |
| 5 | search "*axiom" | where * hassuffix "axiom" | |
| 6 | search "*axiom*" | where * contains "axiom" | |
| 7 | search "Pad*FG" | where * matches regex @"\bPad.*FG\b" | |
| 8 | search * | where 0==0 | |
| 9 | search field matches regex "..." | where field matches regex "..." | |
| 10 | search kind=case_sensitive | All string comparisons are case-sensitive | |
| 11 | search "axiom" and ("log" or "metric") | where * has "axiom" and (* has "log" or * has "metric") | |
| 12 | search "axiom" or (A>a and A<b) | where * has "axiom" or (A>a and A<b) | |
| 13 | search "AxI?OM" | where * matches regex @"\bAxI.OM\b" | ? matches a single character |
| 14 | search "axiom" and not field:"error" | where * has "axiom" and not field has "error" | Excluding a field from the search |
Examples
Global term search
Search for a term over the dataset in scope.
Conditional global term search
Search for records that match both terms in the dataset.
Case-sensitive search
Search for events that match both case-sensitive terms in the dataset.
Search specific fields
Search for a term in the method and user_agent fields in the dataset.
Limit search by timestamp
Search for a term over the dataset if the term appears in an event with a date greater than the given date.
Use kind=default
By default, the search is case-insensitive and uses the simple search.
Use kind=case_sensitive
Search for logs that contain the term “text” with case sensitivity.
Use kind=case_insensitive
Explicitly search for logs that contain the term “CSS” without case sensitivity.
Use search *
Search all logs. This would essentially return all rows in the dataset.
Contain any substring
Search for logs that contain any substring of “brazil”.
Search for multiple independent terms
Search the logs for entries that contain either the term “GET” or “covina”, irrespective of their context or the fields they appear in.
Use the search operator efficiently
Using non-field-specific filters such as the search operator has an impact on performance, especially when used over a high volume of events in a wide time range. To use the search operator efficiently, follow these guidelines:
- Use field-specific filters when possible. Field-specific filters narrow your query results to events where a field has a given value. They are more efficient than non-field-specific filters, such as the
searchoperator, that narrow your query results by searching across all fields for a given value. When you know the target field, replace thesearchoperator withwhereclauses that filter for values in a specific field. - After using the
searchoperator in your query, use other operators, such asprojectstatements, to limit the number of returned fields. - Use the
kindflag when possible. When you know the pattern that string values in your data follow, use thekindflag to specify the case-sensitivity of the search.