Search

Flexible Intake provides a user-friendly, easy to use web interface for searching alongside a full API for Query DSL (Domain Specific Language) based on JSON to define queries, that supports the ElasticSearch syntax to search for items.

This guide is just an introduction to the platform's capabilities for you to get familiar with them.

Here you can find:

• How to search using the Management Interface

• How to do basic search using the API.

Search using the Management Interface

1. Sign in to the platform's Management Interface and go to Content Search:

1. You can introduce your search query:

(1) Select here if you want to search in the items that are inside the containers or if you want to search by the container's metadata.

(2) Introduce your query here. It could be simply a word or it could be a metadata-based query if you start typing any metadata field:

(3) Or you can make an advanced query selecting the {;} symbol:

(4) With this option you can restrict the types of data that the platform is going to search in:

• Metadata: For searching in the item metadata

• File content: For searching in the item content (full text in a PDF for instance), for the indexed documents

• Embedded metadata: For searching in the item's embedded metadata (EXIF metadata for images, headers for PDF files, etc.)

• File name and path: For searching based on the item name.

(5) For restricting your search to a particular archive node or group of containers.

(6) For filtering based on content tags.

(7) For filtering by file format (if the content is characterized).

And (8), (9) and (10) to browse your results.

Search using the API

API examples here are just illustrative. Check the API documentation for additional information and all available methods.

1. Sign in to the platform's Management Interface

2. Obtain your API key selecting your name, then Access Methods and then follow one of the following methods:

Search by container

To get a list of every item in the container with all properties use this method:

Curl

curl --re quest POST \
  --url "$your_platform_url/api/file/elastic" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "authorization: Bearer $your_platform_api_key" \
  --data '{
    "must": [
        {
            "term": {
                "container_id": 3
            }
        }
    ]
}'

Use:

• url: Your platform address

• header: Your API Token (add Bearer prefix)

• container_id: The id of the container to list.

You can also request the file list of more than one data container with a single query:

curl --request POST \
  --url "$your_platform_url/api/file/elastic" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "authorization: Bearer $your_platform_api_key" \
  --data '{
    "must": [
        {
            "terms": {
                "container_id": [
                    1,
                    2
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}'

File name search

When users are uploading a file to the platform, search results may not show the new file for a while. Consider this in your code when you are uploading and immediately after the upload you need to search for the uploaded file.

This section is just an introduction. Many operators and properties are available for search. Make sure you read Advanced API file search.

To get a list of every item in the container with all properties, use this method:

Curl

curl --request GET  --url "$your_platform_url/api/file" \
       --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
       --header "authorization: Bearer $your_platform_api_key" \
       --data '{
          "conditions": [
              {
                  "container_id": 185
              }
                        ],
          "limit": 100,
          "offset": 0
      }'

Or if you are looking for all files in container 185, with a size larger than 702 bytes and characterized as a PDF 1.5 (PRONOM fmt/19), you can use:

curl --request GET  --url "$your_platform_url/api/file" \
       --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
       --header "authorization: Bearer $your_platform_api_key" \
       --data '{
          "conditions": [
              {
                  "container_id": 185
              },
              {
                  "size": {
                      "operator": "gt",
                      "value": 702
                  }
              },
              {
                  "type": "FILE"
              },
              {
                  "format": "fmt\/19"
              }
          ],
          "limit": 100,
          "offset": 0
      }'

Metadata search

When users are updating metadata for an object, search results may not show the updated element for a while. Consider this in your code when you are updating the metadata and immediately after the edit you need to search for it.

It is possible to search for any of the metadata associated to your items (item metadata, item embedded metadata -if available-, file hash, etc.). It is also possible to create complex queries combining multiple query types into one, and to use wildcards:

Bash

curl --request POST \
  --url "$your_platform_url/api/file/elastic" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "authorization: Bearer $your_platform_api_key" \
  --data '{
    "must": [
        {
            "nested": {
                "path": "metadata",
                "query": {
                    "simple_query_string": {
                        "analyze_wildcard": true,
                        "fields": [
                            "metadata.author"
                        ],
                        "query": "albert*",
                        "default_operator": "and"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}'