Help on Simple Search
- Purpose
- Search Methodology
- Examples
- Tips
Purpose
To provide a quick, simple search method which will work in the majority of
cases. The database will return information in the same format as the
1985 Karst Index Book.
Don't forget to have a read of the Tips section below.
Search Methodology
The search is done on one or more search terms entered into the text box.
The search terms do not have to be in any particular order or case.
Search terms can include State abbreviations,
cave tag numbers,
area names and cave names.
State abbreviations
First the search engine checks what you have entered any abbreviations
for states such as NSW, nsw, Vic, vic, WA etc. It only checks for common
abreviations and it ignores any capitalisation.
Thus it won't recognise "New South Wales".
- If no State abbreviation is recognised then the search will
be over all states in Australia.
- If it recognises one State abbreviation then the cave search
is limited to caves or karst features within that State.
- If more than one State is recognised then it will search for
caves within all those States.
Cave tag numbers
Next the search engine looks for cave number tags or ranges of cave
numbers. Numbers like J-13 or 2J-13 are recognised and ranges of cave
numbers such as eg. 1-10, 16, 20-22.
Note that when you enter a range of
cave numbers do not include the area code. The search engine will not be
able to understand 2J-20-22! Also you can't combine ranges of numbers with
area-coded numbers such as 2J-13 20-22.
Area names and Cave names
After looking for State abbreviations and cave numbers, anything not
recognised is matched against any part of the name of known cave areas
or cave names in the database. For instance,
"jen" would match Jenolan while just "j" would match Jenolan, Jaunter and Junee.
The string "apple" would match against the cave name "Apple Tree Cave" and against the area named "Apple Tree Flat".
If a cave area is found then the search is further restricted to caves
from that area. You can enter more than one cave area - the search
engine will search all areas listed.
If the cave area name contains spaces you will need to surround it with
quotes like so; "Adelaide Hills".
A list of all the areas can be obtained by clicking the [list areas]
link above the text entry box.
Examples:
1. Search for all caves at Jenolan, NSW, which have cave tag numbers between
1 and 10 and number 13.
We would enter into the search box [nsw jen 1-10 13]. This will
limit the search to NSW, the area Jenolan Caves, and the range of
numbers 1 to 10 and number 13. Notice that we don't need to capitalise names, and in
the case of Jenolan we only needed the first few letters of the area
name as there are no other areas starting with Jen.
2. Search for all caves at Buchan, Victoria, which have cave tag numbers 1, 2 and 4.
We would enter into the search box [buchan vic 1,2,4]. This will
limit the search to Buchan, Victoria, and the numbers 1, 2 and 4.
Six caves are returned as we have picked up the caves at East Buchan as
well.
3. Find all caves at Apple Tree Flat (NSW) and Barambah (Qld).
We enter [apple barambah] into the text box. Notice that we did
not enter any state abbreviation. We find that there are 5 caves at
Apple Tree Flat, NSW and 2 caves at Barambah in Qeeensland.
4. Search for Satans Lair cave at Junee, Tasmania.
We enter into the search box [satans] and search but no rows of
the database match. Try [satan] without the s.
Now Satan's Lair at Junee Florentine, 7JF-365, is returned. In this example there
was an apostrophe in the name of the cave.
Tips
- You don't need to capitalise names because the search engine
treats "nsw" the same as "NSW" and
"naracorte" the same as "Naracorte".
- Sometimes you don't need to enter the full name of the area; just
part of the name will suffice.
- If you can't remember the spelling of a cave name or area such as Barambah you
can use part of the name eg. "bah". In this case
it will also pick up the Moparabah and Yessabah areas as well as Barambah.
- You don't need to click the Submit Query button - you
can just hit the enter key after entering in your search criteria.
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