CBOLD Database Search Instructions


Search Instructions



1. The basic database search
At present, all of the CBOLD online databases can be searched with the same basic interface. The only major exception is searching the Tanzanian Language Survey lexical database which has a few extra steps (see below). The Bantu language databases (e.g. TLS) all support metacharacters to allow for more powerful searches than are possible with simple text strings. The English databases (e.g. the Bantu Bibliography) do not support metacharacters. Step-by-step Instructions for using the basic search interface are given below:

1. For each field in the search form table, there are two possible things to select:

a. The first is if you want the contents of a field displayed when you view the search results.
Make sure the box to the left of each field name which you will want displayed for your search is checked
(all boxes are checked by default).

b. The second is the search parameters of a given field. The search allows for mixed input of
text strings and metacharacters. Enter the text string you want to search for in a given field in the
text-box under the field name. Remember that if you want to see the contents of that field
when you do your search, you must select the check-box to the left of the field name as well.

(For a picture of a sample search page with specifications entered and an explanation of what the results will display, click here .)

2. In the field named "Order", click on the list-box to select a field. This is the field the search engine will use to determine the order in which your results will be displayed. They will be displayed in alphabetically or numerical order depending on the contents of the field.

3. Click on the "Search!" button to submit the search. For all searches except for the TLS lexical database search the search results in appear in a frame underneath the search form. TLS lexical database searches appear in a separate browser window. Be warned that, after entering a search, you may have to manually select that window to see the search results.

4. To do another search, click back to the search frame and enter the new search criteria. You can clear your search form by hitting the "Reset" buttom at the bottom of the form. The results of subsequent searches will write over any earlier searches either in the lower frame, for most searches, or the separate browser window for TLS lexical database searches.

2. The TLS lexical database search
The TLS lexical database has over 120 fields. Most of these are fields are for the various languages that TLS collected data on. In addition to this, there are fields that include additional reference information for the collected words. (For a description of the extra fields click here.) The system is designed to let the user search for information in any of the fields. However, the large number of fields would make a search form unwieldy both in terms of human interaction and in terms of processing/drawing time in the web browser. Thus, the system has been designed to let the user first choose which fields they want to search and then generate an actual search form based on the user's specifications. In this way, each time TLS is accessed the user's search form only displays fields that will be needed for that particular search session. Furthermore, the results of a search are displayed in a different browser window than the search form itself. This allows a maximum amount of display space for the search form and the search results. Below are the extra instructions for performing a TLS lexical database search. These instruction need to be done prior to the instructions seen above.


1. From the TLS page choose the lexical database search.

2. The browser will generate a table with the names of all the fields in the database. This may take a short while due to the number of fields. The fields are ordered so that the TLS languages are listed first in alphabetical order. At the bottom of the table, the "reference" fields--such as the field for English glosses-- are listed. Also, at the bottom of the table are the submit, reset, and "select all fields" buttons.

3. Click on the box to the left of the name of each field which you either want to search or whose contents you may way want displayed. If you want to search or display all of the fields, click on the box next to "select all fields" at the bottom of the table.

4. Click on the "Make!" button to create the custom search form. The custom search form will look a lot like the form which listed the fields. The difference is, each field name displayed now has a box for inputting text under it as well as a square check-box to its left.

For instructions on how to use the search form you just created see the steps above.

3. Metacharacters

To enhance the search capabilities for users of the Bantu databases, several metacharacters have been defined which "stand in" for multiple characters in the search. They are essentially the same as underspecified segment descriptions in classical phonology. For example, a capital "C" typed in the search field matches against all consonants, a capital "V" against all vowels. As an example, to find all words with a consonant following an "n" in a particular language, type "nC" in the appropriate search field. Multiple metacharacters can be used in a search. At present, only the metacharacters listed below have been defined. If you have a need for different metacharacters, you can e-mail the site administrator whose e-mail address is at the bottom of this page (or, for the brave, since the database search utility is written in Perl, you can learn to write customized Perl regular expressions yourself).

Metacharacters supported in CBOLD database searches
C(bcdfghjklmnprstvyz)consonants
L(hlmnry)sonorants
S(bcdfgjkpstvz)obstruents
V(aeoui)vowels
Y(ui)high vowels
W(ou)round vowels
E(ie)front vowels
O(uo)back vowels
B(pvbfm)labials
T(ckpt)voiceless stops
D(bdgj)voiced stops
N(nm)nasals
>word/morpheme boundary


Go back to the main TLS page.
Questions or comments? E-mail jcgood@socrates.berkeley.edu.

20.3.99 jcgood