DataStar Search Syntax Conversion Guide
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The all-new ProQuest Dialog platform brings our highly-regarded professional platforms together, combining them into a single streamlined search experience. As a result of this consolidation, you will notice changes in the way you search as there are some differences related to the operators, truncation/wildcard characters, and field codes you've been using. This guide will help you to understand those differences and make use of the new tools.

Note: in the following examples, T stands for "(search) Term".

DataStar: Converting searches 

Operator precedence

Operator precedence refers to the order in which terms joined by operators in your search query are interpreted by ProQuest.  

DataStar ProQuest
( ), ADJ, NEAR, NEXT, WITH, SAME, AND, NOT, OR ( ), NEAR or N, PRE or P, AND, OR, NOT

 

Boolean operators

DataStar ProQuest
T1 AND T2 T1 AND T2
T1 T2 (space defaults to AND)
T1 OR T2 T1 OR T2
T1 NOT T2 T1 NOT T2
T1 XOR T2

Can be emulated with:

(T1 NOT T2) or (T2 NOT T1)

 

Truncation and wildcard characters

DataStar ProQuest
Term$ Term*
Truncation can be used on the right side, left side, or inside of a word, retrieving from zero characters up to a maximum of 10 characters currently. It will retrieve up to 500 expansions (word variations).
Term$#; Term$2; Term$5 etc Term[*#]; Term[*2]; Term[*5] etc
alternate form: term$5
Limited Truncation - to indicate the maximum number of characters to be included in the search - make sure to add the square brackets and the number after the asterisk. This will include from 0 characters UP TO # more characters. Max number of characters is 10. Term[*10]

Search example:

cat or cats or catty

Term OR Term? OR Term??
One question mark '?' will retrieve one character only (but not zero). EG. cat? will retrieve "cats", "cate", "cato", but not "cat".
Two question marks '??" will retrieve 2 characters only, but not less than 2. EG. cat?? will retrieve "catty", but not "cats".

 

Proximity connectors

Some DataStar proximity connectors are not directly supported in new ProQuest. Terms to emulate them are suggested below.

DataStar ProQuest Notes
T1 ADJ T2

"T1 T2"

Use quotes turns off the automated plurals and alternate spelling. To retain automated plurals and alternate spellings, use: T1 PRE/0 T2 or T1-T2
T1 NEXT T2

T1 PRE/5 T2

PRE/# allows any number of words between T1 and T2, with T1 and T2 being in the specified order.

PRE/5 replicates the DataStar NEXT operator

Used alone, PRE defaults to PRE/4

T1 NEAR T2 T1 NEAR/5 T2

NEAR/# allows any number of words between T1 and T2, with T1 and T2 in any order.

NEAR/5 replicates the DataStar NEAR operator

Used alone, NEAR alone defaults to NEAR/4

T1 WITH T2 TI NEAR/# T2
T1 NEAR/15 T2
DataStar supports the concept of the same sentence, and the WITH connector specifies that T1 and T2 must occur in the same sentence, in any order. ProQuest Dialog allows you to define the text length containing T1 and T2. There is no direct equivalent of WITH on ProQuest Dialog but the recommended suggestion is to use NEAR/15.
T1 WITH T2 T1 -- T2
T1 LNK T2

The WITH connector in DataStar also links together terms in the same subfield, in particular fields, such as Descriptor term plus Subheading (qualifier) in a Thesaurus search or elements on the same row in a table Metafield, such as Development Phase and Indication in Drug Pipeline databases. ProQuest Dialog introduces the operator LNK (or --) between the same elements.

Eg: "phase III" with PSORIASIS will become "phase III" LNK PSORIASIS

See Searching the Thesaurus below for more examples.

T1 SAME T2

T1 NEAR/1 T2

DataStar supports the concept of the same paragraph, and the SAME connector specifies that T1 and T2 must occur in the same paragraph, in any order. (A paragraph being either a text paragraph or an indexing field). ProQuest Dialog allows you to define the length text containing T1 and T2. There is no direct equivalent of SAME on ProQuest Dialog but the recommended suggestion is to use NEAR/150.

 

More proximity connector examples

DataStar ProQuest
T1 ADJ T2 ADJ T3 "T1 T2 T3"
Note: Quotes turn off the automated plurals and alternate spelling.
Use T1 PRE/0 T2 PRE/0 T3 to retain automated plurals and alternate spelling.
(T1 or T2).AB. AB(T1 or T2)
(T1 or T2).AB,TI.

AB(T1 or T2) or TI(T1 or T2)

AB, TI(T1 or T2)

(T1 - T2).DE.

DE.EXACT("T1 T2") or DE.X("T1 T2")

(T1 - T2).AU. AU.EXACT("T1 T2") or AU.X("T1 T2")
(T1 OR T2) WITH (T3 OR T4)
(T1 OR T2) SAME (T3 OR T4)

(T1 or T2) NEAR/15 (T3 or T4)    for the same sentence

(T1 or T2) NEAR/150 (T3 or T4)    for the same paragraph

T1 OR T2 ADJ T3 OR T4 T1 or "T2 T3" or T4

 

Searching the Thesaurus

Many databases in ProQuest Dialog are indexed with a hierarchical controlled vocabulary (Thesaurus). This can be consulted online either in a multifile search or while searching the single database. The following table shows the alternative strategies of searching the Thesaurus in ProQuest Dialog compared to the similar experience in DataStar.

DataStar ProQuest Notes
Cattle-Weighers.DE.

SU("cattle weighers")

MESH(T1) ; EMB(T1)

The general mnemonic (Field tag) for Descriptor in ProQuest Dialog is SUB or SU.

MEDLINE and EMBASE have special mnemonics for the MESH terms (MESH) or EMTREE terms (EMB).

Cattle.W..DE.

SU.EXACT("cattle") or SU.X("cattle")

EXACT or X will search for the specified term or phrase only, excluding descriptors containing more unspecified terms.

Eg: SU.EXACT("CATTLE") will exclude SU("cattle weighers")

T1#.DE.

SU.EXPLODE(T1)

MESH.EXPLODE(T1) or MESH#(T1)

EMB.EXPLODE(T1) or EMB#(T1)

Exploding the term will automatically include in the search all the narrower terms under the specified descriptor in the Thesaurus Hierarchy. Similar to DataStar, the explosion can be selected as an option in the Thesaurus window, or searched directly by adding the specific tag Advanced Search or Command Line Search.
Abdominal-Cancer#.MJ.

MJEMB.EXACT.EXPLODE("abdominal cancer") or MJEMB#("abdominal cancer")

MJMESH.EXACT.EXPLODE("abdominal neoplasms") or MJMESH#("abdominal neoplasms")

Similar to DataStar, the Major Descriptors in the Thesaurus can be searched separately either by selecting the option in the Thesaurus window, or by adding a specific mnemonic in Advanced Search or command Line search:

MJMESH for Medline and MJEMB for EMBASE.

(Abdominal-Cancer WITH DI).DE.

PHS("PHASE III" LNK PSORIASIS)

EMB("abdominal cancer" -- diagnosis")

MESH("Abdominal-Neoplasms" LNK "diagnosis")

 

Similar to DataStar, linking a descriptor term to a Subheading (Qualifier) can be done by selecting the proper qualifier in the Thesaurus window, or by using the connector LNK (or --) in Advanced Search or Command Line Search.

With the LNK connector make sure to add quotes to both the Descriptor term and the Qualifier.

(Abdominal-cancer-DI#.MJ.)

MJEMB.EXACT.EXPLODE("abdominal cancer -- diagnosis") or MJEMB#("abdominal cancer -- diagnosis")

MJEMB.EXACT.EXPLODE("abdominal cancer" LNK "diagnosis") or MJEMB#("abdominal cancer" LNK "diagnosis")

Similar to DataStar, the search in the Thesaurus can combine the explosion, the search as Major Descriptor and the link to a qualifier. This can be done either by selecting the related options in the Thesaurus window or by using the proper tags and connectors in Advanced Search or Command Line Search.

With the LNK connector make sure to add quotes to both the Descriptor term and the Qualifier.

 

For more information

Please email customer@dialog.com with any questions and/or register for a training at http://www.dialog.com/proquestdialog/. Icon for open in a new window

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