[Orgmode] Re: Boolean word/regexp search problem

[Matthew Lundin]

Matt Lundin <address@hidden> writes:

> The word/regexp agenda search to work with more than one word or regexp
> unless the first word or regexp is also preceded by a "+" or "-".
>
> Take the following example.
>
> * Org-mode
>
> Org mode is a major mode for Emacs written by Carsten Dominik.
>
> Let's say I search for Emacs with "C-a s [RET] Emacs". So far, so good:
> this item appears in the results. But let's say I want to narrow down
> the search. When I press "[" to add a search term, I see the following
> prompt in the minibuffer:
>
> [+-]Word/{Regexp} ...: Emacs +
>
> If I complete the prompt as given ("Emacs +Carsten"), there are no
> results.
>
> The search only succeeds if I add a "+" in front of Emacs as well, i.e.,
> "+Emacs +Carsten". 
>
> The same behavior occurs with exclusion ("-") and with the regexp
> search (i.e., brackets).
>
> Two questions:
>
> 1) Do boolean word/regexp searches require a "+" or "-" symbol before
> the first word/regexp? If so, this is a bit confusing, since tag and
> property searches do not require an initial symbol. (E.g.,
> "emacs+orgmode" works as a tag search.)
>
> 2) If boolean word/regexp do require an initial "+" or "-", could the
> prompt after pressing "[" or "]" or "{" or "}" in the search results
> buffer be amended to add a plus in front of the first search term?
>
> Here is the relevant portion of the manual:
>
> ,----[10.5 Commands in the agenda buffer]
> | `[ ] { }'
> | 
> |     in search view
> |           add new search words (`[' and `]') or new regular expressions
> |           (`{' and `}') to the query string.  The opening bracket/brace
> |           will add a positive search term prefixed by `+', indicating
> |           that this search term must occur/match in the entry.  The
> |           closing bracket/brace will add a negative search term which
> |           must not occur/match in the entry for it to be selected.
> `----

O.K., I just found the variable org-agenda-search-view-search-words-only:

,----
| Non-nil means, the search string is interpreted as individual words
| The search then looks for each word separately in each entry and
| selects entries that have matches for all words.
| When nil, matching as loose words will only take place if the first
| word is preceded by + or -.  If that is not the case, the search
| string will just be matched as a substring in the entry, but with
| each space character allowing for any whitespace, including newlines.
`----

Please disregard question one above, at least insofar as it applies to
word searches (I'm still trying to work out the regexps). But re:
question two, would it be worthwhile to add a "+" to the beginning of
the search org-agenda-manipulate-query is invoked in a search agenda
buffer?

Thanks,
Matt