Contextual search concepts
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Summary of Contextual Search Concepts
Contextual search concepts facilitate a better understanding of the components involved in the ServiceNow AI Platform's search functionality. These concepts allow users to comprehend how different elements interconnect within the ServiceNow environment, enhancing the search experience across various resources.
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Key Features
- Search Resource: A scriptable resource such as Catalog or Knowledge Articles. It uses the Zing search engine and cannot be created, updated, or deleted.
- Searcher: A collection of search resources. Pre-defined searchers exist, and users cannot create, update, or delete them.
- Additional Resources: A single table source with query conditions that can be updated to fit organizational needs but not created or deleted.
- Search Result Display Fields: Defines which fields appear in search results, such as Assigned to or Opened by. These can be updated but not created or deleted.
- Search Context: Integrates a searcher with any additional resources, allowing users to create custom contexts while using pre-defined options.
- Searcher Text: A user-friendly name for a searcher when multiple resources are involved, aiding in clarity during searches.
- Search on Tab: Determines when the search is triggered, with options to run on field update or pause in typing.
- Search Actions: Specifies actions for search results, such as ordering catalog items or attaching knowledge articles.
Key Outcomes
By understanding these contextual search components, ServiceNow customers can effectively utilize the search capabilities of the platform, tailoring their search experiences to meet specific organizational requirements. This leads to improved efficiency in finding relevant information quickly and accurately within the ServiceNow environment.
Contextual search concepts help you to understand different contextual search components that are used in the documentation, configuration, and user interface. Understanding of the concepts makes it easier for you to comprehend the interconnection between the components.
Contextual search uses terms and concepts that can differ from industry norms due to the unique nature of the ServiceNow platform. Contextual search includes the following concepts and components:
- Search resource
- Resource that can be searched such as Catalog or Knowledge Articles. As the resources are scripted and contain JavaScript, they can combine results from more than one table.Note:
- ServiceNow provides pre-defined scripted search resources. You can't create, update, or delete search resources.
- A search resource uses the Zing search engine to search a table.
- Searcher
- A single search resource or a group of search resources that can be searched. For example, the Knowledge and catalog searcher contains Knowledge Articles, Questions and Catalog Items as its search resources.Note:ServiceNow provides pre-defined searchers. You can't create, update, or delete searchers.
- Additional resources
- An additional resource is a single table source with query conditions that you can search. Additional resources aren't scripted as you search from a single table. For example, Resolved Incidents (within the last six months).Note:
- ServiceNow provides pre-defined additional resources. You can't create or delete additional resources, but can update additional resources to better match your organization requirements. For example, you can update the condition and description for Resolved Incidents (Last 6 months) to change it to Resolved Incidents (Last 3 months).
- An additional resource performs the search based on the type of the source:
- Table: The Zing search engine to used to search a table.
- Predictive Intelligence similarity: Search is based on similarity and not on the Zing search engine.
- Search result display fields
- Defines the fields whose values are displayed with the search result of an additional resource. The fields can include Assigned to, Opened by, and
State. The search result display fields appear at the bottom of a search result record.Note:ServiceNow provides pre-defined search result display fields. You can't create or delete additional resources, but you can update search result display fields to better match your organization requirements. For example, change which field to use as a title or the description or which fields to show at the bottom of a search result record.
- Search context
- Brings together a searcher and additional resources (if any) that can be searched.Note:ServiceNow provides pre-defined search contexts. You can also create search contexts.
- Searcher text
- Defined in a search context, a searcher text specifies a user-friendly group name for the searcher. When a searcher contains more than one search resource, a group name is used to represent that group of search resources. For example, the Incident Deflection search context uses a searcher that searches Knowledge Articles, Questions and Catalog Items. The user-friendly searcher group name that represents all of them is Knowledge & Catalog.
- Search on tab
- Defined in the search context, Search on tab specifies when a contextual search should start the search. The different scenarios when search is performed are:
- If you select the Search on tab check box, the search only runs when you update and leave the search field (recommended).
- If you clear the Search on tab check box, the search runs when you pause typing.
- Search actions
- Specifies the actions for each such results. For example, for catalog items, the search action is Order and for knowledge articles it's Attach. All sources have the This helped action.