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Overview
Use the HP Support Center to search an extensive collection of support content such as technical documents, patch Read Me files, manuals and forum postings.
For details on search support and entitlement levels, see the Entitlement Help file.
Search tools
You can search all available HP Support Center content, from the following locations:
| Location of search | How to focus/limit results |
|---|---|
|
Advanced search. |
Criteria: all words, any word, exact phrase, boolean. |
Quick search box, at the top of all HP Support Center pages. |
Use "More options" to search HP Support Center Knowledge Base or all of HP to include marketing, sales and consumer information. |
Search by document ID
You can search for content by document ID, if you know it. Some content, such as forum postings, certain manuals, white papers and drivers do not have document IDs. Filter options are ignored in a search by document ID.
If you cannot find the document, be sure you have entered the document ID correctly. It may be that you do not have access rights to a document based on your entitlement level, or the document may be for HP internal use only.
Search by product and keyword
Search for products by name, using keyword search. A keyword is any text you enter into the search box, including a product name. If the product name contains a space, surround the name with quotes. Use the radio buttons below the search box, and the additional filters described below, to search more effectively.
| Radio Button | Result | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| All Words | Results contain all keywords, in any order.
Space character functions as a Boolean AND (+). You can use search patterns. |
See examples in search patterns, below. |
| Any Word | Results contain one or more keywords, in any order. Space functions as a Boolean OR. | Proliant disk array |
| Exact Match | Exact keyword pattern. Same as using quotes elsewhere. | Proliant DL380 G6 |
| Boolean | Use these characters:
+ (plus sign): Inclusion. The string immediately after the + must appear in the results. - (dash): Exclusion. The string immediately after the - cannot appear in the results. " (quotes): Same as quotes elsewhere. (space): Boolean OR. Same as Any Word. |
Proliant +array Proliant -array "Proliant DL380 G6" HP-UX MPE |
Search for products by name in combination with other keywords, with Boolean selected, as in this example:
Combine plus, dash and quotes, as shown above, with Boolean selected, to include or exclude phrases. Examples:
"HP-UX 11.23" +network -mailcommand -"command line"
You can also use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard character, after a minimum of four characters. Examples:
HPSBUX*SSRT*
There is some overlap in functionality between Boolean and All Words search options. Quotes, inclusion, exclusion, and the asterisk wildcard are the same in both cases. The function of the space character however is different: Boolean space is OR, All Words space is AND.
Search patterns using All Words
Search with All Words selected, to use search patterns, with the characters listed below. The plus sign (+) meaning required inclusion or Boolean AND is the default in All Words, so is redundant and therefore not listed.
| Search Character | Usage | Examples | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| * (asterisk) | Wildcard, matching zero or more alphanumeric characters. Only one asterisk per pattern. | c000* *ing co*ing |
Document containing any word: - beginning with "c000" - ending in "ing" - starting with "co" and ending with "ing" (if intervening characters are alphanumeric) |
| ? (question mark) | Wildcard, matching exactly one alphanumeric character. | 652?4 | Documents containing: 65264, 65244, but not 652864 or 652_4. |
| - (dash) | Exclusion. No space between - and the following character. |
java -verbose myClass "java -verbose myClass" |
Documents containing "java" and "myClass" but not "verbose". If the string you are searching for includes a dash, use quotes (second example). |
Note that non-alphanumeric characters are ignored in both the search string and in the document text to be searched. They are effectively replaced with a space character. The result is not however a standard AND search normally generated by a space, but rather an exact string match (as if the search string was in quotes). Question marks and asterisks do not match spaces in this context, so a search containing either will not match a non-alphanumeric character. Examples:
| Search Pattern | Document text | Match | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHSS?37446 | PHSS_37446 | No | Underscore (_) in document replaced with space, ? does not match a space. |
| PHSS?37446 | PHSS 37446 | No | ? does not match a space. |
| PHSS_37446 | PHSS_37446 | Yes | Underscore (_) replaced with space in both search string and document, resulting in an identical string. |
| PHSS?37446 | PHSSX37446 | Yes | ? matches alphanumeric character X. |
| PHSS?37446 | PHSSXL37446 | No | ? matches only one alphanumeric character (not XL). |
| PHSS_37446 | PHSS$37446 | Yes | Both underscore (_) and dollar sign ($) are replaced with spaces in search string and document, resulting in identical strings. |
| PHSS*37446 | PHSS37446 | Yes | Matches zero or more alphanumeric characters. |
| PHSS*37446 | PHSSAlpha37446 | Yes | Matches zero or more alphanumeric characters. |
| PHSS*37446 | PHSS-Alpha37446 | No | Intervening characters include a non-alphanumeric, which is replaced with a space, * does not match a space. |
Filtering options
In addition to the search criteria, you can narrow your search by filtering on content type, date, and sort type. You can display a summary, specify the number of results per page, and search within results:
| Filter Type | Description |
|---|---|
Content types |
Content in the Knowledge Base is organized by type, such as security bulletins or patch Read Me files. Use the content type filter to search documents regardless of type, or to limit the search by checking specific content types. |
Date range |
Limit search results by update date. Select a date span from the drop down list, or a date range between specific dates. |
Sort Type |
By default, results are sorted and listed according to the closest match of your search. This is the "Score" sort. Use the Sort by filter to sort by a different column header name such as content type or content updated date. Use this filter before or after submitting your search. The current sort is displayed in the dropdown. |
Display Summary |
By default, the result displays document titles. Before searching, use Show a summary to include a summary in the results. |
Number of Results |
Use the Results per page filter to specify the number of results to display per page. |
Search within results |
Check the box above the search box on a search result page to search within the previous results. You can also start a new search from the result list. The full search from your previously-entered criteria is included at the bottom of each result page. You can perform up to three sub searches within a search result. |
Security Bulletin Archive
Security Bulletins are among the content types available to filter your search. In addition to filtering, you can use the "Archive" link next to the Security Bulletin content type checkbox, to gain access to all HP security bulletins.