Searching keywords that are common characters

[JACooper 1]

Hi all,

I am trying to create a workflow whereby a user can add a reference to an acronym (eg. "EM" or "A") within a note, then be able to search all notes for a reference to that acronym.

My issue is that the acronyms are very common characters, and if I just search for "A" I will return every note as a result. My thought was to prefix the acronym with a special character, such as "#" or "@", resulting in "@EM" or "#A". When I do a search for "#A", however, all notes with the letter "a" are still returned. 

I want to avoid relying on the user to type the acronym in as a Tag, since tags are free form, and the list of tags cannot be restricted. If the search feature is not possible, I will rely on automatically tagging the notes via an API call that searches the note body for the @EM or #A reference, then tags that note appropriately. I do not believe it is possible to auto-tag notes directly in the application after reading through past forum posts.

Thanks for any help,

James

 

[JACooper 1]

Found another post that mentioned underscore can be used. Not ideal, but case closed.

[DTLow 5,736]

22 hours ago, JACooper said:

I want to avoid relying on the user to type the acronym in as a Tag, since tags are free form, and the list of tags cannot be restricted. 

 

I would have thought the opposite.  
The list of tags is defined.  
If we're talking shared notebooks only the owner can add to the tag list.

Regardless, people are wanting to put their tags/keywords into their notes.  

One idea is to prefix it with a phrase; for example keyword-A
You can then search for keyword-A
Note: the special character is stripped and the search will return keyword-A, keyword:A .....

 

[jbenson2 2,147]

The following will be over the top for most users, but someone might find it interesting.

First, let me stress that my primary method of organizing Evernote is with tags and well-structured note titles.

But I also use keywords in the body of the note. Some keywords are too short or too common to be useful. So I arbitrarily decided on a prefix using 7 in front of my keywords. I have 22,378 notes in my primary Evernote account. A single character 7 created too many false matches. So I tested different combinations of 7s. The results (as of today) are:

 9,470 notes contain a 7
 1,464 notes contain a 77
    112 notes contain a 777
        1 note contains a 77777

But what about the 4-character version 7777?
I decided to use 7777 for my prefix, so I now have 628 notes that contain a 7777

Keyword Examples
7777reminder (my appointments - I don't use the Evernote reminder system)
7777MC (my Mini Cooper)
7777FT (my Ford Taurus)
7777Phone (my Evernote phone template)
7777realestate (local homes for sale)
7777addresschange (when we moved)
7777vendor (local suppliers/vendors)

So if I search for 7777phone, I find every phone call I entered into Evernote sorted from newest to oldest.  Or if I search for 7777phone insurance, I will find every call I made or received to/from an insurance company.
 

 

[DTLow 5,736]

Interesting; probably better choice than 666

Whatever works for you is fine; a more conventional prefix is more explainable.

[JACooper 1]

Thanks for the replies all, I am all set here.

[jbenson2 2,147]

I have found that once I start out with one method, it sort of feeds upon itself and grows. It eventually becomes a monster that is easy for me to understand, but difficult for others. One of the reasons I opted for keywords (that can be buried inside a note), was because I had reached 1,500 tags. I believed the original hype from Evernote - a 2nd brain to store everything.

I can still find my stuff, so I am praying that Evernote does not fail.

 

[CalS 5,280]

@jbenson2

So you now have 2,128 tags? 

[jbenson2 2,147]

4 minutes ago, csihilling said:

@jbenson2

So you now have 2,128 tags? 

 

It might be possible. I'm a political junkie. Every two years, the election cycle generates a ton of candidates and new issues all of which I tag in my other Evernote account.

Back in the old days, I was able to use a terrific 3rd party tag management program that gave me an accurate count of my tags. After Evernote made an unannounced change in their code and the program had to be pulled. Now it is too tedious to get a count. 

 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

11 hours ago, jbenson2 said:

Now it is too tedious to get a count

EN iOS shows a tag count on the EN Home screen.

[jbenson2 2,147]

7 hours ago, JMichaelTX said:

EN iOS shows a tag count on the EN Home screen.

csihilling let me (p/m) know that I could get the count with an iPhone.  

But it will be a cold day when I fork $700 over for a phone.

Hmmm, the forecast for central Maine is -9F tomorrow.

[DTLow 5,736]

16 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

But it will be a cold day when I fork $700 over for a phone.

The info was for IOS which includes tablets (iPad) as well as the iphone

I agree with you on the price, and additionaly the difficulty in trying to use Evernote on a small screen.
However, it is useful sometimes to have this information available, and some people can only afford a single device.

[jbenson2 2,147]

14 minutes ago, DTLow said:

The info was for IOS which includes tablets (iPad) as well as the iphone

Thanks for the clarification.

I used to have Evernote on my smart phone, but eventually uninstalled it. I felt it was too risky due to the amount of private and historical info I have in Evernote.
 
By the way, the forecast for Sunday was just lowered to -14F and the windchill will be closer to -40F. It's going to be a bit nippy!
 

[DTLow 5,736]

44 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

I felt it was too risky due to the amount of private and historical info I have in Evernote.

It's a good point, but I've sacrificed security for the convenience of having my data sync'd to all my devices.
I do have various encrypted notes.
I don't keep data in local notebooks although it would add security and allow searching which I've lost with encryption.

Its a cold day too in Victoria, Canada; and wet. High: 52F (11C) Low: 44F (7C)