Oracle8 ConText Cartridge Application Developer's Guide Release 2.4 A63821-01 |
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# D
Stopword Transformations

This appendix describes stopword transformations. The following topic is covered:

- Understanding Stopword Transformations

## Understanding Stopword Transformations

When you use a stopword or stopword-only phrase as an operand for a query operator, ConText rewrites the expression to eliminate the stopword or stopword-only phrase and then executes the query.

The following section describes the stopword rewrites or transformations for each operator. In all tables, the Stopword Expression column describes the query expression or component of a query expression, while the right-hand column describes the way ConText rewrites the query.

The token stopword stands for a single stopword or a stopword-only phrase.

The token non_stopword stands for either a single non-stopword, a phrase of all non-stopwords, or a phrase of non-stopwords and stopwords.

The token no_lex stands for a single character or a string of characters that is neither a stopword nor a word that is indexed. For example, the + character by itself is an example of a no_lex token.

When the Stopword Expression column completely describes the query expression, a rewritten expression of no_token means that no hits are returned when you enter such a query.

When the Stopword Expression column describes a component of a query expression with more than one operator, a rewritten expression of no_token means that a no_token value is passed to the next step of the rewrite.

Transformations that contain a no_token as an operand in the Stopword Expression column describe intermediate transformations in which the no_token is a result of a previous transformation. These intermediate transformations apply when the original query expression has at least one stopword and more than one operator.

For example, consider the following compound query expression:

    '(this NOT dog) AND cat'

Assuming that this is the only stopword in this expression, ConText applies the following transformations in the following order:

stopword NOT non-stopword => no_token

no_token AND non_stopword => non_stopword

The resulting expression is:

    'cat'

See Also: To learn more about how to examine stopword transformations, see Chapter 5, "Query Expression Feedback". For more information about defining stopwords, see Oracle8 ConText Cartridge Administrator's Guide.

### Word Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
stopword | no_token
no_lex | no_token

The first transformation mean that a stopword or stopword-only phrase by itself in a query expression results in no hits.

The second transformation says that a term that is not lexed such as + results in no hits.

### AND Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword AND stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword AND no_token | non_stopword
stopword AND non_stopword | non_stopword
no_token AND non_stopword | non_stopword
stopword AND stopword | no_token
no_token AND stopword | no_token
stopword AND no_token | no_token
no_token AND no_token | no_token

### OR Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword OR stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword OR no_token | non_stopword
stopword OR non_stopword | non_stopword
no_token OR non_stopword | non_stopword
stopword OR stopword | no_token
no_token OR stopword | no_token
stopword OR no_token | no_token
no_token OR no_token | no_token

### Accumulate Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword ACCUM stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword ACCUM no_token | non_stopword
stopword ACCUM non_stopword | non_stopword
no_token ACCUM non_stopword | non_stopword
stopword ACCUM stopword | no_token
no_token ACCUM stopword | no_token
stopword ACCUM no_token | no_token
no_token ACCUM no_token | no_token

### MINUS Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword MINUS stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword MINUS no_token | non_stopword
stopword MINUS non_stopword | no_token
no_token MINUS non_stopword | no_token
stopword MINUS stopword | no_token
no_token MINUS stopword | no_token
stopword MINUS no_token | no_token
no_token MINUS no_token | no_token

### NOT Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword NOT stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword NOT no_token | non_stopword
stopword NOT non_stopword | no_token
no_token NOT non_stopword | no_token
stopword NOT stopword | no_token
no_token NOT stopword | no_token
stopword NOT no_token | no_token
no_token NOT no_token | no_token

### Equivalence Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword EQUIV stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword EQUIV no_token | non_stopword
stopword EQUIV non_stopword | non_stopword
no_token EQUIV non_stopword | non_stopword
stopword EQUIV stopword | no_token
no_token EQUIV stopword | no_token
stopword EQUIV no_token | no_token
no_token EQUIV no_token | no_token

Note: When you use query expression feedback, not all of the equivalence transformations are represented in the feedback table.

### NEAR Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
non_stopword NEAR stopword | non_stopword
non_stopword NEAR no_token | non_stopword
stopword NEAR non_stopword | non_stopword
no_token NEAR non_stopword | non_stopword
stopword NEAR stopword | no_token
no_token NEAR stopword | no_token
stopword NEAR no_token | no_token
no_token NEAR no_token | no_token

### Weight Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
stopword * n | no_token
no_token * n | no_token

### Threshold Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
stopword > n | no_token
no_token > n | no_token

### Max Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
stopword: n | no_token
no_token: n | no_token

### First/Next Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
stopword # m-n | no_token
no_token # m-n | no_token

### WITHIN Transformations

Stopword Expression | Rewritten Expression
--- | ---
stopword WITHIN section | no_token
no_token WITHIN section | no_token

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