How can I add parentheses to my Workflowy searches?

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Andrich

• January 27, 2020 12:19

It is possible to include sub-expression using parenthesis in the search?

Example:

I would like to search for all items tagged with #ProjectA or #ProjectB and marked as @current or @next.

However using:
#ProjectA OR #ProjectB @current

seems to be evaluated as:
#ProjectA OR (#ProjectB AND @current)

instead I would like:

(#ProjectA OR #ProjectB) AND @current

and further, is something like this possible?

(#ProjectA OR #ProjectB) AND (@current OR @next)

 

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

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  Frank (Workflowy Support)

  • January 27, 2020 19:43

  Hi Andrich,

  Have you got a real-life example in a shared outline that I could take a look at and tinker?

  ~ Frank

   

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  Andrich

  • January 27, 2020 20:23

  Hi Frank,

  Sure, I have created the following outline to illustrate the issue:

  https://workflowy.com/s/shared/Fq7sdirfifuTdxRX

  Effectively, if I am looking for to filter items that are either #home or #garden and @current or @urgent, I am not sure how to build the query, in theory something like this:

  (#home OR #garden) (@current OR @urgent) or

  (#home OR #garden) AND (@current OR @urgent)

  I have figured out how to find all items that are #home or #garden and @current by doing:

  #home @current OR #garden @current

  but if I add a second OR it doesn't work:

  #home @current OR #garden @current OR @urgent

  finds items that are not tagged with #home or #current.

  Please let me know if there is something else I can help with.

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  Frank (Workflowy Support)

  • January 27, 2020 21:35

  Hi Andrich,

  I think you've definitely exhausted the possibilities... we can't do a double "OR" search in WorkFlowy. It seems like either a broader search within a larger category works (searching for all "@current OR @next" tags within a context)... or more specific searches ("#home @current OR #garden @current" / or just "#home @current").

  We can't currently do the "middle-ground" search you're wanting..

  My suggestion would be to set up 2 saved searches:

  1. #home @current OR #garden @current

  2. #home @next OR #garden @next

  To save these searches you can star the page when you've searched for either one of the above strings... and then you can click on both of them in succession in your left bar to filter one at a time. 

  Another solution might be to set up a distinct Home & Garden list... and when you've zoomed in on that, you can search for @next OR @current. That's what I would do. You can still have separate "Home" and "Garden" lists under the main title to visually organize them... but now you can do a search from within that category. I hope this makes sense!

   

   

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  Andrich

  • January 28, 2020 08:32

  Hi Frank,

  Thanks, that confirms what I thought. I will probably look at creating dedicated lists as your proposed.

  +1 for great support.

  Have a good day.

  Regards

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  Frank (Workflowy Support)

  • January 28, 2020 19:23

  You're welcome, Andrich!

  Another thing to play around with is that you can group any combination of categories together under a temporary node (which you can call anything) for the purpose of filtering for specific tags once zoomed in. Maybe add some Kanban into the mix :-)... as in some "to do", "doing" and "done" stages.

   

  ~ Frank

   

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  Alicson

  • May 27, 2023 18:22

  Double OR search would be so helpful, any chance of an upgrade to search to allow use of parenthesis? e.g. (#homework OR #exam OR #urgent) AND (#science OR #math) 

  Thank you sincerely for your consideration

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