• Ad Hoc Search Simplicity
• Rich Enterprise Search Features
• Ultra-fast Search in Ranked Index
• Instant Pattern Search in Strings
• Linear Search Scalability in Cluster
• Search Load Balancing by Mirroring
• Search in Multiple Availability Zones
• Search Comparison to SQL / XQuery

Ad Hoc Search Simplicity

The most common format of Clusterpoint search query has a simple ad hoc search centric syntax.  In fact, we decided that the best search practice how people are searching for information on the Internet would also be the best way how to search their databases.  Today ad hoc search is commonly accepted de-facto standard in the best web applications pioneered for use in mass audience by Internet search services. 

We have added query extensions to support structural search using XML's own data structure elements, making this simplified query mechanism as flexible as XML itself, and at the same time nearly as powerful and rich for XML-structured ad hoc search to what SQL database technology provides with its 'select' clause.  In fact, you can combine both ad hoc Internet-style queries with ad hoc XML-structured search queries in Clusterpoint database architecture.  Normally people who know their XML database structure, finds this ad hoc search feature very useful.

Simplicity and efficiency of database search in Clusterpoint database is illustrated here by some sample query formats, for an example, querying a hypothetical 'CVs' database.  All the following are valid queries in Clusterpoint Server database architecture: from simple keywords (Internet-style ad hoc search) to structural search in XML, to narrow down results:

This sample code illustrates only the most trivial use cases of Clusterpoint DBMS query syntax to show you the idea how database search is simplified from the end-user and also from the software application developer point of view.

More complex Clusterpoint queries can use Xpath notation to address specific XML fields and different levels of XML nesting.  

For developers using Clusterpoint API, the search queries can be expressed with more advanced conditional logic, combined with multi-level Boolean expressions, different filtering options etc.  There are more than 160 developer's options available in the Clusterpoint API.  Most options are covering search and data retrieval.  This approach is providing versatile set of tools for our developers to program typical data retrieval tasks for many databases.  

By designing, storing and managing XML-only databases, developers do not need to learn SQL or XQuery search syntax complexity, can build their application code much faster and provide to their users fast search experience, that most users are accustomed to expect on the Internet.  Everyone is using Internet search services today, and having grown-up using instantly responsive search from the global Internet services, it is only natural to ask for the same  search easiness and relevancy accessing corporate databases.  People also prefer to stay within a single search framework, instead of learning custom search methods for each particular database application.  Many legacy database systems still have a lot of search related complexities and limitations, that users find frustrating and difficult to remember. Most of those problems rise from the technical limitations on indexes (used for fast search in any database) and arcane query syntax which is often required even from web users, when using pre-programmed forms for search in legacy databases.

Clusterpoint search is designed for Internet era, enabling to put fast ad hoc search functionality into a center-piece of any corporate database application.  Clusterpoint DBMS platform delivers both the necessary search performance and search relevance to match user expectations for search in corporate databases.  Please also see Advantages.