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People do not think like databases. Databases are highly organized and structured, and then follow careful rules. People simply ask the questions they want answered, and they don't follow the rules when they ask their questions. Databases record data very precisely, and they expect queries to be precise as well. People do not ask precise questions.

People love asking questions of Internet search engines, such as Google or Bing. They love it because they can just ask for what they want. The search engine will interpret it and do the best job it can of finding what the user wants. It will ask, “Did you mean …?”. It will compensate for spelling errors, plurals and verb tenses. It will even try to translate some acronyms and synonyms for first names.

People love Internet search engines because the search engine thinks more like a person, rather than the person having to think like the web page. This flexibility belongs in databases, too. PowerSearch provides that flexibility. PowerSearch let's you search a database and find what you are looking for, even if you don't know the correct spelling, transpose numbers, use abbreviations, or even use nicknames or synonyms. PowerSearch allows your database to think like a person.

With PowerSearch, each column has a context, and it allows you to use the rules that are appropriate to that context.

• A First Name column would use a synonym list of first names, equating Bill to William, and so forth.
• A Last Name column would use a phonetic search.
• An Address column would allow misspellings and postal code abbreviations.
• A Postal Code column would allow a search for all Postal Codes within a certain geographic radius.
• A Phone Number column would allow transpositions, and would allow alternative area codes.
• An email address would allow alternative spellings, or alternate domain names.

PowerSearch provides these capabilities, and also allows you to create your own. As a database administrator, you know your data. You know the context of each column. You know how to add flexibility to each search. PowerSearch can be customized to meet the needs of your database.

In the end, users want to find their data. They may not know how the database is set up, or even how to ask for it. PowerSearch closes that gap and finds what they are looking for.

Take a look at an example of PowerSearch, or even try a quick demo. As you continue this section, you will learn how to put PowerSearch into your application.

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