The search module in Library
UEFA Introduction
Introduction
This guide covers the library application’s search function in workspace 1 to 3 (Thumb view, List view, and Asset properties).
The different automated searches are listed from left to right: Calendar, Collections, Saved Searches/Projects, and “Advanced search”.
Calendar view:
The below image represents the Calendar view (visualized with a blue icon). When Calendar is activated current month is shown by default. To quickly change the active month, click the breadcrumb, and select the desired period. Additional text search is disabled in Calendar mode.
It is easy to include or exclude Leagues or media content by using the colored buttons. The need for manual search is eliminated (and disabled).
Collections
[Not activated by UEFA]
Groups
The Groups function is a simple and straightforward way for a user to group selected assets and place them in a folder. Additional assets can be added or removed manually to existing Groups.
Getting access to saved Groups is easy. Click (1) Saved Searches and choose Groups. Click the desired Group to display its content. Every grouped asset is identified by a "chain" icon on the right side of the asset Thumb. Double-clicking on an assets Thumb will open a "Quick view" of the asset's properties and the other grouped assets id.
How to Group assets (2)
Select one or multiple assets. Then right-click on one of them to reveal a small task menu. Choose Group assets to create a new group (folder), name the group, and click ok. The new group is immediately visible from the "Saved searches" Group section. This operation is also possible by clicking on the Main menu icon and choose the group asset entry from the task section.
To remove an asset from the group is done by selecting it and choose the "remove asset" entry from the Task menu.
Note!
The Group asset functionality is reaching its end of life is soon to be replaced.
Advanced Search
In addition to Calendar search and Collections, it is possible to create and use automated user-defined searches. These "smart searches" are usually based on individual preferences and created by the user themselves. The smart searches can be Private, only visible to the smart search creator, or assigned a Group, visible to everyone belonging to that group (sports desk, news desk, etc.). The last option is to make them visible to every user, assigning the smart search as Public.
How to create a smart search
The below image illustrates a ten-step procedure to create a smart search. It is also possible to select another user's smart search and modify it to own preferences. If copied from another user, then the (10) Save button will change to "Save as" since it cannot overwrite other user's smart searches.
Note1
It is possible to combine manual searches with rule-based searches. In the below search (3), the "Title is equal to EHF Champion....." is very specific and may only reflect the 2020 season. To include all seasons, it could be better to input "EHF" in the textual search window and remove the rule-based "Title is equal to....". Now, every Promotion master containing EHF will reflect the search result.
It is also possible to use the manual search to refine the search even more to get more specific search results.
Make your on default Library startup search
Most of the searches discussed are dependent on human interaction. But the Mediabank Library can also help users to get an immediate update on new media content when they log in and start the Library application. The functionality is straightforward.
Note!
Default search support asset filtering only. (Events are not supported)
Quickfilter
It is a further development of the smart filters, and its focus is to provide more visibility and accessibility of the most used filters. A local admin or a user can define quick filters and make them easily available and visible above the Library application's thumbs. It is even possible to share Quickfilters with colleagues.
Note!
Quickfilters support asset filtering only. (Events are not supported)
The Quickfilters make advanced search filters even more efficient for Mediabank users.
- The most used searches are placed above the Library workspaces' assets, visible to selected users/groups. A simple click will activate them.
- It can be different Quickfilters (searches) for different users/groups.
- The local admin or a user can define Quickfilters and share them with other colleagues. Some of us are better at defining optimal searches/filters, and why not let them create and share?
- Every existing "saved searches" can become a Quickfilter. There is no need to create new.
- Quickfilters support asset filtering only. (Events are not supported)
Searching for assets and events from W1/W2
The advanced search window supports assets only. To search for events, the user must use the textual search window. It is possible to combine advanced search with a textual search.
Note!
Assets - If the advanced search is active, then the textual search will only search in the output from this filter. The rule is ALL (Both the active and the contextual search parameter must be met)
Events - The textual search will search all events regardless of the active advanced search since it applies to assets only.
Elastic implementation
Mediabank uses the Elastic search engine to index and search for Events and Assets. The Elastic implementation is configured to reflect the user behavior and the metadata available.
Changes are as follows:
default_operator is changed to AND (standard is OR)
Writing Manchester Leicester in the search frame will return assets/events containing both words. If the user is searching for all assets/events that contain Manchester or Leicester, the search phrase should be Manchester OR Leicester. The standard AND will be superseded by the OR flag.
Observe that the the following search flags are disabled: = & | ! ( ) { } [ ] ~ < > : /
The reason is that these characters are often found in asset metadata like titles, subtitles, etc. We have experienced that users tend to simply copy parts of a phrase (like a title) and paste it in the search window. With the standard search flags in use, the pasted text would be interpreted as flags, resulting in an unpredictable search result.
writing penalty yellow in the search frame will return the same result as penalty +yellow or penalty AND yellow.
- Valid flags are AND, OR, NOT.
- Searching for a phrase should look like this: "riding bikes into the sunset"
- Valid wildcards are * and ?.
A few examples:
- Writing just will search for any asset/event containing the word just and return these. All assets/events not containing the word just is excluded. If the word just exists in any part of the asset's metadata or properties, it will also be displayed.
- A combination: just* is the same as above but will also include words like justify and any other word that starts with just.
- To perform a more specific search, you can search for a string by using "your text inside". Searching for "just 10 feet above"will not return anything unless the criteria for the string filter is met.
- You can also include or exclude words in your search. A search phrase like
League +Sunday NOT Monday will search for any assets that contain League and Sunday but exclude any asset that contains Monday. You may omit the + sign in front of Sunday but to exclude a search parameter, you must use the minus NOT flag. - Searching for assets/events containing arsenal from 2010 to 2019 will look like this arsenal 201? The wildcard flag instructs the search engine to return results for arsenal AND 201 including any valid single character replacing the? flag
Difference between assets and events from the thumb/list view.
Using the shortcut in the thumbs upper right corner will activate the mediaplayer. Depending on the type of media, the content will be loaded into the player in the Library W3 or Event W5 workspace.
The difference between assets and events?
Starting the Library application, the default view is workspace 1. From this view, the Library lists the most recent incoming assets as thumbs. From the thumb, the user can click on the shortcut "arrow" located in the upper right corner and go directly to W3. The asset loads automatically into the media player, ready to play.
Events, however, are not (yet) assets or media clips but simply log records from a sporting event or similar. Often tagged by users/operators watching a Live Ingest. Clicking on the event thumb shortcut will open the media player in the workspace 5 Event. The media player will look at the log record, identify the event (match), and load the "entire" asset. It will then search for the actual time code and align the event in the media player, ready to play.
When the user decides to use it for publishing or editing, it must be added to an M-box. The M-box will then use the time code to extract the particular sequence into a media clip and transcode it to the designated media format. The length, pre/post-roll values are retrieved from the default values in the Event application.
Saved searches
Saved Searches is a collection of the various options a user can link or combine assets. These tools can assist a user to collaborate with other users in a project, create a collection of material for a project or, simply link media content together for later use.
A user can add the search criteria in Advanced search and save that particular search for later use. When the smart search is selected next time, it will initiate a new search and list the assets matching your saved search criteria. The benefit of using Saved Searches is that it will always provide an up to date result.
Click on the "Saved Searches" tab and select the desired smart search.
How to add or remove smart searches from the list.
Select Advanced search, and scroll down until all the saved searches are visible.
Locate the previously saved searches that are available (visible).
- Private - Only the user's own searches are listed.
- Group - Saved searches that are assigned to a group or groups. Users within those groups can use the searches
- Public - Saved searched available to all.
Select the (eye) icon to make the search visible, click again to remove it from the Saved searches list.
It is also possible to remove the Saved searches directly from the list by selecting the hide button.
Projects
“Projects" is an easy way to keep track of the assets a single user or a project group need when working on a project without navigating your entire library.
Users can manually add specific assets to a separate "category" - or Project - so that, at any time, the same user(s) can easily access the assets needed for your current project.
In contrast to Saved searches, the user adds the assets manually and saves the asset-list for later use.
The user adds the assets manually to the project, and they will remain static. If the user needs to add or remove an asset, it must be done manually.
Creating a new Project
Open "Saved searches" and select Projects
- Add a project
- Name the project
- Select a permission level
- Create/Save the project
When choosing "permission type", you can decide if the project is private (visible to you only), shared with a group (workgroups that are usually defined by your local admin), or public (for everyone to see).
Your Project is empty until you've manually added the assets you want.
Adding media to your Project
You can add media content to your Project by selecting the asset in your Library Thumb View (W1) or ListView (W2), right-clicking, and select "Add to project".
When viewing your files in Properties (W3), you'll find "Add to project" in the top menu under "Tasks".