Task View - Search

Search Options

The Search tab allows you to search SNOMED CT for concept matches to Fully Specified Name (FSN) text patterns, concept and relationship SCTIDs, SNOMED CT ECL expressions, or SNOMED Templates (predefined logical and lexical concept models).

On first opening the tab, a search query text box is presented with a prompt to enter at least three characters. This triggers a text search of SNOMED CT for matches by name or by SCTID. Two large buttons are presented below the search query box - the first is a toggle button for filtering results as Active Only | Inactive Only | Active and Inactive - see the Search Results section below for further details of its use; the second button toggles the search mode from Text Mode (the default setting on opening the Search tab) to ECL Mode.

In ECL Mode, the query box adapts to receive an ECL expression, and an additional term filter box is presented which supports lexical filtering of the ECL expression match results. The Active Only | Inactive Only | Active and Inactive toggle button remains available for ECL Mode to act on the full results set. Note that ECL searches which traverse multiple hierarchies and ranges can take a few seconds to complete and present the results.

From ECL Mode the Switch to Template button switches the search into Template Mode, which presents a type-ahead query box to enter a template name. Templates matching the entered text are presented in a drop-down scrollable list for selection. Picking a template from the list will then return all concepts that conform to the template logical model definition.

In both ECL Mode and Template Mode results can be shown from either the Stated or Inferred view (your most recent setting is remembered by the platform), with further filtering by Definition Status ( All|Primitive|Fully Defined ).

From Template Mode, the Switch to Text button returns to the default Text Mode search.

Search by name

This a standard text pattern match against concept Fully Specified Names (FSNs).

Steps	Reference

Steps	Reference
If previously switched to Template Mode, press `Switch to Text`. If previously switched to ECL Mode, press `Switch to Template`, then from Template Mode, press `Switch to Text`
Enter at least three characters into the search query box. Type-ahead searching starts to present results as soon as 3 or more characters are entered (automatic type-ahead search is not triggered until a slight pause in normal typing). Wildcard characters can be used to elaborate the search query. Asterisk ( * ) matches all subsequent characters regardless of word length. Question mark ( ? ) matches a single character.
Entering more characters automatically updates the results set to match the entered text pattern.
A clear query `X` button will appear in the right upper corner of the query box once text is entered. Press this to clear the current query. Standard operating system keyboard select/cut/paste/delete key combinations can also be used to manipulate the query once entered.

Search by SCTID

This is a numeric exact match to a SNOMED CT concept SCTID; it can be useful for locating newly created concepts. Purely numeric search queries will try to match against SCTIDs, and return an error message if none are found. For example searching for 300 returns "Error performing search: [object Object]: Not Found: Concept with identifier '300' could not be found." To search for a numeric value in an FSN, SYN etc, put quotes around the number or add a wildcard * to the end of the query (eg "300" or 300*). The search will then find matches in text content (including partial matches, so "300" will match "300", "200-300", "300,000" etc.

Steps	Reference

Steps	Reference
If previously switched to Template Mode, press `Switch to Text`. If previously switched to ECL Mode, press `Switch to Template`, then from Template Mode, press `Switch to Text.`
Enter a numeric value corresponding to an SCTID into the search query box (no leading or trailing spaces). Cut and paste from another resource is often the easiest way to do this, but the value can simply be typed via the keyboard as for text searches. As for searching by name, once a numeric query is entered the clear query `X` button appears in the upper right corner of the query box, with the behaviour described above for searching by name.
For concept SCTIDs, the single concept matching the SCTID will be found if it exists. Note that unless the results filtering is not currently set to `Active and Inactive`, a valid search result may be hidden if set to the non-matching status filter. If no results are returned for a known good SCTID when showing `Active Only` or `Inactive Only`, then press the button to see the other status filters (eg 232971009 which is an inactive concept, needs the result filtering set to `Inactive Only` or `Active and Inactive` to see the search result).
For description SCTIDs, the concept containing the description SCTID will be found if it exists.
For relationship SCTIDs, both the source and target concepts for that relationship SCTID will be found if it exists.

Search by ECL Expression

For more complex searches, such as locating only concepts within particular ranges or located in particular hierarchies within SNOMED CT, the ECL Mode supports expressions (ECL 1.1.1 since AP Version 2.1.0, ECL 1.3 since AP Version 2.9.0). The steps below illustrate only some basic ECL search examples - please see Expression Constraint Language - Specification and Guide for further reading on the full capabilities of ECL search expressions.

Steps	Reference

Steps

Reference

When in Text Mode (default on opening Search tab), press Switch to ECL.

If previously switched to Template Mode, press Switch to Text, then press Switch to ECL.

Enter an ECL expression into the search query box.

Press the Search button to the right of the query box, or press Enter on the keyboard.

ECL search results can be switched between the Stated and Inferred view, and can also be filtered by Definition Status. These options can be set from drop-down list selectors immediately above the search results list.

After obtaining ECL expression search results, the results set can be refined by entering an additional term filter in the query box below the expression. For example the ECL expression >!* returns all concepts that are leaf nodes. By adding an additional term filter a particular set of matching leaf nodes can be found, such as all leaf nodes containing the word "limb" in their FSN.