Plural Endings Definition

Defining plural endings in your database allows patrons to simultaneously search a database index for both the singular and pluralized forms of a search term when the plural indicator (e.g. '+') is added to the end of the term. The pluralendings definition and the plural keyword make this possible.

The pluralendings definition in the database description (.dsc) file defines one or more plural suffixes ("s," "es," "ies," etc.) to append to a search term. The suffixes are automatically appended to the search term when the search is performed. The pluralendings suffixes are used with searches against "plural" indexes only. A "plural" index is an index that contains the plural keyword in its index definition.

Syntax

pluralendings: "ending 1","ending 2",". . .","ending n"

Example

Suppose that pluralendings is defined as follows in the database description (.dsc) file:

pluralendings: "s", "es", "ies"

A search of the term "monkey+" performed against a plural index returns any occurrence of "monkey", "monkeys", "monkeyes", or "monkeyies".

See Also

Creating a Database Description (.dsc) File
Database Description (.dsc) File: Structure and Syntax
Index Definitions
Database Description (.dsc) File Example