Contract Search Tips
Multiple Search Terms
Multiple search terms may be submitted with each term separated by a blank space. The database will retrieve all records which contain all provided search terms. This method of searching is referred to as Boolean searching (AND or OR).
Non-Valid Search Terms
In general, search terms that trigger a "literal text" search or "contains type" search are not permitted due to performance limitations using these types of searches on large databases. Lengthy search requests are prevented by disallowing certain special characters from being submitted. Consequently, only alphanumeric characters are allowed.
Search Parameters
There are several optional search parameters which only affect the way your search results are returned. The optional search parameters WILL NOT AFFECT THE ACTUAL RESULTS.
Search Engine
Searches are performed via the back-end databases used for the BiP online services. The use of a MySql database allows for searches to be carried out very quickly, even with many records present in the database. See the sections below for more information.
Sorting
Search result lists are generally returned sorted by date in descending order (current contracts listed first).
Word Stemming
All BiP online services perform searches as "word begins with". It is not necessary to submit whole words. Partial word search terms are acceptable as long as the search term matches the beginning of words. For example, the search term 'comp' returns 'computer', 'computerised', 'complete' and 'compete' but does not return 'incomplete'.