Advanced Search Syntax

A reference for advanced search syntax when performing searches in the Content Browser.

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The Content Browser enables you to search your content using advanced syntax. The advanced search syntax supports sophisticated search queries, enables searching by key-value pairs from Asset metadata, and provides access to special key values.

AdvancedSearchSyntax.png

Syntax Reference

The following table shows the available operators:

Operator (Type)

Syntax

Description

Example

Equal (Binary)

=
==
:

Tests whether the value returned for a given key is equal to the specified value.

Name="Blast"
Name==Blast
Name:Bla...

NotEqual (Binary)

!=
!:

Tests whether the value returned for a given key is not equal to the specified value.

Name!=Blast
Name!:"Blast"

Less (Binary)

<

Tests whether the value returned for a given key is less than the specified value. This supports numeric values only.

Triangles<92

LessOrEqual (Binary)

<=
<:

Tests whether the value returned for a given key is less than or equal to the specified value. This supports numeric values only.

Triangles<=92
Triangles<:92

Greater (Binary)

>

Tests whether the value returned for a given key is greater than the specified value. This supports numeric values only.

Triangles>92

GreaterOrEqual (Binary)

>=
>:

Tests whether the value returned for a given key is greater than or equal to the specified value. This supports numeric values only.

Triangles>=92
Triangles>:92

Or (Binary)

OR
||
|

Tests two values and returns true if either evaluate to true .

Blast OR Type:Blueprint
!Blast || Path:Testing
Name:"Blast" | Path:Testing...

And (Binary)

AND
&&
&

Tests two values and returns true if both evaluate to true .

Blast AND Type:Blueprint
!Blast || Path:Testing
Name:"Blast" | Path:Testing...

Not (Pre-Unary)

NOT
!

Tests the value that follows it and then returns the inverted results.

NOT Blast
! "Blast"

TextCmpInvert (Pre-Unary)

-

Modifies a text value so that it will return the inverted result of the operation it is involved in.

-Blast
-"Blast"

TextCmpExact (Pre-Unary)

+

Modifies a text value so that it will perform an "exact" text comparison.

+Blast
+"Blast"

TextCmpAnchor (Pre-Unary)

...

Modifies a text value so that it will perform an "ends with" text comparison.

...ast
..."ast"

TextCmpAnchor (Post-Unary)

...

Modifies a text value so that it will perform a "starts with" text comparison.

Bla...
"Bla"...

Special Keys

Most keys available for searching come from Asset metadata that was extracted from the Asset registry. However, there are several special keys that exist for all Asset types. These special keys only support Equal or NotEqual comparison operators.

Key

Alias

Description

Name

--

The Asset name.

Path

--

The Asset path.

Class

Type

The Asset class.

Collection

Tag

The names of any collections that contain the Asset.

Strings

Strings can either be quoted (single or double) or not quoted. Quoted strings can contain nested quotes; however, you must use a backslash ( \ ) to exit any nested quotes. The main difference between using unquoted and quoted strings is that quoted strings enables the use of spaces and special characters in search terms. By default, they will perform partial string matches unless a TextCmpExact or TextCmpAnchor operator is used to modify the behavior.

Below are some examples using single and double quotes and backslashes:

"Foo\"bar"  ->  Foo"bar
'Foo\'bar'  ->  Foo'bar
"Foo\'bar"  ->  Foo'bar
'Foo\"bar'  ->  Foo"bar
"Foo\\bar"  ->  Foo\bar
'Foo\\bar'  ->  Foo\bar

A literal backslash ( \ ) must be used to escape using another backslash.

Asset Metadata

Hovering over an Asset's name in the Content Browser will display its metadata. These can be used as arguments for the Operators. AssetMetaData.png

Different Assets may list different metadata specific to that type, so Static Meshes would be different than a Skeletal Mesh. These metadata can be used to test a search a result.

[Metadata Name] [Operator] [String or Numeric Value]

Triangles>=10500
Type==Skeletal
UVChannels>2
CollisionPrims!=0

Metadata is not case-sensitive but does require no spacing between characters. For example, Morph Target would be MorphTarget.

Basic Search Example

A basic search takes a metadata object and uses an Operator to test against a string or value.

For example, searching for any Asset that has more than 1500 triangles.

Triangles>1500

Or performing a search for a specific type of asset.

Type==Blueprint

Advanced Search Examples

By using the AND , OR , and NOT operators, you can test against multiple search operations at once. For example, searching for any asset that is using a Translucent Material that is using the Default Lit Shading Model.

BlendMode==Translucent AND ShadingModel==DefaultLit

By using the AND operator, both operations testing the Blend Mode and Shading Model must evaluate to True to display any results. When you use the OR operator, either operation can independently result in True to display its result meaning that not every Material using a Translucent Blend Mode will be using Default Lit. For complex advanced searches, Operators of the same type always combine together. Parentheses can resolve the ambiguity when you start using different operator types. For example, we can perform two searches and then evaluate them to display results. The first operation will evaluate any Material that is Translucent and Default Lit.

BlendMode==Translucent AND ShadingModel==DefaultLit

The second operation will evaluate any Material that is a Deferred Decal and that doesn't use Scene Color.

MaterialDomain==DeferredDecal AND HasSceneColor==False

Parentheses can be used to evaluate the results of both of these searches.

(BlendMode==Translucent AND ShadingModel==DefaultLit) OR (MaterialDomain==DeferredDecal AND HasSceneColor==False)

By using the OR operator between the parentheticals, the results will evaluate each parenthetical on its own and display results that return True for either one. If you were to use the AND operator, all four operations would have to return True to display any results.

Legacy Behavior

To comply with the existing simple search syntax, spaces in an unquoted search string will result in an implicit AND operator being injected at each space. For example, " one two " would perform the same search as " one AND two " due to the implicit insertion of the AND operator.

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