This page is intended provide a ready-reference for programmers writing to the LexBIG API and candidate material for inclusion in the next release of the LexBIG Programmer's Guide.
As primary reference, refer to the Programmer's Guide downloadable from the files tab of the LexBIG GForge project.
Link to files tab provided for historical purposes If you need access to these files, please contact Application Support: ncicbiit@mail.nih.gov https://gforge.nci.nih.gov/frs/?group_id=14
Using Lucene Queries in LexBIG
Lucene Queries are well documented and can be very powerful. The uninitiated user may need some background on their use however.
You should start here with the official Lucene QueryParser documentation
Historical link http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/queryparsersyntax.html
Keep in mind that some LexBIG queries such as "startsWith" and "contains" use wild card searches under the covers, so that use of wild cards in this context can cause errors in searches involving these search types.
Instead it is best to use the flexibility of the the Lucene Query searches in the matchingDesignation by using the Lucene Query searches in LexBIG where most searches will work much as described in the query syntax documentation.
Special characters in the Lucene Query search can cause unexpected results. If you are not using special characters as recommended for various Lucene search mechanisms then your searches may not return expected results or may return an error. If the value you are searching upon contains say, parenthesis, you will need to place the value in quotations. The escape characters described in the Lucene Documentation do not work at this time.
Likewise you should not expect to see a Lucene Query narrow down search results as you progressively enter a longer substring more closely matching your term of interest. Instead use the contains method..