What is incidents.search_thread and when should I use it?

Environment:

Oracle B2C Service

Answers, Phrase searching

Resolution:

When configuring incident reports, the incidents.search_thread filter adds the Summary/Thread option to the incident search options. The Summary/Thread option allows staff to search both the incident subject and the incident thread. Please read additional details in What is the behavior of the incidents.search_thread report filter?

The Summary/Thread option is not actually a field within the database and can only be used as a search filter. You cannot add the Summary/Thread to an output column for a view or report. From the incidents table, you can use the incident subject field as an output column as an indicator for the incident listed in the report or view.

You can also include thread components in your report by adding fields from the Threads table when joined to the Incidents table.  The incident thread includes the submittal and updates from your end-user, responses from the support agent, and internal notes added to the incident. For more information on reporting on threads, refer to Answer ID 2068: Including an Incident Thread in a Report.

Indexing search threads:  You can indicate which types of entries in the incident thread are indexed for searching. The INC_TYPE_IDX configuration setting allows you to specify which types of incident threads are indexed. By removing some types of threads from indexing, such as auto-responses or notes automatically appended by rules, you can improve the search performance on your site. 

Removing these elements from indexing reduces both the amount of words and phrases added to the phrases table and also prevents standard content that is potentially added to several incidents from being indexed.

For more information on indexing thread types, refer to Answer ID 2213: Thread Types Included in Searches.

Including Summary Thread as a filter:  To add the Summary Thread option as a filter in a report or view:

1. Edit the report.
    
2. From the Home tab, click Add Filter from the Data Set section. 
    
3. In the Expression field, right click and select Incidents > Summary Thread.  The term incidents.search_thread will display in the expression field.
    
4. Set the Operator value to Complex Expression.
    
5. Click OK.
    
6. Save the report.

Searching the Summary/Thread uses the words stored as phrases for that incident. This search option ignores case sensitivity, plurals, verb tenses and other word endings. For example, searching on "WALK" returns incidents containing any of the words "walk", "walked", " Walking", "walker", and "Walks".