How to search for % sign in Index Search

Question

I'm trying to search for a fairly simple term:

2%
(or 2%) but for simplicity, just 2%

I've tried "" and '<' and '>' , REGEX, backslash () as an escape sequence before the %

But nothing seems to actually be able to find 2%, plenty of matches of 2.

Best I can do is REGEX "\%" which matches % but as soon as I add a number it matches nothing. Have played with Perl compatible and Classic

Answer 1

The percentage sign is not included in the index and so cannot be searched. Also, the index search does not support REGEX searching yet.

---

More information

When performing an index search the program searches against a database of terms, not against the source text. Those terms were extracted from the source text, and stored in the index, but not all characters would be included as a term. If you imagine some source text:

file_locator work-efficiency calculation:(normal-speed*50%)=lots

This results in the following tokens:

file_locator
work
efficiency
calculation
normal
speed
50
lots

When you search for "work-efficiency" the program translates this to "work" followed-by "efficiency", because the dash wouldn't exist in the index. The search would match "work-efficiency" but would also match "work#efficiency" or "work efficiency" etc.

How to search for non-term characters

Searching against non-term characters is not possible in index search, the characters just aren't in the index database. Therefore you need to switch to 'Expert' mode and search the source text directly, which will be slower but can be speeded up:

Help: Cache Settings

Question: Isn't cache search better than index search because I can use more search options?