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Brooks16B6
New Participant
February 1, 2022
Question

How does one perform a boolean proximity search for a single PDF?

  • February 1, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 2893 views

Acrobat Pro DC help staff have been unable to assist effectively in resolving this topic.

The topic feature is a standard Lexus Nexus capability.

I have learned how to set the proximity parameter (number of words) using Edit>Preferences>Search.

I have been told that the topic feature works for multiple files, but it has not been explained how having multiple files open affects the search results.

When an attemtp is made to open multiple files, one can only point to a drive or folder, not individual files (Shift, Control, F when a PDF is open will permit one to select an additional folder or drive, but not a file).

I have not confirmed that I have entered a boolean search properly. I have used ("XXX AND YYY"). That is: open quotation mark, first word (XXX), AND boolean operator, second word (YYY), and  closing quotation mark. 

Practically, I am trying to identify instances of the word "death" and the word "hell" within a certain proximity of each other in a HOLY BIBLE pdf. Specifically, I have used the following search term "death AND hell" after setting the proximity parameter to 20 words. The result is all "death AND hell" (exact word) occurrences, which is not what I am attempt to search for.

Thank you very much for your thoughts about how to perform this search.

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

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Muhammad2826227934ec
New Participant
February 5, 2023

i am in same boat as you but has come to an acceptable solution. 1st you cant use advanced search like proximity/boolean on single file (your target pdf file must be in a folder along with atleat one more pdf file, you can place any 2nd dummy pdf for sake of your purpose) and when you will select the folder path only then the advance features gets unlocked. One common confusion is that users start opening multiple pdf files for this function to get it activated which is not required. Secondly even in advance search by default there is further SHOW MORE OPTION  which should be selected. Personally i am not using boolean search query as proximity function gets greyed out when i select boolean. i use MATCH ALL WORDS for my proximity as its very fast, simple and not confusing. After setting your proximity distance in preferences,  type your required words without spaces not using any wildcard/AND/OR. It searches ALL required words in any order(before/after) within the set proximity distance. If you want to set before/after order to your words then set it in the ADDITIONAL criteria box. Hope it helps.

try67
try67
Adobe Expert
February 1, 2022

I also found this feature of Acrobat very confusing and counter-intuitive. Why does it only work when you select a folder, and not within a single file? Only Adobe knows...

 

That's why I've developed my own (paid-for) version of this, which I think is superior to the original. It allows you to search just a single file, set the proximity distance between them, highlight the matches and even connect them, plus other features. You can find it here:

https://www.try67.com/tool/acrobat-reader-advanced-proximity-search

 

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Muhammad2826227934ec
New Participant
February 5, 2023

i tried your tool demo and its nice but it needs few improvements. 1st its limited to only 2 words whereas i need multiple words for proximity search as is usually required. Secondly its very slow as compared to default adobe proximity function which is almost instant. I liked the highlight ALL proximity words option and connect dot option which is not present in adobe in advanced proximity seacrch. The Highlight all Match option in acrobat which if enabled in preferences only works in simple FIND search.

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