How to use the Search Features
The data on this site is drawn from an
internal database. You can use the Search tools
to perform queries directly against this
database by a variety of criteria.
Searching for Entities
An entity is discrete data element within the
database and can be a person, place,
organization, event, or any type of “thing”
supported by the database. To see a list of
currently supported entity types, click the
[Down] arrow next to Entity Type on the
Search page.
Entity Name
Enter the name of the item to search for.
This can be a person, organization, location,
email address, or any other item in the
database.
Search Type
The site supports two types of name matching:
- Exact Match: This mode returns
records where the entity name field starts
with or exactly matches your search
criteria. For example if you search for
"John," an exact search finds the entity
"John Doe." The search text is not case
sensitive.
- Fuzzy Search: This mode considers
phonetic variations of the entity name, as
well as on any known aliases contained in
the entity record. This makes it easier to
find entity
data when you are not sure of the spelling
or alternate names. For example, if you
search for "John," a fuzzy search returns
"John Doe," as well as "Idris al Gembrot"
(who uses the alias "Jhoni Hendrawan").
Entity Type
Select the type of entity to search for, or
select "All types" to return all matches
regardless of type.
Status
Select the status of the entity to search for
(e.g. alive, deceased, incarcerated, etc.), or
select "All statuses" to return all matches
regardless of status.
When you are ready to run your search
operation, click the [Search] button.
Searching for Relationships
While entities are the foundation of TrackingTheThreat.com, they are not truly useful
without relationships. Relationships are links
between entities: Bob placed a phone call to
Ralph; Joe is a member of Organization X, etc.
Relationships can also contain a wealth of
information, including notes, documents, and start and end dates. To see a list of
currently supported relationship types, click the
[Down] arrow next to Relationship Type on the
Search page.
First Entity Name
Enter the exact name of the first entity to search for.
This can be a person, organization, location,
email address, or any other item in the
database. You can search for all relationships
for a single entity by leaving the second entity
name empty.
Second Entity Name
Enter the exact name of the second entity to search for.
This can be a person, organization, location,
email address, or any other item in the
database. Specifying this value in addition to
the first entity name will return all
relationships between both entities.
Relationship Type
Select the type of relationship to search for, or
select "All types" to return all matches
regardless of type. You can search for all
relationships of a specific type by leaving the
first and second entity name values empty.
Open Source Searching
You can use the Open Source Searching area to
query Google or Yahoo for information. Type the
text to search for, and click the [Search]
button to send your request to the search
engine.
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