.. _chap-querying:
*************************
Querying the Version Tree
*************************
.. index:: queries
|vistrails| is designed for manipulating collections of workflows, and
an integral part of this design is the ability to quickly search
through these collections. |vistrails| provides two methods for
querying vistrails and workflows. The first is a Query by Example
interface which allows you to build query workflows and search for
those with similar structures and parameters. The second is a
textual interface with a straightforward syntax. For each interface,
the results are *visual*: each matching version is
highlighted in the ``History`` view, and if the query
involves specific workflow characteristics, any matching entities are
also highlighted in the ``Pipeline`` view for the current
version.
Query By Example
================
.. index::
pair: queries; by example
.. _fig-querying-query:
.. figure:: figures/querying/query.png
:width: 3in
:align: center
Example pipeline in ``Query`` mode.
One of the problems faced when trying to query a collection of
workflows is the fact that structure is important. Suppose that you
want to find only workflows where two modules are used in sequence.
Instead of trying to translate this into a text-based syntax, it is
easier to construct this relationship visually. |vistrails| provides such an
interface which mirrors the ``Pipeline`` view, allowing
you to construct a (partial) workflow to serve as the search criteria.
To use the Query by Example interface, click on the
``Query`` button on the toolbar. This view is extremely
similar to the ``Pipeline`` view and pipelines can be built
in a similar manner. Just like the ``Pipeline`` view,
modules are added by dragging them from the list on the left side of
the window, connections are added by clicking and dragging from a port
on one module to a corresponding port on another module.
Figure :ref:`fig-querying-query` shows an example pipeline that has been built in the query builder.
.. %TODO what are the next few sentences actually trying to say?
.. %, and parameters can be edited on the right-side of the window. One major difference between the ``Pipeline`` view and the ``Query`` view is that you can use comparison operations in parameter values. For example, instead of searching for a pipeline that contains a Float with a value of ``4.5``, you can search for a pipeline that contains a Float with a value ``'< 4.5'`` or ``'> 4.5'``.
.. _fig-querying-results:
.. _fig-querying-history:
.. figure:: figures/querying/query2.png
:height: 3in
:align: center
Query results in the ``History`` view.
.. _fig-querying-pipeline:
.. figure:: figures/querying/query3.png
:height: 3in
:align: center
The results in the ``Pipeline`` view.
After constructing a pipeline, click the ``Execute`` button
to begin the query. This button will be available as long as the
query window is not empty. Executing the query will bring you back to
the ``History`` view where the matching versions are
displayed. Section :ref:`sec-querying-results` provides information on
interacting with query results.
.. topic:: Try it now!
Let's practice making a simple query. Open the "offscreen.vt" example vistrail. Click on the ``Query`` button to enter ``Query`` mode. Create a query like the one shown in Figure :ref:`fig-querying-query` by dragging the modules ``SheetReference``, ``CellLocation``, and ``RichTextCell`` onto the Query canvas. (These modules can be found under the "|vistrails| Spreadsheet" header in the Modules panel.) Connect the input and output ports of the modules as shown, then click the ``Execute`` button to perform the query. |vistrails| will automatically switch to the ``History`` view, with all matching versions highlighted (Figure :ref:`fig-querying-results`).
Note that Query by Example provides the capability to iteratively
refine searches by adding more criteria. For example, if you were
interested in workflows that contain a certain module, you may find that
such a query returns too many results. You could then refine the query
to find only those workflows where the given module has a parameter
setting that falls within a given range.
This is done by specifying parameter values in the ``Methods`` panel on the right side of the window.
One major difference between the ``Pipeline`` view and the ``Query`` view is that you can use comparison operations, such as '<' and '>', in parameter values. The following example illustrates this.
.. topic:: Try it now!
Open the "terminator.vt" example file, and enter ``Query`` mode. Drag the ``vtkActor`` module from the Modules panel onto the Query canvas. ``Execute`` the query, and see which versions of the workflow contain a ``vtkActor`` modules. Return to the ``Query`` view, select the ``vtkActor`` icon, then drag the ``RotateZ`` method from the ``Methods`` panel to the ``Set Methods`` panel. In the ``RotateZ`` text field, type ``'> 90'``. When you ``Execute`` the query this time, you will notice that the results are different. This is because we are searching for versions that not only contain a ``vtkActor`` module, but that also use a value greater than 90 in this module's ``RotateZ`` method. Your results should resemble those in Figure :ref:`fig-querying-vtkActor_example`.
.. _fig-querying-vtkActor_example:
.. figure:: figures/querying/query_vtkActor.png
:width: 3in
:align: center
Query result showing all workflows in the "terminator.vt" example that contain the module ``vtkActor``.
.. figure:: figures/querying/query_vtkActor90.png
:width: 3in
:align: center
The same query refined to show only those workflows whose ``RotateZ`` value is greater than 90.
Textual Queries
===============
.. %Removing this figure as the addition of the next example makes it redundant.
.. %\begin{figure}
.. %\centering
.. %\includegraphics[width=3in]{query4.png}
.. %\caption{A query made to find any changes made before February 21.}
.. %\label{fig:querying:date}
.. %\end{figure}
.. index::
pair: queries; textual
There are many ways to search for versions in the version tree using textual queries, but they all rely on a simple
text box for input. Begin a search by activating the
``History`` view. The search box is in the
``Properties`` panel, and can be identified by the
magnifying glass icon next to it. If you enter query text, |vistrails|
will attempt to match logical categories, but if your query is more
specific, |vistrails| has special syntax to markup the query.
To execute a query, simply press the 'Enter' key after typing your query.
.. raw:: latex
\linebreak
.. %Figure :ref:`fig-querying-date` shows an example query.
.. _tab-querying-syntax:
.. table:: Syntax for querying specific information using textual queries.
============== ================================================================
Search Type Syntax
============== ================================================================
User name ``user:`` *user name*
Annotation ``notes:`` *phrase*
Tag ``name:`` *version tag*
Date ``before:`` *date* ``|`` *relative time*
\ ``after:`` *date* ``|`` *relative time*
============== ================================================================
.. topic:: Note
Since we allow regular expressions in our search box, question marks are treated as meta-characters. Thus, searching for "?" returns everything and "abc?" will return everything containing "abc". You need to use "\\?" instead to search for "?". So the search for "??" would be "\\?\\?".
Table :ref:`tab-querying-syntax` lists the different ways to markup a
query. Note that you can search by user name to see which changes a
particular user has made, and also by date to see which changes were
made in a specific time frame. When searching by date, you can search
for all changes before or after a given date or an amount of time
relative to the present. If searching for changes before or after a
specific date, the date can be entered in a variety of formats. The
simplest is '*day* *month* *year*,' but if the
year is omitted, the current year is used. The month may be specified
by either its full name or an abbreviation. For example, ``'before: 18 November 2004'`` and ``'after: 20 Dec'`` are both valid queries. If searching by relative time,
you can prepend the amount of time relative to the present including
the units to 'ago'. An example of this type of query is
``'after: 30 minutes ago'``. The available units are seconds,
minutes, hours, days, months, or years.
You can concatenate simple search statements to create a compound
query to search across different criteria or for a specific range.
For example, to search for workflows whose tag includes
``'brain'`` *and* were created by the user ``'johnsmith'``,
the query would be ``'name: brain user: johnsmith'``. To search
for all workflows created between April 1 and June 1, the query would
be ``'after: April 1 before: June 1'``.
.. topic:: Try it now!
Open the "terminator.vt" example file, and enter ``History`` mode. Let's look for all workflows that were created after July 1, 2007. In the search box in the ``Properties`` panel, type ``'after: 1 july 2007'`` and press 'Enter'. The expected result is shown in Figure :ref:`fig-querying-july1`.
.. _fig-querying-july1:
.. figure:: figures/querying/textquery.png
:width: 3.5in
:align: center
Results of a query to find any changes made after July 1, 2007.
.. _sec-querying-results:
Query Results
=============
.. %TODO consider dropping this section, and merging its content into the other sections.
.. index::
pair: queries; viewing results
After executing either a query by example or a textual query, the matching versions are highlighted in the version tree. In addition, there is a button named ``Reset Query`` in the lower-left of the version tree that allows you to reset the query, returning the view to normal. For queries by example, if you click on a specific matching version and
change to the ``Pipeline`` view, the matching structure will
also be highlighted. Figure :ref:`fig-querying-results` shows the
results of the query by example in Figure :ref:`fig-querying-query` in
both the ``History`` and ``Pipeline`` views.
.. index:: search; refine
While in the ``History`` view, you can select two different
ways of viewing search results. The magnifying glass icon to the left of the textual search box contains andropdown menu with two options: "Search" and "Refine" (Figure :ref:`fig-querying-search_or_refine`). The first displays results by simply highlighting the matching nodes while the second condenses the tree to show only the versions that match. For large vistrails, this second method can help you determine relationships between the matching versions more easily.
.. %TODO I'm not sure that this button actually works as intended.
.. _fig-querying-search_or_refine:
.. figure:: figures/querying/search_or_refine.png
:width: 3in
:align: center
Clicking the button to the left of the query text box accesses a dropdown menu.
In addition, |vistrails| keeps track of the most recent textual
queries, and repeating these queries can be accomplished by selecting
the recent query from the dropdown menu attached to the search box.
You can also clear recent searches using this menu. Finally, the
'X' button next to the search box will reset the query and
restore the normal view of the version tree.
.. index:: queries