Search your data with AI (vector search)

Our vetor search is designed to be more powerful and easy to use than a traditional search.

To get the best results, though, it helps to realize that it works differently than a traditional keyword search. As with other generative AI tools, a search made with a question or a phrase will be more effective than a single word. To get the best results, don't hesitate to be detailed.

Then, if filters are available, you can use those to refine your results.

If you know exactly what you're searching for—perhaps even what it's called—a traditional search might do the job just fine. But supposing you're not sure what you're looking for, or even if it exists, a vector search can help.

It's more creative and casts a wider net, so be as specific as you can. Of course, even with the vector search in your header, your portal's sidebar (under "Filters") still uses the traditional search method.

But using the vector search, refined using filters, is a consistently powerful and effective search method.

Vector search represents an evolution of search technology. Unlike traditional keyword-based search, vector search uses artificial intelligence to understand the meaning of a query.

Technically, this works by converting words into numerical vectors that represent their meaning in a high-dimensional space. This makes it possible to find results by calculating the semantic similarity between the query and the data assets on your domain. You can think of it like a cloud, where the more similar the droplets of water are the closer they are to each other.

This powerful technology offers an alternative to how we traditionally search for datasets, by providing a wider range of relevant results, even when the exact keywords are not used in the query.

Each time a data asset is published, an automatic indexing process is triggered. This process meticulously catalogs the asset's metadata (so note, not the data itself):

• Title

• Description

• Keywords

• Themes (dataset categories)

• Territory (countries, regions, departments, municipalities, etc.)

A reminder: Always fill out the metadata on your assets!

The new search can be added to your header and to pages created in the Code editor.

Integrating vector searching into your site's header is a straightforward process. To begin, you'll need to add the search button to your header's menu (Portal > Style, then select the Header tab) by adding the placeholder ##quick-find## to your header HTML code.

See it placed in the example below, in bold:

##skip-to-content-link##
<nav class="ods-front-header" ods-responsive-menu breakpoint="1000">
    <ods-responsive-menu-placeholder>
        <a class="ods-front-header__portal-brand" href="/"> ##logo## </a>
    </ods-responsive-menu-placeholder>
    <ods-responsive-menu-collapsible>
        ##language##
        <a class="ods-front-header__portal-brand" href="/">
            ##logo##
            ##brand##
        </a>
        ##menu##
        ##quick-find##
        ##secondary-menu##
    </ods-responsive-menu-collapsible>
</nav>

Note that if you have a customized header, vector search may disrupt its appearance. If you need help, don't hesitate to reach out to our support or your customer success contact.

For pages created using the Code editor, embedding the search bar is seamless with the use of the ods-catalog-search widget. Here's an example:

Step 1: Add the code snippet to the HTML code of the page

<ods-catalog-search
    class-name="'my-search-box'"
    label="'your-label-here'">
</ods-catalog-search>

For this widget, two parameters are available:

• class-name allows you to add a class to the search bar in order to customize it

• label allows you to add a custom label to the search bar

Step 2: Add CSS to the widget

Paste this code at the end of the CSS file of the page, or in the dedicated section should you have any.

.my-search-box {
    text-align: left;
    z-index: 2;
}

If the page is available in multiple languages, remember to repeat this process for each language.

Click through the quick tutorial below, which will walk you through the process:

There is a keyboard shortcut for quick access to the search.

By clicking Ctrl + K on a PC or Cmd + K on a Mac, you can display the quick find window on any page of your portal.

If your workspace is based in Europe, by default your AI provider is Mistral, a European company. Outside of Europe, your provider is OpenAI, which is based in the United States.

You are nevertheless free to choose one or the other if you like. Note that this will reindex your catalog, so you may wish to make this change when your data is least used.

The setting is found in your back office by going to Portal > Data processing, and making the change under "Artifial Intelligence provider." Don't forget to Save to record the change.