Difference between revisions of "How-to-Google"

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(Added some google-specific stuff)
 
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[[Category:Basics]]
 
== General ==
 
== General ==
  
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* Only use important words, instead of full sentences
 
* Only use important words, instead of full sentences
 
* Use descriptive words and simply rephrase searches, if no good results show up
 
* Use descriptive words and simply rephrase searches, if no good results show up
* Use quotes <code>"<search>"</code> to tell Google to use exact matching for the text within quotes, asterisks <code>*</code> can be used as wildcards to match any text
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* Use quotes around your search words <code>"search words"</code>, to tell Google to match exactly the text within quotes, asterisks <code>*</code> can be used as wildcards to match any text
 
* Use hyphens <code><ambiguous search> -<one matching field></code> to explicitly tell Google to exclude words from the search
 
* Use hyphens <code><ambiguous search> -<one matching field></code> to explicitly tell Google to exclude words from the search
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* Use <code>site:hpc-wiki.info</code> to search only on hpc-wiki.info
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* Use <code>filetype:pdf</code> to only get PDFs
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* Use <code>intitle:"HPC Wiki"</code> for sites that contain "HPC Wiki" in their title (also works for <code>inurl</code>)
  
 
== Dealing with Error Messages ==
 
== Dealing with Error Messages ==
  
* Just copy the error message from the command line to the Google search bar
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* Just copy the error message as it is from the command line to the Google search bar
* Remove system specific details like the system name or paths
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* Remove system specific details like  
* Though you should keep the file name, if it corresponds to a provided or system source code file
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:* the hostname
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:* the system or cluster name
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:* user or account names
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* Path names: remove (site-specific) path names (like /shared/apps/MyApplicationName/), but keep system file names (eg. /usr/lib64/lib...) and relative pathes inside the software (eg. lib/x86_64/lib...)<br />(for example: <code><strike>/shared/apps/myApplicationName/</strike>lib/x86_64/libSubModule.so</code>)

Latest revision as of 14:12, 16 October 2021

General

  • Keep the Google search as simple as possible only being specific where necessary
  • Gradually add search terms, if you do not get good results
  • Try to search with professional terms, instead of natural speaking language
  • Only use important words, instead of full sentences
  • Use descriptive words and simply rephrase searches, if no good results show up
  • Use quotes around your search words "search words", to tell Google to match exactly the text within quotes, asterisks * can be used as wildcards to match any text
  • Use hyphens <ambiguous search> -<one matching field> to explicitly tell Google to exclude words from the search
  • Use site:hpc-wiki.info to search only on hpc-wiki.info
  • Use filetype:pdf to only get PDFs
  • Use intitle:"HPC Wiki" for sites that contain "HPC Wiki" in their title (also works for inurl)

Dealing with Error Messages

  • Just copy the error message as it is from the command line to the Google search bar
  • Remove system specific details like
  • the hostname
  • the system or cluster name
  • user or account names
  • Path names: remove (site-specific) path names (like /shared/apps/MyApplicationName/), but keep system file names (eg. /usr/lib64/lib...) and relative pathes inside the software (eg. lib/x86_64/lib...)
    (for example: /shared/apps/myApplicationName/lib/x86_64/libSubModule.so)