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Basic Search

Introduction

Flywheel search is a powerful feature to discover data across multiple projects. You may search projects from your own lab, or projects from other labs. Search results are from projects you have permissions to access.

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Instruction Steps

The Search Bar: Fuzzy Matching

Basic search uses a fuzzy matching algorithm. This means that If an exact match is required, use the advanced search feature or select one of the filters to narrow down the results.

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Currently, you can use the following filters in basic search:

  • Project
  • File Type
  • Modality
  • Classification
  • Session Timestamp
  • Sex
  • Subject Age (Subject ages in Flywheel are recorded as the subject's age at time of session)
  • Custom Fields

Selecting these filters dynamically updates search results. You can also filter search results using these four tabs across the top:

  • Sessions
  • Acquisitions
  • Files
  • Analyses

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Example

Suppose we are searching for nifti files of T1-weighted anatomical data from male subjects between the ages of 50 and 70. To find files that meet this search criteria:

  1. Hit enter on the search bar.

    The search results show all data you have access to.

  2. Under File Type select nifti.

  3. Under Data Classifications, select anatomy_t1w.
  4. Under Sex, select Male.
  5. Under Age range, adjust the sliders to 50 to 70.

Note: age is recorded as age at the time of the session.

Create a collection to save results

Use collections to save acquisitions and sessions from across multiple groups and projects. To create a collection from the search results:

  1. Select either the Acquisitions or Sessions tab on the search results.
  2. Select the data you wish to add to the collection.
  3. Go to Actions, and choose Add to Collection.

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  4. Follow the prompts for either creating a new collection or adding the data to an existing collection.

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Additional Search Considerations

Search Scope: If you enter search from the project dashboard screen, Flywheel executes against all projects you have permissions to. To limit the scope of the search to data from a single project, you may enter the name of the project in the top "Project" search facet.

Selecting multiple search filters: Selecting one of the search filters restricts the search. When you select two boxes from within the same group (for example under File Type you select nifti and dicom), the search will return data that meets either of the two selections (OR). When you select boxes from the different groups (for example File Type and Data Classification), the search will return data that meet both criteria (AND).

Custom Fields: The CUSTOM FIELDS filter provides a way to find custom fields. in your data. For example, if you type subject you will be given further search options related to the subject category.

Search queries vs filters: Note that typing anatomy_t1w or nifti into the Search box is NOT the same as selecting the T1 or nifti search filters. For example, a diffusion scan may have a note about related anatomy_t1w data and in that case the diffusion data classification will still appear as a possible selection in the sidebar