The MFSearchBuilder class in the Vault Application Framework

The MFSearchBuilder class is available within the MFiles.VAF.Common namespace and is used to create and execute searches against a given M-Files Vault. The MFSearchBuilder class contains a number of methods which aid in the production of SearchConditions and in the use of the returned results. For example, a search that restricts by object type and deletion status may be:

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Add an object type filter.
searchBuilder.ObjType((int)MFBuiltInObjectType.MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument);

// Add a "not deleted" filter.
searchBuilder.Deleted(false);

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

MFSearchBuilder uses the COM API behind-the-scenes, which means that deleted items will be returned unless you add a search condition to filter them out.

Arguments

Arguments to many methods on MFSearchBuilder specify an object parameter. This allows a number of items to be passed at this point, including:

An MFIdentifier specifying a vault element.
An integer specifying a vault element’s internal ID.
A string specifying a vault element’s alias.

Adding search conditions

Restricting by object type

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Add an object type filter.
searchBuilder.ObjType((int)MFBuiltInObjectType.MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument);

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by deleted status

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Add a "not-deleted" filter.
searchBuilder.Deleted(false);

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by class

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Add an object type filter.
searchBuilder.Class((int)MFBuiltInDocumentClass.MFBuiltInDocumentClassUnclassifiedDocument);

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by object ID

This can be executed where an object ID must be matched:

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Restrict it just to an object with ID 123.
searchBuilder.Object(123);

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Or this can be executed where an object ID must not be matched (i.e. excluding one object):

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Exclude object with ID 123.
searchBuilder.NotObject(123);

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by property

This can be executed where a property must equal a value:

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items with property 1234 (text) equal to "hello world".
searchBuilder.Property(1234, MFDataType.MFDataTypeText, "hello world")

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Or this can be executed where a property must not equal a value:

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items where property 1234 (text) is not equal to "hello world".
searchBuilder.PropertyNot(1234, MFDataType.MFDataTypeText, "hello world")

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by reference

This can be executed using an object ID (in which case any version can be referenced):

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items that reference a document with ID 123.
searchBuilder.ReferencesWithAnyProperty(new ObjID(){
    ID = 123,
    Type = (int)MFBuiltInObjectType.MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument
});

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Or this can be executed using an object version (in which case the specific version must be referenced):

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items that reference a document with ID 123 (must be version 1).
searchBuilder.ReferencesWithAnyProperty(new ObjVer(){
    ID = 123,
    Type = (int)MFBuiltInObjectType.MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument,
    Version = 1
});

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by object status

This can be executed where an object must have a specific status:

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items with an external ID (display ID) of "SUP12345".
searchBuilder.Status(MFStatusType.MFStatusTypeExtID, MFDataType.MFDataTypeText, "SUP12345")

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Or this can be executed where an object must not have a specific status

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Exclude items with an external ID (display ID) of "SUP12345".
searchBuilder.StatusNot(MFStatusType.MFStatusTypeExtID, MFDataType.MFDataTypeText, "SUP12345")

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Restricting by reverse reference (Result.Property = item.ID)

This can be executed using an object ID (in which case any version can be referenced):

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items that reference a document with ID 123 in property 456.
searchBuilder.References(456, new ObjID(){
    ID = 123,
    Type = (int)MFBuiltInObjectType.MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument
});

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Or this can be executed using an object version (in which case the specific version must be referenced):

// Create our search builder.
var searchBuilder = new MFSearchBuilder(vault);

// Only items that reference a document with ID 123 in property 456 (must be version 1).
searchBuilder.References(456, new ObjVer(){
    ID = 123,
    Type = (int)MFBuiltInObjectType.MFBuiltInObjectTypeDocument,
    Version = 1
});

// Execute the search.
var searchResults = searchBuilder.Find();

Everything else

Note that the internal SearchConditions collection is exposed as MFSearchBuilder.Conditions and can be manipulated directly if needed. This can be used to create custom search conditions for which there currently don’t exist any helper methods.