Use the W/N connector in a search request to specify that one word or phrase must occur within N words of the other. For example, apple w/5 pear would retrieve any document that contained apple within 5 words of pear. The following are examples of search requests using W/N:
| (apple or pear) w/5 banana |
| (apple w/5 banana) w/10 pear |
| (apple and banana) w/10 pear |
The pre/N connector is like W/N but also specifies that the first expression must occur before the second. Example:
| (apple or pear) pre/5 banana |
Some types of complex expressions using the W/N connector will produce ambiguous results and should not be used. The following are examples of ambiguous search requests:
| (apple and banana) w/10 (pear and grape) |
| (apple w/10 banana) w/10 (pear and grape) |
In general, at least one of the two expressions connected by W/N must be a single word or phrase or a group of words and phrases connected by OR. Example:
| (apple and banana) w/10 (pear or grape) |
| (apple and banana) w/10 orange tree |