| Search Help |
The search feature on giitaayan provides two options to search in - the song title (which is the default) and statistics of the song (aka P-Stats, at RMIM).
Just type in a piece from the song title and hit the "enter" key (or click on the Search button) for a list of songs which have the search words in their title. Since giitaayan only returns songs that contain all the words in your query, refining or narrowing your search is as simple as adding more words to the search terms you have already entered. Make sure the option "Song Title", below the search box, is selected (which is also the default option).
Approximate word search
giitaayan employs a indigenous searching mechanism for song title searches that eliminates the need of knowing iTrans notation for searching. For example, if you are searching for the song "jaaye.n to jaaye.n kahaa.N", all the following queries will return you the song:
- jayen to jayen kahan
- jaaen to jaaen kahaan
- jaayeN to jaayeN kahaaN
- jaaye.n to jaaye.n kahaa.N
- jaae.n to jaae.n kahaa.N
Tips for choosing keywords
1. Keep the sequence of the words in the song title as actual. For example, if you are searching for "man re tuu kaahe naa dhiir dhare", the following queries, amongst others, will search the song for you:
- man re tu
- kahe na dheer dhare
- man re tu kahe na
but these will not:
- man dheer (invalid)
- tu re man kaahe (invalid)
2. You do not need to use comma(,), underscore(_), hyphen(-) or backslash(\) in your searches, even if it is there in the song title. But if two or more words are joined with a hyphen(-), they should be written as a single word, without a space in the search. For instance, if you are searching for the song "chiin\-o\-arab hamaaraa, hindostaa.N hamaaraa", all the following queries will return you the song:
- chin-o-arab hamara
- chinoarab hamara hindostan hamara
- cheeno-arab hamara, hindostaaN hamaara
but these will not:
- chin o arab hamara (invalid)
- chino arab (invalid)
The 'stats search' searches for your query words in films, lyricists, music directors, singers and year. Make sure the option "Song Stats", below the search box, is selected.
By default, giitaayan only returns songs that include all of your search words. There is no need to include "and" between keywords. For example, to search a song by sahir (as lyricist) and roshan (as music director), simply type: "sahir roshan" (without quotes). In statistics search, the order is not important. Typing "roshan sahir" will get you the same result. Some valid sample searches are:
- rahman javed (Returns songs of Rahman and Javed Akhtar)
- 1954 lata talat (Returns songs of Lata and Talat from year 1954)
- sharaabi 198 (Returns songs from the movie Sharaabi released in 1980s)
- non-film Mukesh (Returns non-film songs of Mukesh)
If you are aware of the unique number of a song, provided by ISB compilers, you can simply type the number preceded by a "$" sign. For example, if you want to see the song number "123", just type "$123" (without quotes) in the search box and 'enter'. It works regardless of which search option (Song Title or, Song Stats) is selected.
giitaayan searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for "Lata Rafi", "lata rafi", and "Lata rafi" will all return the same results.
The giitaayan browse feature is a good way to go if you're not exactly sure which search keywords to use. For example, If you want to see all songs that start with "z", just click on the letter "Z" in the browse section. Make sure that the option "Song Titles" is selected (which is the default). The similar search can be made for films, singers, music directors and lyricists.