For complex searches, TextCite offers the ability to construct search criteria using "regular expressions." These are constructed in a simple language that permits you to create sophisticated patterns for describing the contents you are looking for.
For more information about regular expressions, in particular in-depth descriptions on their syntax, you can visit the Wikipedia article on them.
Here we include descriptions of several kinds of useful searches, using very basic syntax. Nevertheless, TextCite permits you to use the full range of regular expression syntax in order to create highly sophisticated filters.
Filter for citation that have the word "Joe" or "John": (Joe|John)
Here, the parentheses indicate the grouping of several elements, and the vertical bar indicates alternation between two alternatives.
Filter for citations that contain a word or its plural: philosopher(s)*
Here, the asterisk indicates that the pattern should match citations with "philosopher" and zero or more occurrences of "s"
Filter for citations that have the word "transcendental", followed by "universal", with any number of words in between: transcendental.*universal
Here, the pattern ".*" indicates that any combination of characters, of any length, can substitute between the two words being searched for.
Filter for citations with Greek: [αεηουι]
Here, the brackets indicate that the pattern should match any of the six letters indicates.