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Synonym Dictionaries

Use synonym dictionaries to help users find all the records they're looking for, even when the records use different terms or phrases. For example, you could add "GDPR" as a synonym of "General Data Protection Regulation" to make sure all relevant contracts show up in search results, or link "indemnification" with "limits of liability" so that users find all related records when they look for either term.

Synonym configuration has two parts: setting up dictionaries of synonyms in your system, and then helping users turn on synonyms in their searches.

Synonyms are stored in three dictionaries:

  • Legal Dictionary, intended to store legal and contract terminology
  • System Dictionary, intended to store true linguistic synonyms and terms that are interchangeable
  • Custom Dictionary, intended to store all terms that don't belong in the Legal or System categories

KBs created after March 2021 have default Legal and System dictionaries supplied by Agiloft. You can still modify those dictionaries.

Default Synonym Dictionaries

Constructing a dictionary can be a sizable project, so you might want to start with the  Agiloft default dictionaries.

If your KB was created after March 2021, you might have Legal and System dictionaries installed by default. If your KB was created earlier, you can contact Support for help accessing the most recent dictionary lists.

In your KB:

  1. Click the Setup gear in the top-right corner and go to System > Customize Synonym Dictionary.
  2. Open the legal or system dictionary.
  3. Click Export.
  4. In the Export dialog, click Download to save the dictionary file.
  5. Review the terms in the file.

To make updates in the system directly, return to Setup > System > Customize Synonym Dictionary, and open the relevant dictionary. Use Search to find the term you want to modify or delete, or use New to create additional synonym entries.

If you received the file directly from Support, and your KB doesn't have any terms in it, make your edits directly in the dictionary file you downloaded. When you finish, follow the Importing Dictionary Content steps in your normal KB to import the content.

Modifying Dictionary Content

Whether you're implementing synonyms for the first time or making adjustments later on, you occasionally need to modify the synonym dictionaries you use. Depending on the scope of the changes, you might import the content in big groups, or make small changes to one term at a time.

Each synonym can contain up to four words or 50 characters. 


Importing Dictionary Content

Use the import option whenever you need to add a significant number of new terms, and you don't want to add them individually in the system. This is useful if you've made significant additions to the default dictionaries, or your KB doesn't have any default content and you need to upload an entire dictionary at once.

If you want to construct a dictionary independently, create the file so that each synonym set is contained on one line; that the synonyms in the set are separated by semicolons; and that each set is on its own line.

Example synonym dictionary file

To import synonyms:

  1. Go to Setup > System > Customize Synonym Dictionary. 
  2. Open the relevant dictionary.
  3. Click Import.
  4. Select the language from the drop-down menu. Each file must contain terms from only one language.
  5. Drag the file to the upload field, or use Choose File to select the file manually.
  6. Click Upload.

Modifying Individual Terms

If you need to make a change to just one term, or add just one or two, you can do it directly in the system.

  1. Go to Setup > System > Customize Synonym Dictionary. 
  2. Open the relevant dictionary.
  3. Click New to create a new term, or use Search to locate an existing term and then click the edit icon to open it. 
  4. In the first field, enter or edit the root term.
  5. In the second field, enter, edit, or add synonymous terms. You can also add related terms, if you want searches for one term to return records that contain the other. Try to be consistent on this behavior within one dictionary, to give users a consistent experience.
  6. At the bottom, select the language of the terms, and confirm the correct dictionary is selected in the drop-down.
  7. Click Save.

You can also use the dictionary list to delete terms.

Adding Synonyms to Searching

Include synonyms in a Quick Search by simply selecting the Synonym checkbox under the text search box.

Quick Search pane showing the Synonym checkbox with the text search options expanded

Users can control which synonym dictionaries are used in the search, specific to the table they're searching.

  1. Go to the appropriate table and click Search to open the Quick Search pane.
  2. Expand the caret arrow in the text search field and click the settings gear that appears.
  3. Under Fast Search, select any or all of the available synonym dictionaries.
    Synonym search options
  4. Click Finish.