How Is Apostrophe Indexed and Searched for Discovery & Exchange Search

Introduction

How is the Apostrophe Symbol ['] indexed and searched for Exchange 2010 Discovery Search and Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 Outlook Online Mode Search and Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 OWA Search?

Another way of putting this is, how is the Apostrophe symbol ['] is indexed and searched when an Apostrophe is embedded in a word and when an Apostrophe is not embedded in a word.

 

Testing Results

Testing shows the following results:

"O ' Brien"

This is a search using the Apostrophe that is not embedded in the middle of a word.
A search for "O ' Brien" ignores the Apostrophe symbol.
A search for "O ' Brien" gives the same results as a search for "O Brien"

"O 'Brien"

This is a search using the Apostrophe that is not embedded in the middle of a word.
A search for "O 'Brien" ignores the Apostrophe symbol.
A search for "O 'Brien" gives the same results as a search for "O Brien"

"O'Brien"

This is a search using the Apostrophe that is embedded in the middle of a word.
A search for "O'Brien" finds results for this search for the Apostrophe symbol embedded in the middle of the word.

 

Summary and Conclusion

When using Exchange 2010 Discovery Search and Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 Outlook Online Mode Search and Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 OWA Search, an Apostrophe is ignored when it is not embedded in the middle of a word and an Apostrophe is found as a part of search results when it is embedded in the middle of a word such as O’Brien.

 

Written by Bob Want, Senior Support Escalation Engineer, Enterprise Communications Services, Microsoft

Technical Reviewer, Rafael Mercado, Senior Support Escalation Engineer, Enterprise Communications Services, Microsoft