If it did not recognize a phrase, it processed multiple terms with an automatic OR operation. If no operators are used in the Boolean expression box, AltaVista interprets the search as a phrase search even if it does not match a phrase in their database of phrases. If multiple terms are entered in the ranking keywords box only, they are processed as an OR operation. Boolean searches can be nested using parentheses. Searching can be nested using parentheses.
Operators can be in lower or upper case.
Like in the Advanced Search, NEAR means that the search terms must be within 10 words of each other. NEAR can be entered in upper or lower case and can be nested. This can be used as internal truncation or end truncation. Within the phrase, it only replaces one word but can be combined with other terms that use the truncation symbol. In all other cases, a minimum of three characters before the truncation symbol is required.