Verne’s embedded search engine uses Elasticsearch tool to allow users to search for and retrieve entity records based on a range of criteria. This allows internal and external users to retrieve and view the status of entities within the register.
System administrators configure the range of search options available to different groups of users within the registry.
Verne supports the identification of entities by all user groups via an efficient, accurate and comprehensive search tool. The tool facilitates the identification of an entity based on either a full or partial string being provided by the user. Live searching is the default behaviour of the Simple Search function. Advanced searching provides a variety of additional search criteria, e.g. entity type, entity status, incorporation date range, address keywords.
Once a search is complete, the user is able to select an entity from the search results list, view its details and, if authorised, maintain the entity’s details. The details presented to the user will depend on their access privileges.
Verne search includes the following features:
- Elastic search, and allows for more powerful queries including phrase queries, wildcard queries, proximity queries, range queries, etc. By default, the Verne Search Index returns results by ranking with the best match being returned first.
- Advanced searching that enables filtering by a range of configured attributes e.g. entity status, entity type, business classification.
- Name reservation searching will enable current name reservations to be reviewed.
- Role searching is also available. For example, a user may search on individuals acting as directors in one or more corporations.
- To protect a person’s security, registry staff may suppress residential address (or other sensitive data) from the public searches.
- The maximum number of results returned by a search is a configurable parameter; Clients have to refine their criteria to obtain a smaller result set.
- Sort options are available on the search results list to re-order the results differently from the default sorting based on the entity name.
- Users can print the search results and entity details as well as save them as a PDF or CSV.
- Searching within Verne can use either the database management system or the Verne Search Index.
Access to Verne search services is available via a number of channels. Access via mobile is provided through standard browsers that will scale to display Verne in the appropriate format. Standard Verne business services can be exposed as web services through the configuration.
Search Configuration
Searches within Verne can be configured as follows:
- Provide search criteria as required, this could include but is not limited to the following search options:
- Exact name match.
- Name start with specific string.
- Name is similar.
- Name contains specific keywords.
- Logical search (keywords or phrases connected by logical operators AND, OR and NOT).
- Configure rules for returning terminated, cancelled or revoked entities in response to searches.
- Configure searches to make data available for a fee.
- Allow the user to select one or more entities from the results and view details based on their permissions.
- Products can be certified or uncertified, with certified ones incurring an additional fee.
- All certificates and certified products will bear the signature of the Registrar and include a certification statement.
- Certificates and reports may be printed, emailed or saved as PDF files.
- Almost identical name rules are applied to the search terms and the text being searched before performing the search operation to be able to find close matches.
Unified Searching
Verne searches can be configured to operate across a cluster of registers, resulting in a unified search. Where a search is performed across multiple registers, the results returned from each register will have to match the attributes specified in the search criteria (i.e. relevant entity types will only be returned if the search criteria apply to the attributes of that entity type).
Search Limiting / Throttling
To safeguard clients against malicious external actors that misuse the register, such as data mining bots and screen-scrapers, Verne features a User/Activity Filter that can be configured to deter these activities and mitigate against such behaviour.
Verne configuration allows control over the volume of activities (requests per minute) that will trigger a range of warnings, errors and redirection to a CAPTCHA service. The filter can be configured to exclude certain user roles from the throttling.
The other approach to protecting registry data from data mining is to place “valuable” search data behind a pay wall. Verne supports this concept, and it is a business decision as to which data is made freely available versus which data is charged for.
