CONTAINSSECTION

CONTAINSSECTION is a term used in document processing and data querying to denote a boolean check for the presence of a section with a given name or identifier within a document or node. It is commonly employed in search, filtering, and structure validation tasks where understanding the document’s outline is important.

In typical usage, CONTAINSSECTION takes two operands: a document or document tree and a section name. The expression returns true if a section whose title or identifier matches the provided name exists within the target. Implementations may vary in whether matching is exact or case-insensitive, whether a specific heading level is required, and whether nested sections are considered.

Example usage might include a query such as CONTAINSSECTION(doc, 'Introduction') to test for the presence of an Introduction section. A practical filter could be SELECT id FROM docs WHERE CONTAINSSECTION(doc, 'Abstract'), enabling retrieval of documents that contain an abstract section. In practice, the function is realized by traversing the document’s section hierarchy.

Context and formats: CONTAINSSECTION is applicable across formats such as XML/HTML, Markdown, and plain text. In XML or HTML, sections may correspond to elements with headings; in Markdown, headings defined by leading hashes mark sections. The exact mechanism depends on the parser and data model, whether by heading text, section IDs, or structural markers.

Limitations and considerations include handling synonyms or multilingual titles, varying definitions of what counts as a section, and performance for large collections. It is often used alongside related concepts like HASSECTION, GETSECTIONS, or outline-generation tools.

See also: HASSECTION, GETSECTIONS, outline generation, document structure validation.