An Elementary Search help defines the flow of a standard input help. It is composed of a selection method that defines where to get the data that will make up the hit list, An interface consisting of search help parameters that define the exchange of data between the screen and the selection method and a dialog type that controls how the hit list will be displayed.

A Collective Search help is a combination of several elementary search helps giving the user a different search paths. The interface parameters of the elementary search help are assigned to the parameters of the collective search.