Lists can now define search scope or mode (see docs)

modules/backend/behaviors/ListController.php

@@ -190,6 +190,11 @@ class ListController extends ControllerBehavior
                     return $widget->onRefresh();
                 });
 
+                $widget->setSearchOptions([
+                    'mode' => $searchWidget->mode,
+                    'scope' => $searchWidget->scope,
+                ]);
+
                 // Find predefined search term
                 $widget->setSearchTerm($searchWidget->getActiveTerm());
             }

modules/backend/widgets/Lists.php

@@ -136,6 +136,19 @@ class Lists extends WidgetBase
      */
     protected $searchTerm;
 
+    /**
+     * @var string If searching the records, specifies a policy to use.
+     * - all: result must contain all words
+     * - any: result can contain any word
+     * - exact: result must contain the exact phrase
+     */
+    protected $searchMode;
+
+    /**
+     * @var string Use a custom scope method for performing searches.
+     */
+    protected $searchScope;
+
     /**
      * @var array Collection of functions to apply to each list query.
      */
@@ -378,7 +391,7 @@ class Lists extends WidgetBase
              * Search primary columns
              */
             if (count($primarySearchable) > 0) {
-                $innerQuery->orSearchWhere($this->searchTerm, $primarySearchable);
+                $this->applySearchToQuery($innerQuery, $primarySearchable, 'or');
             }
 
             /*
@@ -394,7 +407,7 @@ class Lists extends WidgetBase
 
                     if (count($columnsToSearch) > 0) {
                         $innerQuery->orWhereHas($join, function ($_query) use ($columnsToSearch) {
-                            $_query->searchWhere($this->searchTerm, $columnsToSearch);
+                            $this->applySearchToQuery($_query, $columnsToSearch);
                         });
                     }
                 }
@@ -1017,6 +1030,21 @@ class Lists extends WidgetBase
         $this->searchTerm = $term;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Applies a search options to the list search.
+     * @param array $options
+     */
+    public function setSearchOptions($options = [])
+    {
+        extract(array_merge([
+            'mode' => null,
+            'scope' => null
+        ], $options));
+
+        $this->searchMode = $mode;
+        $this->searchScope = $scope;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns a collection of columns which can be searched.
      * @return array
@@ -1037,6 +1065,22 @@ class Lists extends WidgetBase
         return $searchable;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Applies the search constraint to a query.
+     */
+    protected function applySearchToQuery($query, $columns, $boolean = 'and')
+    {
+        $term = $this->searchTerm;
+
+        if ($scopeMethod = $this->searchScope) {
+            $query->$scopeMethod($term);
+        }
+        else {
+            $searchMethod = $boolean == 'and' ? 'searchWhere' : 'orSearchWhere';
+            $query->$searchMethod($term, $columns, $this->searchMode);
+        }
+    }
+
     //
     // Sorting
     //

modules/backend/widgets/Search.php

@@ -31,6 +31,16 @@ class Search extends WidgetBase
      */
     public $partial;
 
+    /**
+     * @var string Defines the search mode. Commonly passed to the searchWhere() query.
+     */
+    public $mode;
+
+    /**
+     * @var string Custom scope method name. Commonly passed to the query.
+     */
+    public $scope;
+
     //
     // Object properties
     //
@@ -59,6 +69,8 @@ class Search extends WidgetBase
             'prompt',
             'partial',
             'growable',
+            'scope',
+            'mode',
         ]);
 
         /*