diff --git a/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/search/SearchBuilder.java b/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/search/SearchBuilder.java
index ccc3b865a..46bca97a4 100644
--- a/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/search/SearchBuilder.java
+++ b/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/search/SearchBuilder.java
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@ import static li.strolch.search.PredicatesSupport.containsIgnoreCase;
 import static li.strolch.search.PredicatesSupport.isEqualTo;
 import static li.strolch.utils.helper.StringHelper.trimOrEmpty;
 
+import li.strolch.model.ParameterBag;
 import li.strolch.model.StrolchRootElement;
 import li.strolch.model.Tags;
+import li.strolch.model.parameter.Parameter;
 import li.strolch.utils.helper.StringHelper;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -85,6 +87,7 @@ public class SearchBuilder {
 			query = query.substring(1);
 		} else if (query.startsWith("and ")) {
 			query = query.substring("and ".length());
+
 		} else if (query.startsWith("|")) {
 			and = false;
 			query = query.substring(1);
@@ -107,7 +110,7 @@ public class SearchBuilder {
 				part = part.substring(1);
 			}
 
-			String[] paramParts = part.split(":", -1);
+			String[] paramParts = parseParts(part);
 			if (paramParts.length != 3) {
 				se = add(and, negate, se, id(containsIgnoreCase(part)).or(name(containsIgnoreCase(part))));
 			} else {
@@ -121,7 +124,20 @@ public class SearchBuilder {
 				else
 					predicate = containsIgnoreCase(value);
 
-				se = add(and, negate, se, param(bagId, paramId, predicate));
+				if (!bagId.equals("?")) {
+					se = add(and, negate, se, param(bagId, paramId, predicate));
+				} else {
+					se = add(and, negate, se, element -> {
+						for (String b : element.getParameterBagKeySet()) {
+							ParameterBag bag = element.getParameterBag(b);
+							Parameter<Object> param = bag.getParameter(paramId);
+							if (param != null && predicate.matches(param.getValue()))
+								return true;
+						}
+
+						return false;
+					});
+				}
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -132,6 +148,19 @@ public class SearchBuilder {
 		return search;
 	}
 
+	private static String[] parseParts(String part) {
+
+		int pos1 = part.indexOf(':');
+		if (pos1 == -1)
+			return new String[0];
+
+		int pos2 = part.indexOf(':', pos1 + 1);
+		if (pos2 == -1)
+			return new String[0];
+
+		return new String[] { part.substring(0, pos1), part.substring(pos1 + 1, pos2), part.substring(pos2 + 1) };
+	}
+
 	private static <T extends StrolchRootElement> SearchExpression<T> add(boolean and, boolean negate,
 			SearchExpression<T> se, SearchExpression<T> expression) {
 
diff --git a/li.strolch.utils/src/main/java/li/strolch/utils/ObjectHelper.java b/li.strolch.utils/src/main/java/li/strolch/utils/ObjectHelper.java
index 736f1c2ed..3beaf2af0 100644
--- a/li.strolch.utils/src/main/java/li/strolch/utils/ObjectHelper.java
+++ b/li.strolch.utils/src/main/java/li/strolch/utils/ObjectHelper.java
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 package li.strolch.utils;
 
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 
+import li.strolch.utils.iso8601.ISO8601;
+
 public class ObjectHelper {
 
 	public static boolean equals(Object left, Object right, boolean ignoreCase) {
@@ -183,6 +186,26 @@ public class ObjectHelper {
 		if (left.getClass() == right.getClass())
 			return left.equals(right);
 
+		// try to coerce the right side to the left side
+		if (right instanceof String) {
+			String rightString = (String) right;
+			Object rightO;
+			if (left instanceof Integer) {
+				rightO = Integer.valueOf(rightString);
+			} else if (left instanceof Float) {
+				rightO = Float.valueOf(rightString);
+			} else if (left instanceof Double) {
+				rightO = Double.valueOf(rightString);
+			} else if (left instanceof Date) {
+				rightO = ISO8601.parseToDate(rightString);
+			} else {
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+						"Unhandled type combination " + left.getClass() + " / " + right.getClass());
+			}
+
+			return rightO.equals(left);
+		}
+
 		throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unhandled type combination " + left.getClass() + " / " + right.getClass());
 	}