Get a list of Symbols by searching a specific meta
        attribute, and optionally the value.  

        Parameters
        ----------
        attr : str
            The meta attribute to query.
        value : None, str or list
            The meta attribute to query.  If you pass a float, or an int,
            it'll be converted to a string, prior to searching.
        stronly : bool, optional, default True
            Return only a list of symbol names, as opposed
            to the (entire) Symbol objects.
        
        Returns
        -------
        List of Symbols or empty list

def search_meta(self, attr, value=None, stronly=False):
        """ Get a list of Symbols by searching a specific meta
        attribute, and optionally the value.  

        Parameters
        ----------
        attr : str
            The meta attribute to query.
        value : None, str or list
            The meta attribute to query.  If you pass a float, or an int,
            it'll be converted to a string, prior to searching.
        stronly : bool, optional, default True
            Return only a list of symbol names, as opposed
            to the (entire) Symbol objects.
        
        Returns
        -------
        List of Symbols or empty list
        
        """        
        if stronly:
            qry = self.ses.query(Symbol.name).join(SymbolMeta)
        else:
            qry = self.ses.query(Symbol).join(SymbolMeta)
            
        crits = []
        
        if value is None:
            crits.append(SymbolMeta.attr == attr) 
        else:
            if isinstance(value, str):
                values = [value]
            elif isinstance(value, (tuple, list)):
                values = value
            
            for v in values:
                crits.append(and_(SymbolMeta.attr == attr, SymbolMeta.value.like(value))) 

        if len(crits):
            qry = qry.filter(or_(*crits))
        
        qry = qry.order_by(Symbol.name)

        if stronly:
            return [sym[0] for sym in qry.distinct()]
        else:
            return [sym for sym in qry.distinct()]