Review Foundry Review Engine User Manual

CONFIGURATION -- Search
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CONFIGURATION

Search

Review Foundry offers a powerful search engine that separately interfaces to the 3 Container and corresponding Thing tables. Thus, search results will depend on the branch from which the search query was initiated. The content of the search Help page is reproduced below in the next sections. The variables controlling the interface and formatting of results are as follows:

  • search_adv_boolean
    Example: Yes
    Should BOOLEAN search query capability be offered? If "Yes", users can use queries with the special connectors "and" and "or". See Formulating Complex Queries

  • search_adv_required
    Example: Yes
    Toggle this parameter to "Yes" to enable keyword-based queries on the advanced search page.

  • search_adv_forbidden
    Example: Yes
    Toggle this parameter to "Yes" if users should be allowed to supply terms that must NOT appear in any search result. Only applies if keyword-based searches have been enabled.

  • search_adv_last_modified
    Example: Yes
    Toggle this to "Yes" if users should have the option of adding the Last Modified Date to search results.

  • search_adv_sort_ordering
    Example: No
    Toggle this to "Yes" if users should have the option of reversing the order of their search results. Otherwise "No" (recommended) simply results in searches ordered in the natural way. For example, from closest to farthest location when ordering by location. Or highest to lowest score when ordering on scored relevance. Or most recent date to earliest date when ordering on the last modification date.

  • search_query_max_length
    Example: 100
    Maximum length of the query string supplied to the search engine.

  • search_results_detailed_cutoff
    Example: 10
    This is the maximum number of "detailed" search results shown before the list of results reverts back to the "brief" format. Leave blank for no limit.

  • search_results_per_query_type
    Example: 10
    Search may be carried out not only on the Thing records for a given branch, but also the Container records too, if the user requests it. This parameter determines the maximum number of searches results presented on a single page for each of these two types of results.

  • search_results_view
    Example: Brief
    This is the default format returned for the search results. "Brief" may list the barest of details regarding the Thing or Container match, while "Detailed" may list extra fields.

  • search_weight_and_over_or
    Example: 3
    This is the ratio of the worth of a search term prefixed by "and" (must be present) as compared to one prefixed by "or" (an optional term).

  • search_adv_zipcode_distance_cutoff
    Example: 30
    This value represents the maximum distance (in miles) for which results can be obtained when searching in the proximity of a specified zipcode. If, for example, your ZipcodeNearby table contains nearby zipcodes out to a distance of 30 miles, then this value should be NO GREATER than 30 miles. The value is used to limit the maximum distance selection in the zipcode distance drop down menu appearing on search forms for tables that contain a ZIPCODE column.

  • search_image_allotment_item
    Example: 120
    This is the size reserved for the table which holds the Item Image, e.g. a thumbnail (if one will be presented in the displayed search results). By specifying a finite (and sufficiently large value) data is kept aligned if all images are smaller than the alloted width.

  • search_image_allotment_member
    Example: 120
    This is the corresponding variable for the Member avatar.

  • search_image_allotment_supplier
    Example: 120
    This is the corresponding variable for the Supplier logo

  • search_seeker_time_member
    Example: YEAR
    A special Form Type associated with searches is the DATE_SEEKER type, which can be used to enforce a restriction on the MINIMUM and MAXIMUM dates associated with search results. When used on the Member table, a SEEKER column can be used to window, for example, the ages of members returned in a search. The search_seeker_time_member value specified the time unit with which the "age" of the column is measured. For example, YEAR might be used to quantify the age of members based on their date of birth.

  • search_seeker_values_member
    Example: 18 20 22...
    The values in this list represent the "age" of members, based on the value of the associated DATE_SEEKER column (such as date_of_birth), and the time unit specified by search_seeker_time_member. These values are used to construct the drop-down menus used to "window" a range of acceptable ages.

  • ssearch_seeker_default_min_member
    Example: 18
    When the search form is presented for a member search, the presence of a DATE_SEEKER column will elicit drop-down menus for the maximum and minimum acceptable "ages" of members returned by the search. This variable specifies the default value shown in the menu for the minimum acceptable age.

  • ssearch_seeker_default_max_member
    Example: 36
    This variable specifies the corresponding default value shown in the menu for the maximum acceptable age of a DATE_SEEKER column on the Member table.

Formulating Complex Queries

Basic searches can be carried out by typing keywords of interest into the search box and specifying either that ALL terms must appear in the document, or that the terms should occur as a PHRASE within the document.

You may also choose to provide a BOOLEAN search query, in which case you may prefix search terms with the conditionals 'and' or 'or'. In this case a term without any prefix is treated as though it was prefixed with an 'and' -- meaning that the term MUST appear in a matching document. If a term is prefixed with an 'or' it means that it is preferred but not required. At least one required term must be present for any BOOLEAN search (so that the query is not too general).

Type Terms To Find Meaning
ALL blue cheese wedge Look for documents that contain the words 'blue' and 'cheese' and 'wedge' somewhere in the text.
blue "cheese wedge" Look for documents that contain the word 'blue' and the phrase 'cheese wedge' somewhere in the text.
PHRASE blue cheese wedge Look for documents that contain the phrase 'blue cheese wedge' somewhere in the text. Double quotes not required in this case.
blue "cheese wedge" Double quotes are ignored. Thus, look for documents that contain the phrase 'blue cheese wedge' somewhere in the text...
BOOLEAN blue and cheese or wedge Look for documents that contain the words 'blue' and 'cheese' and (if possible) the word 'wedge' somewhere in the text.
blue or "cheese wedge" Look for documents that contain the word 'blue' and (if possible) the phrase 'cheese wedge' somewhere in the text.


Wildcard Matches using the * Character

While search terms are treated as case insensitive, so that cheese wedge and chEEse WedGE return the same results, exact spellings are usually honored in the matching documents (though the word absolute in a query will also match absolution and absolutely). This condition can be relaxed, in general to return more results, by using the wildcard character * to represent unspecified characters in a search term. Thus the search PHRASE ch*e wed* would match documents containing either cheese wedge, choice wedding, or chocolate wednesday.


Reducing Matches by Exclusion

Sometimes the search terms you are seeking will appear in documents unrelated to those of actual interest to you. You can often exclude such matches from occurring in the search results by first identifying keywords associated with the topic you wish to avoid, and then supplying them as exclusion keywords. See the examples below for further clarification. Note: it is still necessary to supply a required keyword, or keyphrase, when specifying terms that should be excluded, otherwise the search will be too broad.

Type Terms To Exclude Meaning
ANY ham green eggs Returned documents must NOT contain any of the words 'ham' or 'green' or 'eggs' in the text.
ham "green eggs" Returned documents must NOT contain the word 'ham' or the phrase 'green eggs' anywhere in the text.
PHRASE ham green eggs Returned documents must NOT contain the phrase 'ham green eggs' anywhere in the text.
ham "green eggs" Double quotes are ignored. Thus, returned documents must NOT contain the phrase 'ham green eggs' anywhere in the text...

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