Allow searches with "c++" in them

CRC123 · 08-14-2008, 02:21 PM

Apparently you can't search LQ.org with a statement that contains ANY word less than 3 characters long (and by characters I mean A-Z, a-z, 0-9; *,#, etc don't count).

My point, you can't search for any c++ or c specific posts! At least I can't.

Can LQ put an exception to allow searches on c, c++, and any other < 3 letter words that may actually be viable in searches?

colucix · 08-14-2008, 02:28 PM

Just a note: you cannot search C++ as key word, but you can search C++ as tag.

trickykid · 08-14-2008, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colucix

Just a note: you cannot search C++ as key word, but you can search C++ as tag.

The only problem with this is not every member probably tagged all of the existing threads when they relate to C++.

And I just tried to search with c++++++++++ and it still complained about being under 3 characters. Wrapping in quotes didn't help either.

colucix · 08-14-2008, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trickykid

And I just tried to search with c++++++++++ and it still complained about being under 3 characters. Wrapping in quotes didn't help either.

I tried also to escape with back slashes, but I think the shell's rules don't apply here!

CRC123 · 08-14-2008, 03:21 PM

See, I told you this was a problem. lol

.

It was probably implemented this way to keep 'stop words' being searched on returning too many results. It would be so easy to add an extra exception in the php to allow these words through.

Anyway, how will we know if the right people hear this complaint?

trickykid · 08-14-2008, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRC123

Anyway, how will we know if the right people hear this complaint?

Jeremy will see it eventually. He reads all threads started in this forum.

colucix · 08-14-2008, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRC123

Anyway, how will we know if the right people hear this complaint?

Jeremy, the LQ administrator, will check this forum regularly. Be sure he will reply as soon as possible.

vharishankar · 08-14-2008, 10:25 PM

I agree. This blanket ban on 3 letter searches is annoying me too. Implementing a list of "stop-words" is far better idea as that is the usual technique employed by search engines to prevent common words from occuring in searches.

There are many ways to get such a list of commonly used words. Even a casual search on the internet can get you such a list.

jeremy · 08-15-2008, 09:18 AM

We use MySQL FULLTEXT for the search at LQ, and MySQL treats + as a word stop. We're considering moving to something like lucene or sphinx, but have no ETA at this time.

--jeremy

vharishankar · 08-15-2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy

We use MySQL FULLTEXT for the search at LQ, and MySQL treats + as a word stop. We're considering moving to something like lucene or sphinx, but have no ETA at this time.

--jeremy

Yes, I think that would be good. The MySQL search seems to be rather inefficient / inadequate at times.

CRC123 · 08-15-2008, 09:54 AM

I see, well I hope the change comes sooner than later, but for now thank you for your reply. At least I know there's a good reason for it now.