Performing a "loose" search

[ironcito]

Hello all,

I'm trying to build a simple and "loose" search engine that will, for example,
find "computer" if the user searches for "computor". The search is to be
performed on a database, not full text. I've managed to accomplish this using
the Verity search with the <TYPO> operator. The sequence is CFQUERY, CFINDEX,
CFSEARCH. However, the results take about 20 seconds to appear, compared to the
instantaneous results of a simple CFQUERY. Is Verity inherently slow, or have I
done something wrong? Is there a way to use the <TYPO> operator directly at the
CFQUERY, or some other method of creating a loose search? Thanks a lot.

[Tom Jordahl]

You should be able to use the TYPE attribute of the cfsearch tag to select
the explicit verity parser and you can then use the Verity Query Language in
your searches. I don't know if VQL has the TYPO operator.

In CFMX 7 we have added spelling correction features which will allow you to
perform alternative keyword searches (either automatically or via user
control) if the original search didn't return "enough" results (you get to
define enough).

Verity is not "slow", it whole purpose is to give you very fast searches.
:-)

--
Tom Jordahl
Macromedia Server Development

[ironcito]

Hi,

Thanks for your answer. I know Verity is supposed to speed up searches, but then why is my search taking around 20 seconds? It's an eternity in server time.

[Tom Jordahl]

I don't know.

- How much data are your searches returning?
- Is Verity taking the time or is CF?
- Have you optimized the collection?
- How fast can you search using the command line Verity tools?

--
Tom Jordahl
Macromedia Server Development