RE: [search-ws-comment] "Last Week" is a bad idea for <actualValue>

["LeVan,Ralph" <levan@oclc.org>]

The has nothing to do with client-defined range facets.  The client has the option to specify what facets get returned and the server gets to decide what ranges are returned to the client.  None of that has changed.

 

The issue is the value that gets returned in the server-defined range.  Ed has advocated for the <actualValue> returned to be a magic string such as “Last Week”.  I suggest that a more useful value for developer educational purposes would be “20101017 20101023” as it would show the developer how to use ranges in other queries.  It demonstrates that you have a date index that can be used for range searches and you give an example of such a range search in your facet response.  This gets away from server “magic” and teaches the developer something about your server’s capabilities.

 

Ralph

 

From: Edo Plantinga [mailto:Edo.Plantinga@ictu.nl]
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 10:13 AM
To: LeVan,Ralph; search-ws-comment@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: RE: [search-ws-comment] "Last Week" is a bad idea for <actualValue>

 

We *don't* have client-defined range facets, therefore the developer cannot figure out how to create such a query anyway. Your argument does not hold true for server-defined facets. To put it another way: there will be no sending of strings that have not been sent first by the *server*, and therefore there will be no "url hacking" or "query hacking".

 

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Van: LeVan,Ralph [mailto:levan@oclc.org]
Verzonden: maandag 25 oktober 2010 16:02
Aan: search-ws-comment@lists.oasis-open.org
Onderwerp: [search-ws-comment] "Last Week" is a bad idea for <actualValue>

I’ve been giving more thought to our facets conversation and have decided that I don’t like “Last Week” as a term to be sent back to the server.  I’m not saying it is illegal or that the standard won’t support it.  I’m just saying I think it is a bad idea.

 

The reason is that it depends on server magic.  The client, or more importantly the developer, won’t learn anything about how to construct other range queries if we hide how it is done behind magic strings.  If, instead, we send “20101017 20101023” as the <actualTerm>, then the developer might be able to figure out how to create their own query for “Two Weeks Ago”.

 

Of course, an <actualTerm> of “20101017 20101023” would want a <displayTerm> of “Last Week”.

 

Ralph