Flawed Boolean Logic in Logos 6

Is boolean logic searching properly implemented in Logos 6?

Here are two searches which should produce the same results:

1. (Arius OR arianism) WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing* OR manuscript* OR literature)

2. (Arius WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing* OR manuscript* OR literature)) OR (arianism WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing* OR manuscript* OR literature))

But they don't. The first generates 980 results while the second search produces 698 results.

I am used to searching in a professional search database where boolean logic is properly implemented (and in which the above search would work).

This is where a lack of a proper manual is very frustrating.

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Comments

Lee

I agree.

Graham Criddle

What happens if you replace the OR inside parentheses with "," as per https://wiki.logos.com/Detailed_Search_Help#Using_lists

Rod Bergen

What happens if you replace the OR inside parentheses with "," as per https://wiki.logos.com/Detailed_Search_Help#Using_lists

(Arius, arianism) WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing*, manuscript*, literature) - 114 results.

Dave Hooton

Yes, fewer results without the search parameter "WORDS" being included!

Boolean terms do not work with Proximity terms, so the (list, next word, ...) has to be used where you think OR can be used.

If you are thinking about AND, use the implicit AND of proximity e.g.

meaning WITHIN 6 WORDS inconsistent WITHIN 10 WORDS expression

rather than

(meaning AND expression) WITHIN 10 WORDS inconsistent

Rod Bergen

Yes, fewer results without the search parameter "WORDS" being included!
Boolean terms do not work with Proximity terms, so the (list, next word, ...) has to be used where you think OR can be used.

If you are thinking about AND, use the implicit AND of proximity e.g.

meaning WITHIN 6 WORDS inconsistent WITHIN 10 WORDS expression

rather than

(meaning AND expression) WITHIN 10 WORDS inconsistent

So what you are effectively saying is that parentheses are useless in Logos 6?

I'm not sure that I understand what you are getting at with your expression - "meaning WITHIN 6 WORDS inconsistent WITHIN 10 WORDS expression"

Can you take the search that I posted above and express it in a way that works?

Straight AND searches are almost useless given the size of most of the books that are being searched. The use of proximity searches is almost mandatory. So having proximity searches crippled is a very limiting feature of Logos 6.

Bradley Grainger (Logos)

In the current query parser, "OR" and "," are not synonymous; only "," can be used within the operands of proximity operators. We have a case in our bug tracking system to relax this restriction, so the first query you wanted to write will work as expected. I've added a link from that case to this thread.

Rod Bergen

In the current query parser, "OR" and "," are not synonymous; only "," can be used within the operands of proximity operators. We have a case in our bug tracking system to relax this restriction, so the first query you wanted to write will work as expected. I've added a link from that case to this thread.

Thanks, Bradley.

Philana R. Crouch

Is boolean logic searching properly implemented in Logos 6?

Here are two searches which should produce the same results:

1. (Arius OR arianism) WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing* OR manuscript* OR literature)

2. (Arius WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing* OR manuscript* OR literature)) OR (arianism WITHIN 5 WORDS (writing* OR manuscript* OR literature))

But they don't. The first generates 980 results while the second search produces 698 results.

I am used to searching in a professional search database where boolean logic is properly implemented (and in which the above search would work).

This is where a lack of a proper manual is very frustrating.

This is now fixed in 6.14 Beta 2

Rod Bergen

This is now fixed in 6.14 Beta 2

Thank you! For those of us who are used to search engines that use full Boolean logic, this will provide significantly more flexibility when searching.