Search Help Suggestion

John Fidel
John Fidel MVP Posts: 3,481
edited December 2024 in English Forum

I really enjoy the new datasets. Using the right mouse context menu within a Biblical text or resource makes accessing these datasets easy, IF you are searching directly from the text. However, opening a search box and entering the information in the find box is another matter.

Let's look at the new Grammatical Constructions dataset provided with Logos Now. The only way to really find what is available is to use the documentation provided with the dataset. (Thank you for providing the documentation!) So I open the documentation see what is available and then go to a bible reference listed under a particular subject, in this example Genitive Absolute. I open Mat 9:18, right mouse click and select the grammatical construct from the context menu and run a search. Results are immediate and helpful.

Now, what if I want to just search for genitive absolutes by typing in the find box. Even with the example search on the right, it is difficult to get the search string correct. Miss a space, misspellings, no dropdown suggestions... Test, what is wrong with the search on the left?

I suggest Logos provide a search builder similar to the Morph Search. In the Morph Search, I type an @ and have a great tool for building the rest of the search. I suggest Logos provide a way to allow the use to indicate the dataset type they want to search, then provide a tool similar to the morph search to build the search.

It should include any search that requires a Search Extension, since the dropdown suggestions from the find box are either not helpful or non-existent. For example type a { in the find box and you get a menu of possible searches, select Grammatical Construction (or another applicable dataset) and you get a listing or dropdown of options, click enter and the search is in the find box. Then allow the user to further define or add to the search before it runs, allowing for setting the range of the search or adding a speaker etc.

I have been using Logos a long time and to be honest, I need to go the the help files to construct any of these searches directly into the search find box. Even then, I struggle to get the search typed correctly. Just an idea..

Answer: I misspelled Genitive in the search on the left..

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