New in Collaborative SearcherDynamic Score Thresholds
We heard a loud and clear feedback from our customers that the Collaborative Searcher returned too many search results, i.e. it was too fuzzy. To remedy this dynamic score thresholds have been introduced.
With eMark G7.3 the Collaborative Searcher will have three score thresholds:
- Interval03 (Default) - Based on the search points for the whole result set, this threshold limits the results to those that are in the top two-thirds of the result point range.
- Interval05 - Based on the search points for the whole result set, this threshold limits the results to those that are in the top half of the result point range.
- None - Returns all results.
Sub Sorting on Search Results Score
Two new features in G7.3 can be combined in a very useful way. The two new features are:
- A new feature in G7.3 is the use of sub sorting with the argument ColumnToSortOn - see below for details.
- All search-methods now return abstract action data column consisting of search result score named _score.
For example; if a user searches for "simpsons" and there are more than a hundred movies called simpsons that are all perfect matches, it is now possible to sort these on search result score and sub sort on for example sales last month. This would give the search results in order of relevance, but with the top-sellers first when two or more products have the same search result score.
Default Number of Cluster Words
The default number of cluster words returned from getPhraseClusters has been changed to seven. Before the method returned as many as it had.
Bucket and Permutations Deprecated
The settings buckets and permutations have been deprecated. It was evident that the settings were too complicated for people to use without extensive explanations. As Avail try to keep concepts simple we removed these settings. The settings will still work but have been removed from documentation and status messages.
Other New Features
Java Client
The Java client has been made Java 1.4+ compatible. Before the Java client required Java 1.5+. But as many Java-web-servers run on Java 1.4 we made it compatible with one version lower.
Sub Sorting
The argument ColumnToSortOn - used with Collaborative Searcher and Merchandising - now supports sub sorts. This means that you can sort on multiple action data columns. For example, if you have uploaded price and margin as action data you can now ask for returned data to be sorted on first price and then margin. This means that the returned results are sorted on price and any products that have the same price would then be sorted on margin.
The syntax for sub sorting is:
[+/-]ColumnName1,...,[+/-]ColumnNameN
If a plus or minus is present before a column name this overrides the argument SortAscending. + signifies sort ascending and - signifies sort descending.
Example:
+Tile,-ReleaseDate
Dynamic Parameters
With a release G7.2 just before Christmas an easier to use and more powerful version of dynamic parameters were released. The old version of dynamic parameters still works but has been removed from the documentation. The new syntax is in a more transparent human readable form and allows setting settings on individual subtemplates.
The new syntax is:
[append/replace] [andcat/orcat/notcat/rule] in subtemplate [subtemplate number] with [data]
Examples:
append rule in subtemplate 2 with Price<10
replace notcat in subtemplate 1 with Hardback
The data position for categories can accept multiple categories separated with comma.
Example:
replace andcat in subtemplate 3 with Drama,DVD,OnSale
