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Topic: [requests]Tweaking search - for both built-in and facets (Read 4280 times) previous topic - next topic
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[requests]Tweaking search - for both built-in and facets

I've encountered some usability issues with media search in v0.9.5.3 beta 1, which I believe could be easily fixed. The following suggestions apply to both the Media Library Search of the default UI and the search box of the Facets plugin.

1. Enable a keyboard shortcut to the search box. This is already possible in the default UI search, but not in Facets.

2. Make it easy to delete the previous search from the box. Currently the only options are click and drag or backspace one character at a time, which are both a bit of a pain. Double-click will only work if the previous search term was a single word. Some options:
[blockquote]a. My preference would be to have the previous search highlighted by default when the box is clicked (or accessed by keyboard shortcut), just like the URL of a browser. Then you could just enter the box and start typing. To refine the previous search, hit right-arrow and type.

b. Enable other standard methods such as CTRL-A or triple-click (they currently don't work), or make it possible to configure a different shortcut.

c. BTW, foobar2000 also needs configurable color for selected text. The default color for the standard "Dark Orange" color scheme is a very dark gray on black. I didn't even notice that click and drag and double-click selected text the first few times I tried. For simplicity, just use the "selection" color for selected text.
[/blockquote]3. Make NOT-searches easier by prefixing a word with '-', like Google. I use things like "aaa -bbb" often in Google, but typing "(* HAS aaa) AND (NOT * HAS bbb)" is torture. In the unlikely event that you need to search for an initial '-', it could be escaped using a backslash. Or just make the "-bbb" syntax an option.

4. Have an option for autofiltering words with umlauts/accents. This is important in a lot of non-English music. Two examples: "Bjork" will not find "Björk" (or inversely), and "Vida Mia" will not find "Vida Mía". This is default behavior in Google and several media players. (I recently posted this as a question here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....owtopic=63189.)

5. Possible small bug: if a search for e.g. "catz" has zero hits, all results for "cat" still show in the selection playlist. I would expect an empty list. Also, in Facets, even if I hit backspace and delete the 'z' and type 's', I get no results for "cats".

6. Another issue in Facets: suppose I type 'z' and click on "Zulu" in the album list. Some time later I clear the search box and type Bach and get no matches. The problem is that Zulu remains selected until I click "All". This may be intended behavior, but it is very misleading. I would like an option to reset the search when the box is cleared.

Here's hoping for these tweaks to perfect the already incredible foobar2000 and Facets!

[requests]Tweaking search - for both built-in and facets

Reply #1 –
Quote from: nicke2323 on
1. Enable a keyboard shortcut to the search box. This is already possible in the default UI search, but not in Facets.


I think the reason for this is that you can have multiple facets in the same layout, making the shortcut ambiguous- which search box should it focus to?

Quote from: nicke2323 on
3. Make NOT-searches easier by prefixing a word with '-', like Google. I use things like "aaa -bbb" often in Google, but typing "(* HAS aaa) AND (NOT * HAS bbb)" is torture. In the unlikely event that you need to search for an initial '-', it could be escaped using a backslash. Or just make the "-bbb" syntax an option.


What about artists with - in the middle of their names? (Sleater-Kinney for example).

[requests]Tweaking search - for both built-in and facets

Reply #2 –
My suggestion: a space before the - would indicate "not" functionality. If you really need a - as the first character, you could use quotation marks.

[requests]Tweaking search - for both built-in and facets

Reply #3 –
> Currently the only options are click and drag or backspace one character at a time,

Shift+Home -> Del

That's standard windows textbox behaviour.

> if a search for e.g. "catz" has zero hits, all results for "cat" still show in the selection playlist. I would expect an empty list.

I don't know if that refers to Facets -- which I don't have -- but the default searcher works that way. "pla" returns planets and plans, but adding a p for plap empties the list. Which is a shame -- I mean, plap: what's not to love?

[requests]Tweaking search - for both built-in and facets

Reply #4 –
I second this :
Quote from: nicke2323 on
4. Have an option for autofiltering words with umlauts/accents. This is important in a lot of non-English music. Two examples: "Bjork" will not find "Björk" (or inversely), and "Vida Mia" will not find "Vida Mía". This is default behavior in Google and several media players. (I recently posted this as a question here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....owtopic=63189.)

Definitely a must-have for foobar.

Quote from: WarBird on
My suggestion: a space before the - would indicate "not" functionality. If you really need a - as the first character, you could use quotation marks.

Why not simply use -- then ? (e.g. type "aaa --bbb" would find all "aaa" leaving aside all "bbb"). Looks simple to me.