[ic] Need Help with Coordinated Search

[Thomas J.M. Burton]

Hello IC Users,

I'm working on some auto-generated navigation for a catalog we run and
the search strings aren't returning all the products they should be.

Running: IC 4.8.6

Example of search string that isn't working (broken up here for
clarity):
scan/st=sql
    /ac=0
    /fi=auscrystal
    /co=yes
    /se=bicone%20(5301)
    /sf=shape
    /se=4mm
    /sf=size
    /rf=code,price,weight,soldby,qty,size,color,finish,style,shape
    /tf=finish,size,color
    /ml=20
    /sp=results-list

So, this is searching the auscrystal table for items that have "bicone
(5301)" in the shape field and "4mm" in the size field. There should be
132 items but nothing is coming up. I've tried quite a few different
things and I'm able to get the correct results if I change the
searchspec for shape to "bicone 5301" (leaving out the parentheses).

However, these search links are being generated based on data in the
products table(s) (I have a separate table for each category of product
due to the amount of variation in data between the 12 categories). I
have some IC code that queries the products for each category, looking
for distinct values in specified fields. Those results (along with some
sub-level queries) are used in building some navigation links. Building
the links this way allows for easier maintenance of the site since the
navigation will not reflect anything that's not available in the
product tables. We've maintained this catalog for a few years now, and
this is a solution to some issues we encountered as time went by.

Since the searchspec values are coming from the product tables, there
are reasons that I can't just change what's being fed into the search
strings. I've tried using [filter urlencode] and a couple of other
filters on the searchspec values, but it created new snags while fixing
others.

I suppose I could create my own filter(s) that would address the
variety of issues that are encountered, but before I do that I'm
wondering if anyone has any suggestions that I might try to process
these searchspecs better.

Here's the full search URL from above, it might help if anyone wants to
try out an idea:
http://www.harlequinbeads.com/cgi-bin/beads/scan/st=sql/ac=0/fi=auscrys
tal/co=yes/se=5301/sf=shape/se=4mm/sf=size/rf=code,price,weight,soldby,
qty,size,color,finish,style,shape/tf=finish,size,color/ml=20/sp=results
-list/va=cat=auscrystal/va=testfmt=1


Thanks in advance,
Tom


___________________________________
Thomas J.M. Burton, Design/Production
Global Focus Digital Media, LLC
www.globalfocusdm.com