Advanced Search should be more flexible about parent-attachment relations

mark
When I search for Creator "Jones" and Attachment Content "phrase", obviously I am looking for an item with creator Jones that has an attachment with the phrase "phrase" in it.

Instead Advanced Search seems to look for an attachment with creator "Jones" which of course does not exist and hence I get no hits (even though (1) I get hits when I search for "phrase" in attachment content without specifying a creator and (2) I get hits for "Jones phrase" in quick search mode). Hence my point: Advanced Search should be more flexible about parent-attachment relations.
  • dstillman
    Check "Include parent and child items of matching items".
  • mark
    Duh. Overlooked that.

    Still, that does seem to be a good case of a programmer's type of interface, not a user's kind of interface. Anytime a user searches for X in a parent field (like Title) and Y in a child field (like Attachment Content), surely they will be looking for items where the two belong together. Otherwise what are we to make of the meaning of the term "attachment"?

    Also, a follow-up bug: when I check "Include parent and child" I get hits, but when I additionally check "Show only top-level items" the hits are gone.
  • dstillman
    It's not a "programmer's type of interface"—it's just a limitation of how the search system works right now. (Don't conflate lack of time with bad design.) We'll be overhauling search in the version after 3.0, and this is one of the things that will become more straightforward.
  • mark
    Sweet, thanks.
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