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Vocabulary-Assisted Searching Process Flow

 

Introduction

This topic illustrates vocabulary-assisted searching in the WebZ Out-of-the-Box Interface (OBI), version 1, by tracing the process flow in three scenarios where vocabulary-assisted searching is enabled for a particular database:

There is one process flow diagram for vocabulary-assisted searching, but each scenario takes a different path through the process flow. To differentiate between the possible paths, the steps that apply to each scenario are numbered, shaded, and shown in bold text.

There are links in each scenario (labeled go to example ) that display screen diagrams from Vocabulary-Assisted Searching in the WebZ Out-of-the-Box Interface (OBI) topic, which uses the same scenarios used in this topic. When you click one of these links, a second browser window opens with the appropriate graphic at the top of the browser window. You can click either the text link or the icon to see the graphic).

Note: All HTML files described in this topic reside in the directory <WebZ_root>/htdocs/obiv1/html/, where <WebZ_root> is the location of your SiteSearch environment.

 

Scenario 1: Database is associated with a thesaurus database and the search term exists in the thesaurus

Scenario 1 flow diagram

Step Action
1 The patron clicks the Term Finder tab on the database's Search screen (search.html).
2 WebZ displays a Term Finder search screen (termfindersearch.html). The patron enters one or more search terms (go to example link in second browser window ).
3 WebZ's TermFinderQuery verb (ORG.oclc.obi.extverb.TermFinderQuery) determines that the database has a thesaurus by reading information about the database in the JaSSI. TermFinderQuery is a specialized QUERY verb for retrieving term list information.
4 The TermFinderQuery verb submits a query for the search term(s) against the database's thesaurus using the thesaurus database's Main Term index.
5 One or more records in the thesaurus satisfy the query. The TermFinderQuery verb issues a FETCH command to retrieve these records. The formatting class ORC.oclc.fmts.rules.SaveTermFinderResults extracts the data needed to build a term list from these records and creates a map (hashtable) to hold this data.
6 WebZ formats the term list, using the formatting display specification for the thesaurus's term list (specified in the thesaurus's database configuration file), and displays it for the user on termlist.html, the term list screen (go to example link in second browser window). Two gadgets populate this screen. ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermFinderHeader builds the header with the search box and database name. ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermListDisplay retrieves data from the hashtable and builds the related terms list. The terms in the list have hot links to the thesaurus tree. A term may also have a "Used For" section. This indicates that the patron should use the target term to search for the terms shown in the "Used For" section.
7 The patron selects one of the terms in the list to see it in the context of a thesaurus tree with broader, narrower, and related terms. The class ORG.oclc.obi.extverb.ThesaurusQuery retrieves the record for the term by submitting a query against the thesaurus's Main Term Phrase index. The class ORC.oclc.fmts.rules.SaveTermFinderResults creates maps (hashtables) to hold the record retrieved for the thesaurus tree.
8 WebZ displays the thesaurus tree (thestree.html) (go to example link in second browser window), using the formatting display specification for the tree display (specified in the thesaurus's database configuration file). Three gadgets populate the thesaurus tree display screen. The gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermFinderHeader builds the header with the search box and database name. ORG.oclc.gadgets.ThesNavButtons adds navigational buttons to the screen. ORG.oclc.gadgets.ThesTreeDisplay retrieves data from the hashtables and builds the thesaurus tree.
NOTE: The patron can repeat steps 7-8 as needed to see the thesaurus tree for other terms.
9 The patron selects one or more terms from the thesaurus tree to search the database.
10 WebZ executes the patron's search, using the index specified in the database's configuration file for searches from a term list, and displays the results on the brief search results screen (brief.html) (go to example link in second browser window ). If the patron selects the full record display for a record (full.html), a tree icon (thesaurus tree icon) precedes the subjects with their own thesaurus trees (go to example link in second browser window).
11 The patron clicks the tree icon to display the thesaurus tree for a particular subject.
12 WebZ displays the thesaurus tree for the selected subject (thestree.html) (go to example link in second browser window), as described in Step 8.

 

Scenario 2: Database is associated with a thesaurus database but the search term does not exist in the thesaurus

Scenario 2 flow diagram

Step Action
1 The patron clicks the Term Finder tab on the database's Search screen (search.html).
2 WebZ displays a Term Finder search screen (termfindersearch.html). The patron enters one or more search terms (go to example link in second browser window).
3 WebZ's TermFinderQuery verb (ORG.oclc.obi.extverb.TermFinderQuery) determines that the database has a thesaurus by reading information about the database in the JaSSI. TermFinderQuery is a specialized QUERY verb for retrieving term list information.
4 The TermFinderQuery verb submits a query for the search term(s) against the database's thesaurus using the thesaurus's Main Term index.
5 There are no records in the thesaurus that satisfy the query.
6 The TermFinderQuery verb now searches the target database using its Term Finder search index (specified in the database's configuration file) using the term(s) the patron entered on the Term Finder screen. TermFinderQuery then retrieves the records with a FETCH command. The formatting class ORC.oclc.fmts.rules.SaveTermFinderResults extracts the data needed to build a term list from these records and creates a map (hashtable) to hold this data.
7

WebZ formats the term list, using the formatting display specification for the database's term list (specified in the database's configuration file) and displays it for the user (termlist.html) (go to example link in second browser window). Here, the related terms do not have hot links to display a thesaurus tree.

The gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermFinderHeader builds the header with the search box and database name. The gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermListDisplay builds the term list.

The items in the term list come from subject fields of a sample of records returned in response to the search using the database's Term Finder search index. The number of records to sample is specified in the database's configuration file. The size of the term list is not necessarily the same as the number of records sampled. First, each record may have multiple subjects. Second, the SaveTermFinderResults class removes duplicate entries when it extracts data from the records for the term list. Third, the search to retrieve records for the term list may yield fewer records than the sample size.

8 The patron selects one or more search terms from the term list to search the database.
9 WebZ executes the patron's search, using the Term List search index specified in the target database's configuration file, and displays the results on the brief results screen (brief.html) (go to example link in second browser window). If the patron selects the full record display for a record (full.html), a tree icon () precedes the subjects with their own thesaurus trees (go to example link in second browser window). The patron can click a tree icon to display the thesaurus tree for that subject.
10 The patron clicks the tree icon to display the thesaurus tree for a particular subject.
11

WebZ displays the thesaurus tree (thestree.html) (go to example link in second browser window), using the formatting display specification for the tree display (specified in the thesaurus's database configuration file). Three gadgets populate the thesaurus tree display screen. The gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermFinderHeader builds the header with the search box and the database name and the gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.ThesNavButtons adds navigational buttons. ORG.oclc.gadgets.ThesTreeDisplay retrieves data from the hashtables and builds the thesaurus tree.

Each term shown includes the number of postings ("hits") for the term in the target database. The number of hits for each term results from a behind-the-scenes search of the database, using the index specified in the database's configuration file for searches from term lists. The ThesTreeDisplay gadget executes this search.

 

Scenario 3: Database is not associated with a thesaurus database

Scenario 3 flow diagram

Step Action
1 The patron clicks the Term Finder tab on the database's Search screen (search.html).
2 WebZ displays a Term Finder search screen (termfindersearch.html). The patron enters one or more search terms (go to example link in second browser window).
3 WebZ's TermFinderQuery verb (ORG.oclc.obi.extverb.TermFinderQuery) determines that the database does not have a thesaurus by reading information about the database in the JaSSI. TermFinderQuery is a specialized QUERY verb for retrieving term list information.
4 The TermFinderQuery verb (ORG.oclc.obi.extverb.TermFinderQuery) submits a query for the search term(s) in the database. The query uses the Term Finder search index specified in the database's configuration file. TermFinderQuery then retrieves the records with a FETCH command. The formatting class ORG.oclc.fmts.rules.SaveTermFinderResults extracts the data needed to build a term list from these records and creates a map (hashtable) to hold this data.
5

WebZ formats the term list, using the formatting display specification for the database's term list (specified in its database configuration file) and displays it for the user (termlist.html) (go to example link in second browser window). Here, the terms do not have hot links to display a thesaurus tree.

The gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermFinderHeader builds the header with the database name and the search box. The gadget ORG.oclc.gadgets.TermListDisplay builds the term list.

The items in the terms list come from subject fields of a sample of records returned in response to the search against the database's Term Finder search index. The number of records to sample is specified in the database's configuration file. The size of the term list is not necessarily the same as the number of records sampled. First, each record may have multiple subjects. Second, SaveTermFinderResults removes duplicate entries when it extracts data from the records for the term list. Third, the search to retrieve records for the term list may yield fewer records than the sample size.

6 The patron selects one or more search terms from the related terms list to use in a database search.
7 WebZ executes the patron's search, using the Term List search index specified in the database's configuration file, and displays the results on the brief results screen (brief.html) (go to example link in second browser window). If the patron selects the full record display for a record (full.html), the Subject field entries do not include tree icons because the database is not associated with a thesaurus (go to example link in second browser window).

 

See Also

WebZ and Vocabulary-Assisted Searching
Configuring Databases to Use Vocabulary-Assisted Searching with its Thesaurus Database
Configuring Databases to Use Vocabulary-Assisted Searching without a Thesaurus Database
Database Configuration Files
Term List Formatting Configuration Files
Thesaurus Formatting Configuration Files
Vocabulary-Assisted Searching in the WebZ Out-of-the-Box Interface


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