BreakPoint
Aaaarrrgggh!! Fix the Search tool!!! PLEASE!!
I never include the run time engine with installers, so my users are instructed to download and install the releveant 32 bit LabVIEW run time engine for windows. I tend to post direct links, because I kow that nobody will ever find anything (These are all poeple with advanced degrees!, not that that means anything ;)).
I just tried again (Yes, I posted about this before!) some intuitive search terms, looking for this page:
"LabVIEW 2013 runtime"
- NI: 6 irrelevant resuts, followed by the 2013 MAC version, followed by the 64bit version, followed by the linux version, followed by many irrelevant entries. In the middle of the second page, we first get the 2013 32bit web browser plugin, followed by the LabVIEW 2013 (32bit) run time engine we actually want. Well, finally! My guess nobody will even find! 😞
- Google: first hit is correct!
"LabVIEW 2013 run-time"
- NI: Mac version first, followed by the (rarely needed!) 64 bit version, followed by linux, web browser plugin, etc. The correct and definitely most popular solution is in place #6.
- Google: first hit is correct!
"LabVIEW 2013 run time"
- NI: Again, Mac version first, followed by some help page about shortcut menus, 64bit version, linux, browser plugin 64bit followed by plugin 32bit, Correct solution is in place #7.
- Google: first hit is correct!
This is maddingly frustrating!
It is interesting how a tiny spelling difference (run time vs run-time vs runtime) completey scrambles things in seemingly random ways in the NI results while google remains completely unfazed.
We have to be a little careful interpreting the quoted google search results, because google sometimes seems to include my own browsing history for relevance and such, so it could be biased. Would need to try on a virgin computer to be sure. Just tried also a bing search and it also seems to give good results.
Another example.
Search for "linear fit" on NI com.
Results: first something about FPGA, then about extrapolation and some other random links, then to the fitting palette VIs in the following random order (2011, 2010, 2013, 2012), some more random results, then, on page 2 something about Labwindows, then some ptbypt help in random historical order, linear fit coefficients, etc, then on page #3 more random stuff, etc. etc.......
In fact we need to go all the way to page 10 (!!!!) to find the correct link to the help page of linear fit.
Another example:
Search for "convolution". (was trying to help out here by pointing to the help page)
First we get 4 flavors of the ptbypt convolution, followed by some exotic DSP stuff and some random KB articles and community examples. On the second page lots of links from FIR, then from vision. express VIs, etc. On page 3 we see some embedded results followed by a collection of Labwindows hits, etc., etc. In fact we need to go all the way to the bottom of page #5 to finally get what we want.
OK, the help page is labeled "convolution vi", but searching for that term does not seem to get us any closer either.
We get a little closer by searching for "convolution vi 2013". While there is still a lot of noise, we get the result in position #5 on the first page.
NI search seems to apply the exact opposite of Occam's razor. When given a simple term (e.g. "convolution"), the results are sorted with the most complicated and most exotic answers first. It should give the simplest answer first instead! 😄
Another example (or maybe I messed up again and someone can point out where).
I wanted to get to Steve Watt's blog called "Random Ramblings on LabVIEW Design". I like to get to pages quickly, so instead of navigating my through the community to find Steve's profile and then find his blog, I wanted to use Search.
So in Community > Virtual User Groups, in the upper right search box, I put "Random Ramblings on LabVIEW Design" - the exact title. Of the three results, one is a Blog, but it's not Steve's. In this result is a link to Steve's blog, but Steve's blog itself doesn't appear!?
So if I make it easier on the search tool by shortening the number of search terms to just "Random Ramblings", we get one extra result. But again, it's not Steve's blog, but a reply message by Fabiola to a comment on his blog. So I can get to the blog from this more directly, but why has the Blog itself not appeared in the list?
To persevere (and try to figure out what it is the search engine actually needs to function) I selected the little "Blog Posts" filter in the What: category to narrow down the search areas, and experimented with different search terms:
Search: "Ramblings", Results: Two results, neither are Steve's blog.
Search: "Rambling", Results: None - what!? The above two results should still show, surely!?
Search: "rambling", Results: None - appears not to be case sensitive, we can credit it that much.
Search: "swatts", Results: None - this is Steve's online handle, and we know he's posted plenty.
Search: "labview", with "swatts" as the advanced option "Restrict to specific people", Results: 2 pages worth! Aha!
Now I think I understand. The results now are each of the individual blog entries. Therefore, it seems the search engine is considering the individual entries in the blog, and not the blog title. So even though Steve's (awesome) blog is known as "Random Ramblings on LabVIEW Design", one cannot search for it directly as only the individual blog titles are actually considered by the search engine?
Can someone blue comment on why that decision was made?
P.S. A Google search produces a perfect list of exactly what I would expect, with the first link being exactly what I wanted - the latest blog entry.
