----- from Mary-------- > One question I have - if you limit the Search to 50 hits, do you get > the "best" 50 - or just the first 50? > Thanks, > Mary Young
>-----from Glenn-------- >I don't know the answer to this question. Ken might be able to answer how >the search routine works. >----from Alice----- >...shows the results listed in order of accuracy, ... Mary, Alice, Glenn: My review of the Legacy IGI searching tool suggests the following to me: Legacy appears to return the matches from the IGI in "search order". That is, it gets all the results from the IGI from the first search then goes on to the next search. See the "view searches" button for the searches that Legacy sends to the IGI. The IGI returns results, in my experience, in event date order, not in rank order. So the "best match" may not be returned until well down the search results list from the IGI. It depends on how precise the search request is and which search number it is within Legacy. After, and only after, all results are retrieved for an individual, clicking the "view matches" sorts these results into the "Rank %" order that Legacy assigns to each match. So, for example, to get all the 90% matches or above for an individual, one would have to let the search run to completion since there is no guarantee about the order retrieved from the IGI. So it all depends on what you are trying to do with the IGI search and the way the search requests are constructed and the order they are presented to the IGI and how many of the matches are retrieved. Note: Other sort orders are possible on the 'IGI Possible Matches" screen by clicking on the column header button such as: Sex, Birth Date, Birth Place, and Name (Name seem to only sort up and the order is funky.) Note: It is also possible to click "View Matches" while the search is still progressing. This gives one a preview of the matches retrieved so far for the person highlighted in the search list. If one has sufficiently "good" matches, one could click the 'That's Enough" button and go on to the next person. It depends on what you're trying to do but just remember that it's possible for the "best" match to not have been retrieved yet. Proviso: If Legacy is clever about the order of the searches it presents to the IGI by putting the most precise (narrowest) searches first, then the first matches retrieved will "tend" to be high Rank% matches. But this isn't necessarily ALL the high Rank% matches. It depends on the data being used for the individual. Since we are all searching for data that we are missing, one would reasonably expect good matches (or even unexpected matches on same named but related individuals) to be further down the searchers. Hope this helps in designing IGI search strategies from within Legacy. -- Jeremy Main, Bethesda, MD -- Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
