Hello, GeoServer Community.

I am writing to propose a modification to the GeoServer web interface that
I believe would enhance the user experience and improve usability.

The goal is to extend the search functionality within GeoServer pages by
introducing a specific feature that could help to better search for
elements with the textual search box.

Background:

Currently, the search functionality lacks the capability to find specific
words. Its full-text fashion simply returns any word that contains the
search term. For example, if a user searches for layers named "gis", he may
get results like gis_store and registered because the search term appears
within both words.


Proposal Overview:

My proposal consists in expanding the syntax that the search box
recognizes, adding the possibility to have an exact term search just
quoting the word.


Follows a visual example in the screenshots below.


The full-text search has returned two layers as the results of the query
arch.

As you can see, in the returned layers not only the actual arch layer is
present, but also the archive one, since the latter contains the searched
word in its name.


Here is an example showing the new functionality, where the search has been
made for an exact term, quoting the word: "arch".

As a result, only the arch layer is displayed.


Impact and Benefits:

These changes would not affect the default search functionality, that would
be still made on all the text attributes of the searched element (layer,
workspace, style, etc.).

Additionally, users can combine full-text search with exact term search to
create more complex queries, such as: “history” “gis” arch (all elements
containing in their text fields the word history or all elements containing
in their text fields the word gis or all elements containing in their text
fields a word that contains arch).


Implementation Plan:

The changes needed to implement this functionality should be limited to the
`GeoServerDataProvider` classes. Additionally, a tooltip explaining the new
syntax next to the search box would be beneficial for users.


I am eager to hear your thoughts and feedback on this proposal.

Please feel free to share any concerns, suggestions, or alternative
approaches that you believe should be considered.


Best regards,
Alessandro Ricchiuti
==
Professional Support for GeoNode, GeoServer and MapStore from the experts!
Visit http://bit.ly/gs-services for more information.
==

Alessandro Ricchiuti
Software Engineer

GeoSolutions Group
phone: +39 0584 962313
fax:      +39 0584 1660272

https://www.geosolutionsgroup.com
https://twitter.com/geosolutions_it

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