[seqfan] Re: Announcements: faster search, new Sys Admin

[Brad Klee]

Hi Russ,

Another idea after < https://oeis.org/hints.html > is to automate around
the problem of missing first terms. I just got burnt on searching today:

0, 1, -2, -4, -20, -132, -1008

and find it non-intuitive to search for:

1, -2, -4, -20, -132, -1008

instead. Could there be a post-condition on search returns that checks
for null result and on finding nothing, searches again without first term?

We have seen this time and again, but maybe now we can quit blaming
users for their own stupidity?

--Brad




On Sun, Jun 23, 2019 at 4:19 PM Russ Cox <rsc at swtch.com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Jun 23, 2019 at 1:08 PM Neil Sloane <njasloane at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Russ Cox has speeded up the search for when the query only contains
> > numerical data. Now even sequences of 0's and 1's get a lightning-fast
> > answer. Superseeker is also much faster.
>
>
> As part of this, I have been looking at actual searches, and I've noticed
> that there is a steady stream of people searching for space-separated
> number lists like:
>
>     1 2 3 6 11 23 47 106 235
>     "1 2 3 6 11 23 47 106 235"
>
> My guess is that these searches intend to search for that exact sequence
> (this being the Online Encyclopedia of Integer SEQUENCES and all),
> and that despite the hints and warnings about using comma syntax
> instead, many people don't realize what is going on.
>
> As an experiment, I've changed the rules on the server to turn three
> or more space-separated numbers into a sequence search, as if they'd
> been comma-separated. So now these are all the same search:
>
>     1,2,3,6,11,23,47,106,235
>     1 2 3 6 11 23 47 106 235
>     "1 2 3 6 11 23 47 106 235"
>
> To search for those numbers appearing all together in a sequence entry
> but not necessarily in order, they can be quoted individually, as in
> ["1" "2" "3" "6" "11" "23" "47" "106" "235"]. And of course if the order
> is known but not where index gaps are, there are always subsequence
> searches like:
>
>     subseq:2,6,47,106
>     2,3,6,__,235
>
> The hints page https://oeis.org/hints.html is updated with the new
> state of the world.
>
> Please let me know if you think the new behavior is problematic or
> can be improved.
>
> Best,
> Russ
>
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