Report:PatBase/Running the Search
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Running the Search
There are some features of the search interface that are common to both the command line and web-based search form. One convenient feature of running a search in PatBase is that while the computer is processing the request, the number of hits retrieved is shown to the user in real time. If this number exceeds the actual number of results that the user intends to review, or if the user just wants to test a query and look at a sample of the results it retrieves, the user may click the “stop search/view partial result” link while the query is still running. This is a small convenience that allows the user to cancel processing if he/she realizes the hitlist is getting too large.
Editor's Note:The ability to cancel a query is a useful one to users who do not wish to sit through an entire search iteration, for whatever reason. Unfortunately, in the cases where this feature is needed the most (e.g. during a strenuous search, where the calculation seems to slow down), clicking this link can sometimes cause the whole window to crash.
Another nice feature regarding this portion of the PatBase interface is that the user is free to start typing his/her next query into the command line interface while the current results are being retrieved. The query can then be run as soon as the current retrieval is complete. This is helpful when the user intends to run a series of queries in a row for analyzing/combining later.
Some users have also commented that clicking “back” in the browser window while viewing the search history after running a query will not allow navigation back to the search form; instead, it will actually run the query again and create a duplicate line in the search history. Because going “back” is an ingrained behavior to most web surfers, this strange behavior is at least a minor irritation to those who encounter it.
