Graham Hart wrote: > > Forwarded from listowner. > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Search Too Complex > Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 12:49:56 -0600 > From: "Max & Carol Scott" <[email protected]> > Reply-To: "Max & Carol Scott" <[email protected]> > To: "FREEBMD- DISCUSS" <[email protected]> > > When I looked at some of the data I had uploaded to Freebmd, I found > that > unless I entered exactly as, for example, this: > > [R_]adford > > it was unable to carry out my search, saying too complex. I had > imagined > that I would be able to search as: *adford > but it appears not to be the case. > > Can I ask, therefore, it there is any merit in entering names with [_] > as > the initial letter. I had taken advice on this when I started as a > newbie, > but now I am wondering if I should be transcribing in some other way. > > Any help would be appreciated. If that is what can be seen, then yes you transcribed it correctly. As the search *currently* operates, entries that include uncertain characters are difficult to search on, particularly where that uncertainty occurs at the start. What we must NEVER do is compromise the integrity of the data by ignoring the correct way of transcribing data in order to evade the *present* limitations of the search (we can improve the search, we can't fix data nearly as easily). -- Dave Mayall