Initially I thought the query builder was more powerful than the previous version, but now I’m trying to use it seriously, I’m not sure if it is. Even the group/nesting feature seems limited. Hopefully I’m overlooked some features.
One feature which is very useful in the DMX DW extension is ‘condition’ (not the same ‘condition’ as in the new query builder). Eg you might use the same page to display the results of a ‘keyword’* search, an ‘advanced’ search or clicking a series of browse links. Using the ‘condition’ feature, the search method can be determined depending on the URL parameter sent. This is how I’ve always controlled searching like this (not necessarily using DW/extensions). The DW extension works really well for this, eg:
I wouldn’t want multiple server connect/action files and nor would I want different pages for different types of searching. I think I’ve come up with a solution but it seems rather clunky compared to what was possible before. It’s also awkward to view the conditions compared to the old method.
There may well be better solutions - or perhaps the feature’s still there somewhere and I’ve overlooked it. I would be grateful for any idea. Here’s one approach:
The other useful feature in this screenshot is the AND/OR selector. This seems to give more control than the new query builder.
*I had hoped the new nesting feature would help with more flexible ‘keyword’ searches but as far as I can see, it doesn’t. I’ll post another topic about that.