List A contains at least 1 of List B

NigelG · 2021-12-23T12:02:00.343Z

So, I had a question from a new Bubbler who was trying to do a filter by Tags.

The database thing has a list of tags (they are option sets, but don’t think that is relevant) and the page has a multidropdown of tags.

So the search filter can be done by an Advanced Filter…

this thing’s list of tags : intersects with multidropdowns value : count > 0

The question was “is that really the easiest way” ?

“Contains” doesn’t work because that checks for a single tag.

Have been doing it with count>0 on interspect for years. But wondered if something had come along recently (for each?) that would make it simpler?

lottemint.md · 2021-12-23T12:06:05.192Z

That’s a sensitive subject. I wish to have that option as a constraint in the searches.

TipLister · 2021-12-23T12:45:18.453Z

I convert the list of tags into one text field
and do text contains eg inputs values (or multidropdown triggered text state)

ed727 · 2021-12-23T15:57:30.870Z

NigelG:

The question was “is that really the easiest way” ?

To me, it’s the easiest way, but not the most scalable way. Joining tables are more scalable since you can search them server side. But they bring their own set of issues to work through.

lottemint.md:

I wish to have that option as a constraint in the searches.

100% agree. I hope Bubble’s development plans involve enabling more search functionality server side.

TipLister:

I convert the list of tags into one text field
and do text contains eg inputs values (or multidropdown triggered text state)

Interesting… how do you handle a situation where one tag’s word is within another tag? If you have tags for “Dog” and “Dog Days” and “Bad Dog”, would selecting “Dog” return all of them, even though I just want “Dog”?

lottemint.md · 2021-12-23T16:32:56.112Z

ed727:

Interesting… how do you handle a situation where one tag’s word is within another tag? If you have tags for “Dog” and “Dog Days” and “Bad Dog”, would selecting “Dog” return all of them, even though I just want “Dog”?

Here, the best way to store tags in a separate table, I mean, as things - and then you can create a text field that should hold the selected tags with a space separator.

For instance, tables:

Tag
name | text
Item
Tags | List of Tag
tags_string | text

Tags:
Dog - id_1
Dog Days - id_2
Bad Dog - id_3

Item A:
tags_string - id_1 id_2 id_3

Item B:
tags_string - id_1 id_2

Item C:
tags_string - id_1

Now, you can use the following search:
Do search for Items where "tags_string" contains keyword(s) "selected_tags_source's unique_id join with ' ' (space)"

So, if a user selects Dog - id_1, the system shows Item A, Item B, Item C
So, if a user selects Dog Days - id_2, the system shows Item B, Item A
So, if a user selects Dog Days - id_2 and Dog - id_1, the system shows Item B, Item A

The thing that I was trying achieve:
If a user selects Dog Days - id_2 and Bad Dog - id_3, the system should show Item B, Item C

TipLister · 2021-12-23T16:53:01.614Z

how i handle it specifically is that each thing also has a list of categories…
you click categories to add them to selection
so it looks for things whose search text contains input searchs text + whose list of categories contains selected category/categories.

probably above approach is even more elegant as your initial datatype is less crowded due to not having a list of categories in it.
well done @lottemint.md

ed727 · 2021-12-23T17:04:16.660Z

@lottemint.md and @TipLister thank you for the approaches!

Given how “contains keywords” works, I assume this approach only works in situations where all selected tags (vs. just one) must be in a thing’s list of tags for the thing to be returned.

sudsy · 2021-12-25T23:52:37.733Z

I examined your response more closely, @lottemint.md, and I have a few questions…

lottemint.md:

Tags:
Dog - id_1
Dog Days - id_2
Bad Dog - id_3

Item A:
tags_string - id_1 id_2 id_3

Item B:
tags_string - id_1 id_2

Item C:
tags_string - id_1

lottemint.md:

So, if a user selects Dog - id_1, the system shows Item A, Item B, Item C

Makes sense.

lottemint.md:

So, if a user selects Dog Days - id_2, the system shows Item B, Item C

I don’t understand. Why would Item C be shown? It does not contain id_2.

lottemint.md:

So, if a user selects Dog Days - id_2 and Dog - id_1, the system shows Item B, Item C

Why would Item C be shown if it does not contain id_2?

lottemint.md:

The thing that I was trying achieve:
If a user selects Dog Days - id_2 and Bad Dog - id_3, the system should show Item B, Item C

Item C contains neither id_2 nor id_3. Why would it be shown?

Thanks for the clarification.

-Steve

sudsy · 2021-12-26T04:11:21.804Z

ed727:

I assume this approach only works in situations where all selected tags (vs. just one) must be in a thing’s list of tags

I find it helpful to think of the desired behavior from the end user’s perspective. Typically, the end user will want to do one of the following in a given search…

Find items which contain all of the selected tags
Find items which contain any of the selected tags

(A single selected tag would return the same result for either.)

If I understand correctly, the approaches described in this thread thus far seem to address the latter scenario. @NigelG’s approach does it client-side, whereas @lottemint.md’s approach does it server-side (at least I think that’s the intent - I’m awaiting clarification).

The above was incorrect. In fact, @NigelG’s client-side approach addresses the latter scenario (show items which contain any of the selected tags), whereas @lottemint.md’s server-side approach addresses the first scenario (show items which contain all of the selected tags).

It would be really nice if there was a simple way to accommodate each of the above scenarios server-side. Why can’t it be as simple as contains all of list and contains any of list operators?

-Steve

lottemint.md · 2021-12-26T19:13:26.995Z

sudsy:

Item C contains neither id_2 nor id_3. Why would it be shown?

Sorry for the confusion. I’ve updated my comment.

lottemint.md · 2021-12-26T19:28:29.640Z

I’ve built a quick demo:

Preview:
username
password
https://just4tests8.bubbleapps.io/version-test/tags

Editor:

Bubble

Bubble Editor - Just4tests8

Build stuff without code and launch a startup without a tech-cofounder! Bubble is a visual programing language. Instead of typing code, use a visual editor to build applications.

sudsy · 2021-12-26T20:08:35.282Z

lottemint.md:

I’ve updated my comment.

Thanks much! I see now that your approach is showing only items which have all of the selected tags - not any of the selected tags.

However, I think the last example in your post is incorrect…

lottemint.md:

The thing that I was trying achieve:
If a user selects Dog Days - id_2 and Bad Dog - id_3, the system should show Item B, Item C

I believe that would show only Item A as depicted in your vid.

ed727:

I assume this approach only works in situations where all selected tags (vs. just one) must be in a thing’s list of tags

That indeed appears to be the case. I will amend my other comment to reflect this and avoid further confusion.

-Steve

lottemint.md · 2021-12-26T20:16:10.677Z

image1464×468 48.4 KB

Here, I mean that it was something that I was trying to achieve, but without any luck (making it work on the server-side).

sudsy · 2021-12-26T20:19:00.411Z

TipLister:

probably above approach is even more elegant as your initial datatype is less crowded due to not having a list of categories in it.

Unless I’m missing something, I think you’d want both a list and a “tag string”, so the data type would actually be heavier (although not by much). Otherwise, it would be a challenge to add/remove tags, whereas it’s trivial to regenerate the delimited tag string from the list when tags are added or removed.

-Steve

sudsy · 2021-12-26T20:27:43.426Z

lottemint.md:

I mean that it was something that I was trying to achieve, but without any luck

Ah, ok. Got it! Thanks for taking the time to clarify.

FWIW, if anyone stumbling upon this thread feels (like I do) that this could (and should) be a whole lot easier in a no-code environment like Bubble, please take a moment to upvote my feature suggestion in the Ideaboard.

You’ll have to search for “server-side constraints” to find it, as there’s apparently no way to link directly to an item in the Ideaboard.

-Steve

shemeka · 2022-12-30T22:52:46.916Z

Upvoted. For those looking for it, I believe the idea is titled: Search constraint “contains list” server-side

bamapt · 2023-09-26T19:18:50.502Z

And here’s the direct link: https://bubble.io/ideaboard?idea=1690442630636x884503575352836100

Do upvote, ye bubblers, so we don’t have to create unnecessary data types and jump through hoops to do basic things such as complex server side searches!