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Link SQL Features

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Link SQL Features
Hi,
I came accross a site - http://www.embark.com/...NKS/search/match.asp and would appreciate it if someone could answer the following questions about this site.

1/ Is this site using Gossamer Links SQL or can Gossamer Links SQL do the same thing??

2/ Can Gossamer Links SQL be easily set up to use a multi-page search plus expansion of each section like the one used on the above site? Is there already this kind of plugin or mod available?

3/ Can Gossamer Links SQL be easily set up to search on the users varying degree of interest (not at all----neutral----very) like the one used on the above site? Is there already this kind of plugin or mod available?

4/ Can Gossamer Links SQL be easily set up to use a search and search result saving feature like the one used on the above site? Is there already this kind of plugin or mod available?

5/ Can Gossamer Links SQL be easily set up to expand the search results into more detailed information and then again further detailed information like the one used on the above site? Is there already this kind of plugin or mod available?

6/ Each result has a considerable amount of detailed data which is being supplied by a third party (as indicated at the bottom of the result detail page). If I wanted to set up a similar kind of site without using a third party to provide the data, could all the data be stored in Links SQL tables or would I need a seperate application to store that much information?

7/ I currently have DBman SQL and have set it up so that companies can store and maintain their own information in multiple tables. I have also written a script that searches multiple DBman SQL tables and returns a list of matches.
After looking at the above site I thought that Links SQL may be better suited and easier to set up to do everything that I have asked above.
The input of data is not a problem. It's the searching of the data that I am not sure about. How about DBman SQL for the input side of things and Links SQL for searching or is that a waste of money?

Any advice would be most welcomed.
Thank you.
Simon.



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Re: [jai] Link SQL Features In reply to
Hi,

1. No, it's not using Links SQL. It's not quite the same thing either. You could build something like this with Links SQL, but the relevance part would be a little tricky.

2. By default no, the search would need to be on one page.

3. Again, I'm afraid not. While you can search on any field in the database, the "fuzzy" logic required here to pick a match is not something built into Links SQL.

4. No, there is no save search result feature.

5. Yes, you can have a summary which points to an expanded detailed view easily.

6. You could store it all in Links SQL.

7. Neither one is a perfect fit, you really need something custom to handle the search logic. You could use Links SQL to create a browseable directory, with detailed pages of each school, but would need to invest in some custom work to build a search like the link you provided.

Cheers,

Alex
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