Searching - Why is there a 3-character min length?

[DanL]

I was trying to search for some information about the 30 inch or 2x balls today. To my disapointment, my searches weren't allowed because "30" and "2x" are 2 characters, and so, under the board's 3-character minimum. This hasn't been the first time I've encountered the same problem while trying to search for something either. I know I've been complaining a lot about the board on this forum, but is there a reason that search terms have a minimum of 3 characters? To me it seems like its just getting in the way =(

[Skabana159]

The problem is that the Delphi search engine will match even parts of words, for example, if you were to search for DOG, you would get a hit for boonDOGgle. Once you get to shorter combinations of letters, it is much more common to get false hits. Try searching for "multiplier" or something like that. What use is searching for "2x" if you don't be more specific anyway? What do you want to know about "2x?" Doubtless, you can think of a way to be more specific in your search.

[Brandon Martus]

You are correct. The default value is 4, but I lowered it to 3 to account for more words. As clark said in another reply, just put a * by it, and you should get what you're looking for. If I switch it down to 2 char minimum, the search database grows huge and the searches get way slower...

[Clark Gilbert]

Originally Posted by SuperDanman

I was trying to search for some information about the 30 inch or 2x balls today. To my disapointment, my searches weren't allowed because "30" and "2x" are 2 characters, and so, under the board's 3-character minimum. This hasn't been the first time I've encountered the same problem while trying to search for something either. I know I've been complaining a lot about the board on this forum, but is there a reason that search terms have a minimum of 3 characters? To me it seems like its just getting in the way =(

Brandon had an answer to this awhile back in a thread, but he recommended just putting an * before or after any 2 letter words.