Skip Navigation
Expand
Suggesting spelling corrections and common word usage for end-user searches
Answer ID 2234   |   Last Review Date 04/07/2023

Can Oracle B2C Service correct misspelled words when doing a search on the end-user pages?

Environment:

Search term feedback, Spell Check dictionary, Customer Portal (CP)
Oracle B2C Service

Resolution:

Oracle B2C Service can be configured to recommend a corrected spelling for an end-user who incorrectly enters a keyword while searching on the answer pages.  In addition, when this feature is enabled, if the end user searches on a common word that is excluded from searching, they receive a message:

"These words are very common and not included:"


Spelling evaluation:  When this spell correction feature is enabled, the actions below are executed.

  • The search initially looks through the 'dictionary' table to find the word the end-user typed. If the word can be found, then no suggestion will be given.
     
  • If the word is incorrectly spelled or not located in the dictionary, the system evaluates the dictionary files, including the userdic.tlx located in File Manager > dictionary files. 
     
  • The incorrectly spelled word is stemmed (stripped back to the base word) and alternative keywords are looked up in these files from the stemmed word.  
     
  • Finally, a new search is done using the new words found from the files above and a new search word is given through the Did you mean…? function.  


For example, if a user searches on the misspelled word "suppolt" instead of "support" , the search results for "suppolt" will display, but above that, the user will see the phrase:

"Did you mean: support"

The user can click on "support" and a new search is performed.

 

Another example, if a user searches on the misspelled word 'adress' instead of 'address' and there is not a 'Did you mean: address' suggestion, then it is likely that the wrong spelling of the word is used in an answer. The 'dictionary' table records this as a valid word.

 

In addition to spelling corrections, users are also told which common words are excluded from searching, namely words that are listed in the exclude_answers.txt file.

 


To enable the spell correction and common word feature:  You must enable the  EU_SEARCH_TERM_FEEDBACK_ENABLE configuration setting. This setting enables or disables the display of spelling corrections and word usage feedback on the end-user search page. By default, this setting is enabled.  The standard widget reports/ResultInfo must be included on the page and in the same <div> as the other search controls for best formatting.

When enabled, if someone searches the end-user pages and searches on a mistyped or misspelled word, a search suggestion that includes a corrected spelling is listed above the search results. The suggestion is a link so that the user can click the suggestion to view the search results for the corrected spelling.

Note:  This configuration setting is active for all end-user page sets.

Path to setting(s): Select Configuration from the navigation area > Site Configuration > Configuration Settings > and search by Key.

For additional information, refer to the 'Edit search results page' section in the Online Help User Guide documentation. To access Oracle B2C Service manuals and documentation online, refer to the Documentation for Oracle B2C Service Products.