[Minimal Query Length] issue for search strings of 1 - 2 characters

[addison74]

There is an issue related to the "Minimal Query Length" value set in the Backend. In order to reproduce this issue follow these steps

1. Go to the Backend > System > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search

2. Set "Minimal Query Length" to 3

3. In the Frontend search for
   a => There are 1173 results in my case [incorrect]
   ab => There are 524 results in my case [incorrect]
   abc => There are no results [correct]

4. Go to the Backend > System > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog Search

5. Set "Minimal Query Length" to 4

6. In the Frontend search for
   a => There are 1173 results in my case [incorrect]
   ab => There are 524 results in my case [incorrect]
   abc => Warning message "Minimum Search query length is 4" [correct]
   abcd => There are no results [correct]

As you can see, OpenMage always returns results for a string consisting of one or two characters, no matter if you set the minimal query length to >=3 . This issue is a legacy from Magento.

[SuSiSonnenschein111]

Thinks this is a known MySQL problem that cant be fixed via code change ... see https://magento.stackexchange.com/questions/7619/magento-search-less-than-4-characters

[addison74]

@SuSiSonnenschein111 - Very good observation, I did not expect it to depend on the configuration of the database server. I will check and if it is confirmed then an information message must be added under that option in the Backend to avoid confusion.

According to MariaDB docs, ft_min_word_len value must be between 1 and 84. The default value is 4. In MySQL 8.4 docs the maximum value is 82.

[addison74]

I set the value 1 for fn_min_word_len in my.cnf.

In OpenMage I set the value 3 for Minimal Query Length. I reindex data for "Catalog Search Index". I had to repair the table catalogsearch_fulltext too.

It would be natural to get in the Frontend the error message "Minimum Search query length is 3" if I search for 1 or 2 characters, but it is not displayed and I am getting a long list of products, the same behavior like in my initial report.

My opinion is that it is a problem in the OpenMage source code:

magento-lts/app/code/core/Mage/CatalogSearch/Helper/Data.php

Lines 96 to 106 in 0b27c5f

	/**
	* Is a minimum query length
	*
	* @return bool
	*/
	public function isMinQueryLength()
	{
	$minQueryLength = $this->getMinQueryLength();
	$thisQueryLength = Mage::helper('core/string')->strlen($this->getQueryText());
	return !$thisQueryLength || $minQueryLength !== '' && $thisQueryLength < $minQueryLength;
	}

this method returns a wrong result. Let's take as example a few values:

$minQueryLength = 4 (the one set in the Backend)
$thisQueryLength = 1 (the query string used in the Frontend)

the result is 1 which is not correct, this is why I am getting the products list instead of the error message.

Let's go further:

For $thisQueryLength = 1, 2 and 3 the result is 1. Starting with 4 there is no result. Try the test here

https://onlinephp.io?s=s7EvyCjg5VIAIpXczLzA0tSiSp_UvPSSDAVbBRNrsHhJRmYxVomi1OLSnBIgXxFDTU0NhnmKtrYK6uoKamqYJtqgKwaZz8uVmpyRD7PFGgA%2C&v=8.2.19

The MySQL config variable is not processed in the whole CatalogSearch module.

[sreichel]

Pls check emails I've sent - and close it.