Search Fault 13/03 - Finally solved after 6 weeks

TheITBod

rugmaker said:

The lack of engagement and updates from MSE on this and other threads about forum problems is very, very poor. I don't mean that to be unkind, but to point out that forum users deserve to be treated better than this even if we don't pay anything to use the site.

There are four posts from MSE Staff in this thread. What are you talking about?

Maybe they could build a little robot to come in every 30 seconds and post 'Still broken' just so you can be sure they're working on it?

thingamaBob

@One-Eye I don't have the courage of my convictions and would be grateful for your thoughts. Has this latest fix given rise to yet another problem?
I think that, when searching on Competitions Time, the results are including any threads moved to Game Over since the last fix. 
That is, searches done tonight, specifically on Competitions Time, are including threads with end dates of 09/03 and 10/03 which are in Game Over. A similar search specifically on Game Over does not include these threads. Threads with end dates for 08/03 show where they should in Game Over.

One-Eye

thingamaBob said:

@One-Eye I don't have the courage of my convictions and would be grateful for your thoughts. Has this latest fix given rise to yet another problem?
I think that, when searching on Competitions Time, the results are including any threads moved to Game Over since the last fix. 
That is, searches done tonight, specifically on Competitions Time, are including threads with end dates of 09/03 and 10/03 which are in Game Over. A similar search specifically on Game Over does not include these threads. Threads with end dates for 08/03 show where they should in Game Over.

There is a problem but it seems somewhat inconsistent. The trouble with this problem is I suspect it might also be dependent on when or how threads are moved from Competitions Time (72) to Game Over (74).

Using search term "buster bug" to find E:10/03 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6109665
a) The thread is in Game Over.
b) Searching Competitons Time finds the thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%22buster+bug%22&cat=72&discussion_d=1
c) Searching Game Over does not find the thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%22buster+bug%22&cat=74&discussion_d=1

Even more interesting is search term "chromatek" to find
E: 10/03  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6105753
The thread is in Game Over but using these two searches...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=chromatek&cat=74&discussion_d=1&comment_c=1
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=chromatek&cat=72&discussion_d=1&comment_c=1
... finds the thread and 1st reply found by searching Competitions Time, but the 2nd reply is found by searching Game Over.

Another thread that shows the same fault is:
"JD Sports" E: 09/03 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6112325
but this thread is correctly fully in Game Over:
"honeybuns" E: 10/03 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6112961

All E: 11/03 comps I have looked at are correctly in Game Over eg. "reusaboo" "passionata"

I think at the moment, with the problem appearing not to be growing and limited to a few threads, we should  just see what happens over the next day or two before reporting it.

thingamaBob

@One-Eye Thanks for checking that out. I Don't think E: 11/03 had been moved over when I was looking at it last night but, as you say, they do look to be OK. I checked the ITV7 threads where the E: 10/03 was showing incorrectly but E: 11/03 was OK.
With the chromatek searches, I wonder if the date of posting is affecting things. The second reply was posted on 10/03.
I agree it's not worth reporting if it's not a continuing problem and there are more important things to be dealt with. 

One-Eye

In conjunction with a BG, we did a test where a thread was moved using the normal procedure from Competitions Time to Game Over. Search reacted immediately - no longer finding it in CT but finding it in GO.
I think we should leave it for a day or two to see if the problem reoccurs.
(Thanks to Misslayed for the help)

One-Eye

NEW FAULT REPORT

This fault was actually first spotted 4 posts further up - 12 March at 12:18AM but we did some research first.

Competitions in "Competitions Time" f=72 are moved to "Game Over" f=74 when they expire.
In the early hours of 13/03, competitions that closed on 12/03 were transferred and are now in Game Over, but Search thinks they are still in Competitions Time...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search=%2212%2F03%22
...finds 92 threads that it should not, and a search of Game Over finds none of them...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%2212%2F03%22&title=&author=&cat=74&tags=&discussion_d=1&within=6+months&date=today

Note that the first 4 threads that this second search finds are competitions that were moved individually by our BGs (because they finished early) and one of these four is the thread mentioned in the post above this one!

The fault could be with Search itself or it may well be with the process used to transfer expired comps to Game Over, but it does mean that again, compers can not rely on Search.

thingamaBob

One-Eye said:

NEW FAULT REPORT

This fault was actually first spotted 4 posts further up - 12 March at 12:18AM but we did some research first.

Competitions in "Competitions Time" f=72 are moved to "Game Over" f=74 when they expire.
In the early hours of 13/03, competitions that closed on 12/03 were transferred and are now in Game Over, but Search thinks they are still in Competitions Time...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search=%2212%2F03%22
...finds 92 threads that it should not, and a search of Game Over finds none of them...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%2212%2F03%22&title=&author=&cat=74&tags=&discussion_d=1&within=6+months&date=today

Note that the first 4 threads that this second search finds are competitions that were moved individually by our BGs (because they finished early) and one of these four is the thread mentioned in the post above this one!

The fault could be with Search itself or it may well be with the process used to transfer expired comps to Game Over, but it does mean that again, compers can not rely on Search.

As this fault seemed to appear at around the same time as the previous fix to search was implemented, it would suggest that it is search that is at fault and that it was introduced with the fix.

One-Eye

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search="12/03"
"12/03" - 92 threads in Game Over being returned searching Competitions Time - FAULT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search=%2213%2F03%22
"13/03" - 88 threads in Game Over being returned searching Competitions Time - FAULT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search=%2214%2F03%22
"14/03" - No threads in Game Over being returned searching Competitions Time - CORRECT
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%2214%2F03%22&cat=74&discussion_d=1&within=6+months&date=today
"14/03" - 39 threads in Game Over being returned searching Game Over - CORRECT

Did something different happen transferring 14/03 threads to the previous two days?

.

One-Eye

The results for 14/03 that were OK yesterday are now wrong!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search=%2214%2F03%22
"14/03" - 28 threads in Game Over being returned searching Competitions Time - WRONG
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%2214%2F03%22&cat=74&discussion_d=1&within=6+months&date=today
"14/03" - 5 threads in Game Over being returned searching Game Over - CORRECT

For 15/03
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&cat=72&discussion_d=1&search=%2215%2F03%22
Finds 3 results, but only displays 2 (?) - but they are not in Game Over - CORRECT
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?adv=1&search=%2215%2F03%22&cat=74&discussion_d=1&within=6+months&date=today
178 threads in Game Over being found by searching Game Over - CORRECT

thingamaBob

Game over seems to have gone from the Categories lists. It is not in the Go to category drop down list at the top of the page nor in the search drop down lists. A non-clickable "About MSE" label seems to be sitting where it should be. I was sure I used it a few days ago.
Could this connect to this problem?
It's back now!