Is Foxtrot Query heading toward deprecation?
I've been a long time user of Foxtrot Search. In recent years it seems like Foxtrot is moving toward using the UI to add additional search fields, rather than using Foxtrot query. In particular, it looks like the search philosophy is moving toward using the "advanced filter" filter more. For example, on the Help page the current recommended way of using regular expression is by adding an advanced filter, even though the same could be done by using the "`" syntax in Foxtrot query. Furthermore, it seems like I keep running into bugs when using Foxtrot queries. Is this feature heading toward being deprecated or not getting updates because not enough users are using it? What's the expected future of Foxtrot query? Please share your thoughts.
Re: Is Foxtrot Query heading toward deprecation?
Some features require using the FoxTrot Query syntax (and are also available when using [includes all of the words] etc). This is the case for wildcards (partial words), alternations (foo | bar), and excluded words inside a quoted string or a proximity group. Some features can't be expressed using the FoxTrot Query syntax: searching some words in the content and some other in the metadata fields, combining multiple criteria with [any of the criteria] etc, and most of the so called filters. Some features are easier to use, or more flexible, from the GUI, like proximity searches and regular expression. So no, there is no deprecation.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, and seeing that Foxtrot has a unique value. Foxtrot query seems to have taken a back seat for a while, which is also understandable if it's not as popular as other features, but I also hope it's not going to get neglected as Foxtrot continue to evolve.