Empty query not shown in compare query

[lukavdplas]

What went wrong?

The "compare query" option for the "number of results" visualisation should allow users to compare different search terms, but it does not allow you to include an empty query in the comparison, even though that is a valid input to the visualisation.

1. If you searched without query text, select "compare with another query..." and add a search term, e.g. "test", the visualisation will only show results for "test", instead of adding those results as a second series.
2. If you searched with query text, the UI doesn't offer any way to add an empty query to the comparison.

1 is a clear bug, 2 is a design flaw (and less urgent).

What did you expect to happen?

If you searched without query text, the "compare query" input should start with an "empty query" item. Like normal, the user can add more queries.

Re. the second issue: normally you would type in a search term and then hit comma/enter to "finish" it and add it in the query list. Perhaps you should be able to hit comma/enter immediately: if you have not typed in anything, the empty query will be added to the list. This is a bit arcane, though.

Screenshot

Screenshot of issue 1: I searched without search text and added "test" for comparison, so the plot should show a comparison between two sets of results.

Where did you find the bug?

• https://ianalyzer.hum.uu.nl

Version

5.6.1

Steps to reproduce

Issue 1:

• Go to https://ianalyzer.hum.uu.nl/search/dbnl?visualize=resultscount&visualizedField=periodical
• Select "compare with another query...", add a search term, click "confirm"

Issue 2:

• Go to https://ianalyzer.hum.uu.nl/search/dbnl?query=test&visualize=resultscount&visualizedField=periodical
• Select "compare with another query..." and make a futile attempt to add an empty search query for comparison.