Preferences - Queries
This dialog box appears when you choose the Tools > Preferences command from the main menu. It allows you to edit a number of settings that affect the way Publish or Perish deals with queries. This dialog box contains the following fields and options.
Results caching
This box contains options relating to the automatic caching of previous Google Scholar queries. This caching makes repeated queries faster and reduces the Google Scholar access rate, which is important because Google Scholar blocks further queries from a given client if it deems the access rate too high.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Keep cached results for this many days |
Enter the number of days to keep the query results returned by Google Scholar. The longer this period, the fewer Google Scholar accesses are required to satisfy repeated queries. Any updates in the Google Scholar results only become visible after the cache period has expired, so you don't want to make this period too long. At present (mid 2010) a cache period of approximately 7 days seems reasonable. |
| Clear the cache | Click this button to clear the entire results cache. This forces subsequent queries to access Google Scholar directly, which might be useful after a (suspected) update on Google Scholar, or if you have reason to believe that the cached results are somehow invalid |
Query aging
This box contains options that determine how Publish or Perish ages previously executed queries, as follows.
- When you execute a query, whether a new one or a repeat of an earlier one, the query is stored in the
Recent queries folder of the Multi-query center. - Queries in the Recent queries folder older than a preset number of days are automatically migrated to the
Older queries folder. - Queries in the Older queries folder older than a second preset number of days are automatically migrated to the
Trash folder. - Finally, queries in the Trash folder older than a third preset number of days are automatically deleted.
If at any point you re-execute an earlier query, it is moved back to the Recent queries folder and its age is reset to zero.
The aging of queries only applies to queries that reside in the Recent queries, Older queries, or Trash folders. Queries that reside in other folders of the Multi-query center are not affected by the aging policies.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Maximum age for Recent queries is this many days |
Enter the maximum age for "recent" queries. When a query is older than this number of days, it is moved automatically to the Older queries folder. |
| Maximum age for Older queries is this many days |
Enter the maximum age for "older" queries. When a query is older than this number of days, it is moved automatically to the Trash folder. |
| Delete Trash queries if older than this many days |
Enter the number of days after which queries should be deleted from the Trash folder. Tip: to avoid automatic deletion of queries, set this to a high number of days, for example 9999. |
On-disk backup copies
This box contains options relating to the on-disk backup copies that Publish or Perish makes of your queries and their results. These copies are meant as an insurance against catastrophic failures of the system or in the Publish or Perish software (for example, a power outage just when Publish or Perish is saving its query results). The copies are not directly related to the Trash folder of the multi-query center; that folder is part of the normal multi-query tree.
Each time the Publish or Perish software terminates normally, a backup copy of the previous query set is saved in the on-disk trash can, along with any query results belonging to queries that have been deleted from the multi-query tree. Next, any previously stored copies and results that are older than a preset maximum number of days are deleted to avoid an unbounded growth of the on-disk trash can.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Keep backup copies for this many days |
Enter the number of days to keep on-disk backup copies of deleted queries and results. Because this is primarily a safety feature, you should choose a maximum age that is neither too short (in case you only find out about a problem after a few tries) nor too long (to avoid wasting disk space on unnecessary files). The default of 7 days is probably a reasonable compromise. |
| Keep at least this many backup copies |
Enter the minimum number of backup copies to keep even if they are older than the maximum age set in the Keep backup copies for this many days option. This ensures that a minimum number of backup copies will always be available, even if you use the Publish or Perish software only sporadically. |
| Keep no more than this many backup copies |
Enter the maximum number of backup copies to keep even if they are younger than the maximum age set in the Keep backup copies for this many days option. This ensures that your disk will not become cluttered with unnecessary files if you use the Publish or Perish software frequently. |