1. Search Mode
You can switch the search mode in the settings of the extension.
1.1 Sequential Mode
This is the default search mode and this one will test every possible combination of the defined input fields.
The complexity of a search run is defined by the number of steps for each field and the number of fields. The number of steps are calculated like this:
(steps of each fields) * (number of fields)This could lead to an exponential number of steps if you choose a wide range and a lot of fields. So be careful how you choose your search range otherwise the run will not end in an acceptable period of time:
1.2 Smart Mode
The smart mode gives you the option to do a weighted search. It will not try to test every possible combination instead it will only test each field one by one and keep the best finding when it moves to the next field. You can repeat this process many times by defining the number of search rounds.
Here is an example how it works:
Field 1:
[1, 2, 3, ..., 100]
Field 2:
[1, 2, 3, ..., 50]
Field 3:
[1, 2, 3, ..., 150]
Now the run starts with:
Field 1: 1
Field 2: 1
Field 3: 1
Now it optimize field 1 (field 2 & 3 value stays the same)
Field 1: [1-100]
Field 2: 1
Field 3: 1
It found that these settings are the best:
Field 1: 45
Field 2: 1
Field 3: 1
Now it takes this value from field 1 and start the search of field 2 (field 1 & 3 value stays the same):
Field 1: 45
Field 2: [1-50]
Field 3: 1
It found that these settings are the best:
Field 1: 45
Field 2: 20
Field 3: 1
Now it takes this value from field 2 and start the search of field 3 (field 1 & 2 value stays the same):
Field 1: 45
Field 2: 20
Field 3: [1-150]
It found that these settings are the best:
Field 1: 45
Field 2: 20
Field 3: 31
The first search round is now done!
You can define multiple search rounds and the extension will repeat the process with the values of the previous round like this:
Round 2:
It starts the search with the value:
Field 1: 45
Field 2: 20
Field 3: 31
And start to test field 1:
Field 1: [1-100]
Field 2: 20
Field 3: 31
It found that these settings are the best:
Field 1: 80
Field 2: 20
Field 3: 31
And it will move on with field two:
Field 1: 80
Field 2: [1-50]
Field 3: 31
It found that these settings are the best:
Field 1: 80
Field 2: 47
Field 3: 31
And so on ... until all combinations are tested or the extension detects that there is no further improvement and stops the search run prematurely.
After you switched the search mode in the settings to "smart search" you can define the number of rounds:
The complexity of a search run is defined by the number of steps for each field and the number of search rounds. The number of steps are calculated like this:
∑(steps of each fields) * (number of rounds)The big benefit with this search mode: you can reduce the number of steps drastically. Yes, you can miss out on better settings but it is a good alternative if you have to deal with huge amounts of search steps. Take a look at this comparision of the two modes:
The extension also checks if the smart search run does not produce better results and could do an early stoppage:
