As mentioned above, when a faceted search query is issued, Oracle ATG Web Commerce Search returns the facets as part of the QueryRequest.Response object, and the FacetSearchTools component converts the raw facet data into the appropriate format for display. The facets and values returned by Search include ones that the user has already selected, as well as ones that are available for selection.
Most faceted search implementations do not need the already-selected facet values, since these values are typically not displayed, except as part of the facet trail. Therefore, the FacetSearchTools component omits these values by default.
This behavior is controlled through the following FacetSearchTools properties:
skipValuesAlreadyInTrail-- When set to true (the default), omits any facet values that are already present in the facet trail.skipAncestorsToCategoriesInTrail-- When set totrue(the default), omits any facet values that represent categories that are ancestors of categories present in the facet trail.
You should leave these properties set to true unless your faceted search implementation requires otherwise. If you change the values of these properties, you may see unexpected facet values displayed. For example, if you have a facet based on the product item’s ancestorCategories property, the available facet selections will include the current category and categories above it in the catalog hierarchy, rather than just categories below it in the hierarchy.
Note that the values of these properties have no effect on the facet trail itself. The trail still includes all of the selected values, so the appropriate constraints can be applied when a query is submitted.
