requestsuch

Requestsuch is a neologism used in discussions of information retrieval and natural language interfaces to describe a class of user requests that specify a description of the desired items through constraint-like phrases often expressed with such that constructs. The idea is that a user can ask for items such that certain properties hold, combining a goal with explicit conditions. The term highlights the border between free-form requests and structured queries, where the user intent includes both the target set and filtering criteria.

Origin and usage: The term is informal and not widely standardized; it appears in online discussions, design notes, and experimental papers on conversational search and query builders, dating from the 2010s onward. It is sometimes used to contrast with straightforward imperative requests or with fully formal query languages.

Examples: Examples include "Show me documents such that the author is Smith and the publication year is 2020 or later" or "Find such products that are in stock and priced under $50." In practice, systems that support requestsuch rely on natural language parsing or structured templates to extract the constraints and apply them to a dataset.

Evaluation and relevance: Requestsuch frames influence user experience by emphasizing constraint specification. Critiques note ambiguity and variability in natural language, requiring robust interpretation. It remains a niche term within UX and NLP discussions.