I have tried reporting the following error to the "support desk" a number of times but have been ignored completely. Perhaps they dont have the necessary level of experience to solve the issue but it is disappointing that they haven't even had the courtesy to respond.
Anyway, the following demonstrates that there is a bug in the evaluation of the shortest direct path between 2 profiles. It is my understanding that the algorithm seeks to return the path with the least number of steps.
If I execute the following API call to determine the shortest blood path between myself (g6000000079020527890) and Britney Spears (g6000000001928499407)
https://www.geni.com/api/profile-g6000000079020527890/path-to/profile-g6000000001928499407?path_type=blood&access_token=<access_token>
I get the following response (removing the actual steps for brevity) of 36 steps
relationship "17th cousin once removed"
status "done"
step_count 36
url "https://www.geni.com/path/Craig-Miles+is+related+to+Britney-Spears?from=6000000079020527890&path_type=blood&to=6000000001928499407"
If however I use the following API call to get the shortest blood path for my daughter Millie (g6000000079019742513)
https://www.geni.com/api/profile-g6000000079019742513/path-to/profile-g6000000001928499407?path_type=blood&access_token=<access_token>
I get the following response of 38 steps
relationship "17th cousin thrice removed"
status "done"
step_count 38
url "https://www.geni.com/path/Millie+is+related+to+Britney-Spears?from=6000000079019742513&path_type=blood&to=6000000001928499407"
This is obviously incorrect. If the shortest path for me is 36 steps then for my daughter it has to be 37 steps.
The mistake being made is that the shortest path for my daughter via myself (37 steps) is being ignored in favour of the shortest path via my wife (38 steps).
I have tried refreshing the path manually, and waiting a number of weeks, but the path for Millie is still incorrect. I have discovered multiple instances of this and as I mentioned every time I have reported it via logging a "Help" issue I have been ignored.
Can someone please at least respond and acknowledge the issue?
