Function looksLikeSmiles

looksLikeSmiles(query: string): boolean

Heuristically decides whether a raw query looks like a SMILES structure rather than a chemical name or CAS number. Deliberately conservative: it only flags strong structural signals (bond/ branch/bracket characters, ring-closure digits) or pure organic-atom tokens of 3+ characters, so ambiguous short tokens like CO and ordinary names stay on the normal name-search path.

Parameters

query: string
The raw search query

Returns boolean

True if the query should be treated as SMILES

Example

looksLikeSmiles("CCO")       // true  (pure organic atoms, 3+ chars)
looksLikeSmiles("CC(=O)O")   // true  (branch + double bond)
looksLikeSmiles("c1ccccc1")  // true  (ring-closure digits)
looksLikeSmiles("CO")        // false (ambiguous: could be carbon monoxide)
looksLikeSmiles("ethanol")   // false (name)
looksLikeSmiles("64-17-5")   // false (CAS)

Source

export function looksLikeSmiles(query: string): boolean {
  const value = query.trim();
  if (!value || /\s/.test(value)) return false;
  if (isCAS(value)) return false;
  if (!isProbablyValidSmiles(value)) return false;
  if (STRONG_SMILES_CHARS.test(value) || RING_CLOSURE.test(value)) return true;
  return PURE_ORGANIC_ATOMS.test(value) && value.length >= 3;
}