The Transform Results Slider is used to set the number of results returned when a Transform is run. The numbers that the Transform slider can be set to differ between the different versions of the of the Maltego Desktop Client as follows:
- Maltego CE: 12
- Maltego Classic: 12, 50, 255, 10k
- Maltego XL: 12, 255, 4k, 65k
The Transform slider (i.e. the maximum number of results that can be returned to the Maltego Client from a single Transform) is one of the main differentiating factors between the different Maltego Desktop Clients.
When set to the far left, Maltego will only show the top 12 results based on weight. One needs to understand the implications of these settings. Many Transforms have no concept of weight. In fact, only search engine Transforms use weight as an indication of relevance.
Think about the reverse DNS results for a class C network – it can potentially return 255 results – each of them with a weight value of 100 (the default value), as no one DNS entry is more important than the other. Setting the slider to 12 results will only show the first 12 results – this can be useful for simply getting an idea of what exists in the network, but not very useful for enumerating all the reverse DNS information of the block. In the same way setting the slider to 255 results for a search engine Transform (e.g. looking for someone specific but who also has a very common name) may not be the best route as you may be flooded with results. Be careful to understand how the slider works and do spend some time experimenting with it in order to discover how best to use this feature.
Note: When you do not see the amount of results that you expected to see, check how many results the Transform result selector is set to return.