OpenSearch Template

[whugemann]

We are using the Zoom Search Engine to perform a full text search in a book, see http://www.unfallrekonstruktion.eu/volltextsuche.php. Do you have an XML template file at hand that demonstrates what an OpenSearch XML file should look like to allow Firefox to use a Search Plugin?

The output of the Zoom Search Engine can stay as it is; I am just interested in a handy shortcut to the search itself.

Greetings from Germany
Wolfgang Hugemann

[David]

See section 2.11, XML/RSS output, of the User's Guide

and this old post on the OpenSearchDescription format.
http://www.wrensoft.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4230

[whugemann]

Thanks for the hint

The hint on the Canadian spiders page was what I was looking for. I actually started to read this thread, but only the first reply, which wasn't what I was looking for.

I also to a look at section 2.11 of the handbook, but the things discussed there were too complicated for me: I do not want to process the search output, I am pretty happy with what the Zoom Search Enginge does. I just want to give my readers a shorthand grip on the full-text search.

I now basically understood that I can only do this with the CGI version of the Zoom Search Engine (?) -- and I am using the PHP version. Do I have to switch to the CGI version if I want to offer Open Search or is there a handy workaround?

[Ray]

A9 and OpenSearch compatible XML/RSS output is only available for CGI (ref: Features page)

[whugemann]

I come back on this old thread, because there will be an update of the book I mentioned in the sooner future.

I downloaded the demo version 8 and made an index for a small sample project. (As I see, the cgi version is now included in the distribution, i.e. you no longer have to choose between CGI, PHP, ASP, etc. as you buy the Zoom Search Engine.)

My sample project https://www.unfallrekonstruktion.eu/search.html works with the CGI version, but with the standard output, not XML/RSS, as I had difficulties with writing the XLT file. (BTW: Do you have an example for that?)

This is my OpenSearch description file, blended from the thread mentioned above and Mozillas description at https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/OpenSearch.

<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/>
<ShortName>Searchit</ShortName>
<Description>FirstTry</Description>
<InputEncoding>[UTF-8]</InputEncoding>
<Image width="16" height="16" type="image/x-icon">https://www.unfallrekonstruktion.eu/favicon.ico]</Image>
<Url type="text/html" template="https://www.unfallrekonstruktion.eu/cgi-bin/search.cgi?zoom_query={searchTerms}&zoom_per_page= 10&zoom_cat=-1&zoom_sort=0" />
<moz:SearchForm>https://www.unfallrekonstruktion.eu/search.html</moz:SearchForm>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Firefox offers the installation the search plugin in the custom search box, but refuses to install it, as it claims that it is not correctly formatted. (German error message, thus I don't cite the original text.)

What am I getting wrong?

[whugemann]

I found it out myself: The ampersand must be written in HTML coding: &

Nevertheless, I would still appreciate the XLT demo file ...

[David]

Wow this is an old thread. From 2009.

I actually thought the Opensearch standard died years ago. i.e. it was removed from Firefox.