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Advanced Mozilla-Search Plugin Documentation

Introducing the Mozilla-Search plugin.

• Contents
  • Simple plugin examples
  • Advanced plugin examples
  • User Contributed Notes for this section

Mozilla-Search plugins are based on Apple's Sherlock specification with a few extensions. Plugins written for Mozilla-Search should also work with Apple's Sherlock application, if you wish to support both. You need only test your plugin with a Mozilla based browser to submit your plugin to the Mycroft Project. If you wish to add support for Apple's Sherlock application in your plugin please read the optional Apple Sherlock support section.

Simple plugin examples

The typical Mozilla-Search plugin falls somewhere in between a simple plugin and an advanced plugin. The following is an example of a simple Mozilla-Search plugin.

# AltaVista Sherlock for Mozilla
# 
# juliusross at mac dot com June 2002
#
# Known issues:
# This plugin will not detect searches performed directly on 
# the Altavista web page.
#
# The plugin could easily be altered to particular language and/or 
# region searches

<search
   name="AltaVista"
   description="AltaVista - THE SEARCH COMPANY" 
   action="http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/res_text"
   searchForm="http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/res_text"
   method="GET" >

<input  name="sourceid" value="Mozilla-search">
<input name="q" user >

<interpret	

	resultListStart="<!-- RESULT LIST START -->"
	resultListEnd="<!-- RESULT LIST END -->"
	
	resultItemStart="<!-- RESULT ITEM START -->"
	resultItemEnd="<!-- RESULT ITEM END -->"
	
#	relevanceStart="<!-- RELEVANCE START -->"
#	relevanceEnd ="<!-- RELEVANCE END -->"
	
>
</search>

<browser
   Update="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/update.php/id0/Altavistatxt.src" 
   updateIcon="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/update.php/id0/Altavistatxt.gif" 
   updateCheckDays="7"		
>

The example shown above is an actual plugin for the search site AltaVista. It is a good example of a plugin for a site that uses easily configured search tags. We recommend site administrators make use of these search tags in their search results. For more information on these special search tags please read Apple's Tips for Search Site Administrators.

Advanced plugin examples

The following source files are examples of some of the advanced things you can do with Mozilla-Search plugins. Most search sites won't require the amount of coding involved in these plugins; however, if your search site can support some of the advanced options in Mozilla-Search you and the users of your plugin can benefit greatly from the usage of advanced coding.

# Status: Working
# Mozilla/Netscape 6+ plugin file for buy.com by Matthew A. McGuigan <webnugget.com>
#
# Created:  June 21, 2002
# Last updated: Aug 18, 2002
#
# Known issues:
#  
# 1. There are several bugs in the code for the Next and Previous buttons; therefore, they  
# are not turned on. Where possible Next and Previous links will show in the sidebar with  
# the search results. 
# 2. Next and Previous buttons can not be used with this plugin until the start value can be
# customized.  
#
<search
   name="buy.com"
   description="Search buy.com - The Internet Superstore."
   action="http://www.buy.com/retail/searchresults.asp"
   searchForm="http://www.buy.com/retail/searchresults.asp"  
   method="GET" >

<input name="qu" user >
<input name="sourceid" value="Mozilla-search">
# <inputnext name="pagereq" factor="1">
# <inputprev>

<interpret     
# category on main search result page.
    browserResultType = "category"
    bannerStart="</div></td><td>"
    bannerEnd="categoryName"
    resultListStart="<!-- ========== End Microplacemants =============== -->"
    resultListEnd="</table></td></tr></table"
    resultItemStart="</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"
    resultItemEnd="<b>Price</b>"
	>

<interpret     
# result on main search result page.
    browserResultType = "result"
    bannerStart="</div></td><td>"
    bannerEnd="categoryName"
    resultListStart="<!-- ========== End Microplacemants =============== -->"
    resultListEnd="</table></td></tr></table"
    resultItemStart="&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>"
    resultItemEnd="</b></span>"
    priceStart="<b>$"
    priceEnd="</b>"
	>

<interpret     
# result on sub category search result pages.
    browserResultType = "result"
    resultListStart="Results"
    resultListEnd="</table></td></tr></table"
    resultItemStart=".&nbsp;"
    resultItemEnd="productDescription"
    priceStart="<b>$"
    priceEnd="</b>"
    availStart="Availability:&nbsp;&nbsp;"
    availEnd="Manufacturer:"
	>
</search>
<BROWSER
        alsomatch="http://www.buy.com/retail/clearance/searchresults.asp"
        update="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/update.php/id0/buycom.src"
        updateIcon="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/update.php/id0/buycom.png"
        updateCheckDays="7"
>

The example shown above is an actual plugin for searching the buy.com web site. It is a good example of a plugin for a site that needs multiple interpret tags.

We recommend that you browse through the channels supported by Mozilla-Search in the <INTERPRET> tag information section for the type of site your plugin will support.

# GoogleUK Search plug-in for Mozilla/Netscape 6+
# by amitp at google dot com
# modified by  wolfgang dot schroedl at gmx dot net and  juliusross at mac dot com 

# Last updated: 28 June 2002

# This plugin can be altered so that it can
# (a) search using any of the google mirrors
# (b) restrict your search to sites from a particular country
# (c) restrict your search to sites in a particular language

# Known issues:
# 1. The previous/next buttons have been disabled.

<search 
   name="Google"
   description="Google Search"
   method="GET"

#################################################
#						#
#  Choosing a google mirror			#
#						#	
#################################################
#
# To use google from a particular country remove the line 
# which says
# 
#   action="http://www.google.com/search"
#
# and uncomment the appropriate "action" line by removing
# the leading "#".
#
# Note: If you also want to restrict your search to 
# sites from a particular country then see below.


action="http://www.google.com/search"


#action="http://www.google.de/search"
	   #Deutschland

#action="http://www.google.fr/search"
	   #France

#action="http://www.google.co.uk/search"      
	#the UK

#action="http://www.google.co.jp/search"      
	 #Japan

#action="http://www.google.co.kr/search"    
	    #Korea

#action="http://www.google.it/search"    
	#Italia

#action="http://www.google.ch/search"    
 	   #der Schweiz

#action="http://www.google.ca/search"     
	   #Canada

#action="http://www.google.co.il/search"     
	#Israel

#action="http://www.google.nl/search"             
	#Nederland

#action="http://www.google.be/search"            
 	#Belgium

#action="http://www.google.cl/search"            
 	#Chile

#action="http://www.google.com.ar/search"            
 	#Argentina

#action="http://www.google.com.pa/search"            
	 #Panama

#action="http://www.google.at/search"          
   #Austria

#action="http://www.google.com.pl/search"            
	 #Polska

#action="http://www.google.com.ru/search"         
 	#Russian Federation

#action="http://www.google.com.br/search"           
 	#Brasil

#action="http://www.google.co.nz/search"            
	 #New Zealand

#action="http://www.google.vg/search"             
	#Virgin Islands

#action="http://www.google.bi/search"             
	#Burundi

#action="http://www.google.cc/search"            
	 #Cocos Islands

#action="http://www.google.li/search"             
	#Liechtenstein

#action="http://www.google.lt/search"             
	#Lietuvos
 
#action="http://www.google.mw/search"          
   	#Malawi


#action="http://www.google.fm/search"       
	#Micronesia


#action="http://www.google.ms/search"            
	 #Montserrat

#action="http://www.google.com.nf/search"             
	#Norfolk Island

#action="http://www.google.sh/search"             
	#Saint Helena

#action="http://www.google.cd/search"             
	#Rep. Dem. du Congo

#action="http://www.google.co.gg/search"             
	#Guernsey

#action="http://www.google.co.je/search"             
	#Jersey

#action="http://www.google.co.cr/search"            
	 #Costa Rica

#action="http://www.google.lv/search"          
   	#Latvija


>

# There are several bugs in the code for the Next and Previous buttons; therefore, they are disabled
#<inputnext name="start" factor="20">
#<inputprev name="start" factor="20">

<input name="q" user>
<input name="sourceid" value="Mozilla-search">


#################################################
#						#
#  Setting the number of hits			#
#						#	
#################################################
#
# You may change the number below if you want

<input name="num" value="20">


#################################################
#						#	
#  Restricting your search to sites in		#
#  a particular language			#
#						#	
#################################################
#
# To restrict your search to sites in a particular language
# uncomment one of the following lines by removing the leading "#"
# from the appropriate <input> line.
#



#<input name="lr" value="lang_ar">        
       # Arabic

#<input name="lr" value="lang_bg">        
       # Bulgarian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_ca">        
       # Catalan

#<input name="lr" value="lang_zh-CN">        
       # Chinese (Simplified)

#<input name="lr" value="lang_zh-TW">        
       # Chinese (Traditional)

#<input name="lr" value="lang_hr">        
       # Croatian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_cs">        
       # Czech

#<input name="lr" value="lang_da">        
       # Danish

#<input name="lr" value="lang_nl">        
       # Dutch

#<input name="lr" value="lang_en">        
       # English

#<input name="lr" value="lang_et">        
       # Estonian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_fi">	 
       # Finnish

#<input name="lr" value="lang_fr">        
       # French

#<input name="lr" value="lang_de">	 
       # German

#<input name="lr" value="lang_el">	  
       # Greek

#<input name="lr" value="lang_iw">	   
       # Hebrew

#<input name="lr" value="lang_hu">        
       # Hungarian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_is">        
       # Icelandic

#<input name="lr" value="lang_id">        
       # Indonesian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_it">        
       # Italian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_ja">        
       # Japanese

#<input name="lr" value="lang_ko">        
       # Korean

#<input name="lr" value="lang_lv">        
       # Latvian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_lt">        
       # Lithuanian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_no">        
       # Norwegian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_pl">        
       # Polish

#<input name="lr" value="lang_pt">        
       # Portuguese

#<input name="lr" value="lang_ro">        
       # Romanian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_ru">        
       # Russian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_sr">        
       # Serbian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_sk">        
       # Slovak

#<input name="lr" value="lang_sl">	  
       # Slovenian

#<input name="lr" value="lang_es">        
       # Spanish

#<input name="lr" value="lang_sv">        
       # Swedish

#<input name="lr" value="lang_tr">          
       # Turkish

       
#################################################
#						#	
#  Restricting your search to sites in		#
#  a particular country				#
#						#	
#################################################
#
# To restrict your google search to a particular country
# uncomment one of the following lines by removing the leading "#"
# from the appropriate <input> line.
#


#<input name="cr" value="countryAT">        
	# Austria

#<input name="cr" value="countryAU">        
	# Australia

#<input name="cr" value="countryBE">      
	# Belgium

#<input name="cr" value="countryBR">     
	# Brazil

#<input name="cr" value="countryCA">     
	  # Canada

#<input name="cr" value="countryCN">    
	# China

#<input name="cr" value="countryCZ">    
	# Czech Republic

#<input name="cr" value="countryDK">        
	# Denmark

#<input name="cr" value="countryDE">        
	# Germany

#<input name="cr" value="countryUK|countryGB">       
	# Great Britain

#<input name="cr" value="countryFR">       
       # France

#<input name="cr" value="countryFI">       
	# Finland

#<input name="cr" value="countryIT">        
	# Italy

#<input name="cr" value="countryJP">      
	# Japan

#<input name="cr" value="countryKR">     
	# Korea

#<input name="cr" value="countryNL">     
	# Netherlands

#<input name="cr" value="countryNO">     
	# Norway

#<input name="cr" value="countryPL">    
	# Poland

#<input name="cr" value="countryRU">    
	# Russian Federation

#<input name="cr" value="countryES">    
	# Spain

#<input name="cr" value="countrySE">    
	# Sweden

#<input name="cr" value="countryCH">    
	# Switzerland

#<i
nput name="cr" value="countryTW">    
	# Taiwan

#<input name="cr" value="countryUK">        
	# United Kingdom

#<input name="cr" value="countryUS">        
	# United States




<interpret 
    browserResultType="result" 
    resultListStart="<!--a-->" 
    resultListEnd="<!--z-->" 
    resultItemStart="<!--m-->" 
    resultItemEnd="<!--n-->"
>
</search>

<BROWSER
   alsomatch="'http://www.google.com/search','http://www.google.de/search','http://www.google.fr/search','http://www.google.co.uk/search','http://www.google.co.jp/search','http://www.google.co.kr/search','http://www.google.it/search','http://www.google.ch/search','http://www.google.ca/search','http://www.google.co.il/search','http://www.google.nl/search','http://www.google.be/search','http://www.google.cl/search','http://www.google.com.ar/search','http://www.google.com.pa/search','http://www.google.at/search','http://www.google.com.pl/search','http://www.google.com.ru/search','http://www.google.com.br/search','http://www.google.co.nz/search','http://www.google.vg/search','http://www.google.bi/search','http://www.google.cc/search','http://www.google.li/search','http://www.google.lt/search','http://www.google.mw/search','http://www.google.fm/search','http://www.google.ms/search','http://www.google.com.nf/search','http://www.google.sh/search','http://www.google.cd/search','http://www.google.co.gg/search','http://www.google.co.je/search','http://www.google.co.cr/search','http://www.google.lv/search'"   
   update="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/update.php/id0/google.src" 
   updateIcon="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/update.php/id0/google.gif" 
   updateCheckDays="7"
>

The example shown above is an actual plugin for the search site Google. It is a good example of a plugin that is highly customize able and is used as a template for supporting the various countries and languages that a site like Google provides.

If your search site supports multiple countries or languages it is a good idea to write your code in such a way that you or the user can easily provide support for those different countries and languages.

User Contributed Notes for this section

Have a useful tip or trick to add to this section? You can use the form below to add your comment to the user contributed notes.

If you find something that no longer works, is invalid, or is no longer needed. Please let us know by contacting us through the Mycroft Mailing List.

Please do not place corrections in the user notes section, it is for helpful tips and tricks only.

Have you found and documented a feature that is not documented in these pages? Send it to us for inclusion in these documents and we will add your name to the list of contributors for this document.