OpenSearch is a collection of simple format for sharing of search results. OpenSerach formats allows clients to discover and use your search engine. Allows search engines and search clients to communicate using the common set of formats. It was developed and created by Amazon.com and A9.com.
OpenSearch allows you to direct clients to your search engine or use your search engine.
To direct clients to your web site:
–Write a simple OpenSearch Description document to describe your search. See OpenSearch description XML document example in this link:
http://www.opensearch.org/Specifications/OpenSearch/1.1#OpenSearch_description_document
If you wish clients to use your search engine:
–Syndicate your search results by formatting them with extended existing syndication formats, such as RSS or Atom formats, augmented with OpenSearch elements. See example provided in this link:
http://www.opensearch.org/Specifications/OpenSearch/1.1#OpenSearch_response_elements
OpenSearch Clients
Search Aggregator Websites
Web browsers
- Internet Explorer 7: user instructions to install an opensearch provider- also supports OpenSearch Referrer Extension
- Firefox 2.0 - also support OpenSearch Suggestions Extension
- Arora - also supports OpenSearch Suggestions Extension and OpenSearch Referrer Extension
- Google Chrome
Writing OpenSearch
Writing OpenSearch results with various types of software
- Alfresco
- Drupal OpenSearch Results by Robert Douglass
- Kwiki by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa
- Lucene
- Lucene by Apache.org
- Nutch
- PyOpenSearch example Python Whoosh application with jQuery client
- OpenLink Data Spaces by OpenLink Software
- MediaWiki by Gregory Szorc
- Moveable Type by Alf Eaton
- PLOS (Plone OpenSearch)
- SearchGenerator (Ruby on Rails)
- Wordpress by Chris Fairbanks
- GeoNetwork opensource geospatial catalog
Reading OpenSearch Documents
- Drupal client library by Robert Douglass
- Drupal OpenSearch Aggregator by Steven Wittens
- Perl library by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa and Brian Cassidy
- PHP Hirose Masaaki
- Python library by Ed Summers
- ROME plugin
- OpenLink Virtuoso by OpenLink Software
- Apache Abdera
- OJAX
- LibraryFind open source metasearch application
- qopensearch - a set of Qt classes
ESIP Federation OpenSearch
The ESIP Federation Open Search utilizes OpenSearch description XML document for Two Step Search:
- Search for datasets and then granules within the selected dataset
- Space-time granule query for the selected dataset