One of the currently lesser-discussed Windows 7 features is Federated Search (also known as Opensearch). Extending Windows Search this feature allows Explorer searches to query online resources, anything from TechNet/MSDN to the likes of YouTube and Apple.
Much in the same way IE7 search providers are configured, Windows 7 Federated Search providers can be added via several sources.
The first and most common will be search sites themselves offering their providers for download. Simply execute the provided osdx file and the site will be accessible from within Windows Search.
It’s also possible to create your own search providers using either of two methods, the first for sites which support OpenSearch and are able to return results as RSS is to create an appropriate osdx as shown below. In this case I’ve created an OpenSearch provider for TechNet:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?><OpenSearchDescription xmlns=”http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/” xmlns:ms- ose=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/opensearchext/2009/”>
<ShortName>TechNet</ShortName>
<Description>OpenSearch TechNet using Windows 7 Search.</Description>
<Url type=”application/rss+xml” template=”http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Search/Feed.aspx?locale=en-GB&format=RSS&Query={searchTerms}“/>
<Url type=”text/html” template=”http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Search/Feed.aspx?locale=en-GB&format=RSS&Query={searchTerms}“/>
</OpenSearchDescription>
The areas highlighted require modification for each new provider.
Ampersands present in the real URL have to be switched to & in line 4 and 5 as above otherwise the provider will fail to import.
Saving the file with the osdx extension will associate it with Windows Search and opening it will add the search provider as above.
The second method and suited to many sites which don’t support OpenSearch as yet is to use MSN search to search the sites and return the results as RSS as in the example below:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?><OpenSearchDescription xmlns=”http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/” xmlns:ms- ose=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/opensearchext/2009/”>
<ShortName>Apple</ShortName>
<Description>OpenSearch Apple using MSN Search.</Description>
<Url type=”application/rss+xml” template=”http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3aapple.com&num=10&format=rss“/>
<Url type=”text/html” template=”http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3aapple.com&format=rss“/>
</OpenSearchDescription>
Obviously this method is more limited in terms of the format of the returned results but for anyone who frequenty searches online resources Federated Search in Windows 7 is already shaping up into a potentially very powerful tool.
