Search Providers

Administrators can configure search providers in transaction Role Maintenance (PFCG) under a folder with the predefined ID @SEARCH@ that are then presented in the quick launch dropdown to end users owning the role with the search provider definition.

This entry can be used to define an external search engine that is to be made visible in SAP Business Client. This is typically used to incorporate external search engines into all desktop clients. The entry text of each folder node is shown within the list of search engines on the client. The application is started when used.

A search provider is defined by a URL. There are the following types of URLs:

• A direct search URL that contains a placeholder for the query string that results in an HTML page with search results. The URL can be any URL that contains a string {0} as the placeholder. This placeholder is replaced with the query the user enters and the URL directly navigates to the specified HTML search result page.
  Example http://www.sap.com/search/index.epx?q1={0}
• An OpenSearch URL that points to an OpenSearch metadata description (see http://www.opensearch.org). The metadata is an XML file that can contain multiple search services in the following flavors:
  • As HTML search result page
  • As suggest providers whose result is a list of search suggestions that are displayed in the dropdown menu of the quick launch
  Example http://en.wikipedia.org/w/opensearch_desc.php

The figure below illustrates the search provider definition in PFCG and the effect on the quick launch dropdown: