Formatted Search

Customize the display of search results.

The default output format of a %SEARCH{...}% is a table consisting of topic names and topic summaries. Use the format="..." parameter to customize the search result. The format parameter typically defines a bullet or a table row containing macros, such as %SEARCH{ "food" format="| $topic | $summary |" }%. See %SEARCH{...}% for other search parameters, such as separator="".

Syntax

Three parameters can be used to specify a customized search result:

1. header="..." parameter

Use the header parameter to specify the header of a search result. It should correspond to the format of the format parameter. This parameter is optional. Example:

header="| *Topic:* | *Summary:* |"

Format tokens that can be used in the header string:

Name:	Expands To:
$web	Name of the web
$ntopics	Number of topics found in current web. Will be 0 (zero).
$nhits	Number of hits if multiple="on". Will be 0 (zero).
$pager	pager control - can be optionally customised using the pagerformat below
$n or $n()	New line. Use $n() if followed by alphanumeric character, e.g. write Foo$n()Bar instead of Foo$nBar Most macros accept parameter strings which are split over multiple lines. This is usually more readable than using $n tokens. If you are familiar with sectional includes, you might also consider nested sectional includes to hold the newline content outside of the parameter string entirely. Note that newline is not a line break. The browser will wrap the lines together. If you require a line break, displaying the results on two lines, use %BR%. Or use two consecutive newlines to create a TML "Paragraph".
$nop or $nop()	Is a "no operation". This token gets removed; useful for nested search
$quot	Double quote (") (\" also works)
$percent	Percent sign (%) ($percnt also works)
$dollar	Dollar sign ($)
$lt	Less than sign (<)
$gt	Greater than sign (>)
$amp	Ampersand (&)
$comma	Comma (,)

Note that if the separator parameter for SEARCH is not defined a newline is added after the header.

2. footer="..." parameter

Use the footer parameter to specify the footer of a search result. It should correspond to the format of the format parameter. This parameter is optional. Example:

footer="| *Total:* | *$nhits* |"

Format tokens that can be used in the footer string:

Name:	Expands To:
$web	Name of the web
$ntopics	Number of topics found in current web
$nhits	Number of hits if multiple="on". Cumulative across all topics in current web. Identical to $ntopics unless multiple="on"
$pager	pager control - can be optionally customised using the pagerformat below
$n or $n()	New line. Use $n() if followed by alphanumeric character, e.g. write Foo$n()Bar instead of Foo$nBar Most macros accept parameter strings which are split over multiple lines. This is usually more readable than using $n tokens. If you are familiar with sectional includes, you might also consider nested sectional includes to hold the newline content outside of the parameter string entirely. Note that newline is not a line break. The browser will wrap the lines together. If you require a line break, displaying the results on two lines, use %BR%. Or use two consecutive newlines to create a TML "Paragraph".
$nop or $nop()	Is a "no operation". This token gets removed; useful for nested search
$quot	Double quote (") (\" also works)
$percent	Percent sign (%) ($percnt also works)
$dollar	Dollar sign ($)
$lt	Less than sign (<)
$gt	Greater than sign (>)
$amp	Ampersand (&)
$comma	Comma (,)

Note that if the separator parameter for SEARCH is not defined a newline is added after the last search result.

3. pagerformat="..." parameter

Use the pagerformat parameter to customise the appearance of the paging control. It should correspond to the format of the format parameter. This parameter is optional. Example:

pagerformat="Page $currentpage of $numberofpages [[$nexturl][next page]]"

Format tokens that can be used in the pagerformat string:

Name:	Expands To:
$previouspage	The page number before the currently displayed one
$currentpage	The currently displayed page number
$nextpage	The page number after the currently displayed one
$numberofpages	Total number of pages there are results for
$pagesize	The number of results per page
$previousurl	full URL to the previous page - IF using the built in pager system
$nexturl	full URL to the previous page - IF using the built in pager system
$previousbutton	skin template (SEARCH:pager_previous) html for the full URL to the previous page - IF using the built in pager system
$nextbutton	skin template (SEARCH:pager_next) html for the full URL to the previous page - IF using the built in pager system
$n or $n()	New line. Use $n() if followed by alphanumeric character, e.g. write Foo$n()Bar instead of Foo$nBar Most macros accept parameter strings which are split over multiple lines. This is usually more readable than using $n tokens. If you are familiar with sectional includes, you might also consider nested sectional includes to hold the newline content outside of the parameter string entirely. Note that newline is not a line break. The browser will wrap the lines together. If you require a line break, displaying the results on two lines, use %BR%. Or use two consecutive newlines to create a TML "Paragraph".
$nop or $nop()	Is a "no operation". This token gets removed; useful for nested search
$quot	Double quote (") (\" also works)
$percent	Percent sign (%) ($percnt also works)
$dollar	Dollar sign ($)
$lt	Less than sign (<)
$gt	Greater than sign (>)
$amp	Ampersand (&)
$comma	Comma (,)

4. format="..." parameter

Use the format parameter to specify the format of one search hit. Example:

format="| $topic | $summary |"

Format tokens that can be used in the format string:

Name:	Expands To:
$web	Name of the web
$topic	Topic name
$topic(20)	Topic name, "- " hyphenated every 20 characters
$topic(30, -<br />)	Topic name, hyphenated every 30 characters with separator "-<br />"
$topic(40, ...)	Topic name, shortened to 40 characters with trailing ellipsis.
$parent	Name of parent topic; empty if not set
$parent(20)	Name of parent topic, same hyphenation/shortening as $topic()
$text	Formatted topic text. In case of a multiple="on" search, it is the line found for each search hit.
$locked	LOCKED flag (if any)
$date	Time stamp of last topic update, e.g. 23 Nov 2024 - 12:00
$isodate	Time stamp of last topic update, e.g. 2024-11-23T12:00Z
$index	number of total results - can be used as a running counter in the format, or in the footer. This $index is not affected by web based partitioning of results.
$item	the full name of a result item - in a SEARCH context, equivalent to $web.$topic
$rev	Number of last topic revision, e.g. 4
$username	Login name of last topic update, e.g. jsmith
$wikiname	Wiki user name of last topic update, e.g. JohnSmith
$wikiusername	Wiki user name of last topic update, like Main.JohnSmith
$createdate	Time stamp of topic revision 1
$createusername	Login name of topic revision 1, e.g. jsmith
$createwikiname	Wiki user name of topic revision 1, e.g. JohnSmith
$createwikiusername	Wiki user name of topic revision 1, e.g. Main.JohnSmith
$summary	Topic summary, just the plain text, all formatting and line breaks removed; up to 162 characters
$summary(50)	Topic summary, up to 50 characters shown
$summary(showvarnames)	Topic summary, with %SOMEMACRO{...}% macros shown as SOMEMACRO{...}
$summary(noheader)	Topic summary, with leading ---+ headers removed Note: The tokens can be combined, for example $summary(100, showvarnames, noheader)
$summary(searchcontext)	Creates a topic summary with the search terms highlighted
$summary(searchcontext, 50)	Creates a topic summary with the search terms highlighted, up to 50 characters
$changes	Summary of changes between latest rev and previous rev
$changes(n)	Summary of changes between latest rev and rev n
$formname	The name of the form attached to the topic; empty if none
$formfield(name)	The field value of a form field; for example, if FAQWhatIsWikiWiki was a search hit, $formfield(TopicClassification) would get expanded to ==. This applies only to topics that have a DataForm. For multi-line textfields new lines are replace by an HTML <br />
$formfield(name, 10)	Form field value, "- " hyphenated every 10 characters
$formfield(name, 20, -<br />)	Form field value, hyphenated every 20 characters with separator "-<br />"
$formfield(name,30,...)	Form field value, shortened to 30 characters with trailing ellipsis.
$formfield(name, display)	Form field value after mapping the stored value to the display value (use with +values form fields). You can still use the hyphenation controls described above by placing them after display e.g. $formfield(name, display, 10)
$pattern(reg-exp)	A regular expression pattern to extract some text from a topic (does not search meta data; use $formfield instead). In case of a multiple="on" search, the pattern is applied to the line found in each search hit. • Specify a RegularExpression that covers the whole text (topic or line), which typically starts with .*, and must end in .* • Put text you want to keep in parenthesis, like $pattern(.*?(from here.*?to here).*) • Example: $pattern(.*?\*.*?Email\:\s*([^\n\r]+).*) extracts the e-mail address from a bullet of format * Email: ... • This example has non-greedy .*? patterns to scan for the first occurance of the Email bullet; use greedy .* patterns to scan for the last occurance • Limitation: Do not use .*) inside the pattern, e.g. $pattern(.*foo(.*)bar.*) does not work, but $pattern(.*foo(.*?)bar.*) does • Note: Make sure that the integrity of a web page is not compromised; for example, if you include an HTML table make sure to include everything including the table end tag
$count(reg-exp)	Count of number of times a regular expression pattern appears in the text of a topic (does not search meta data). Follows guidelines for use and limitations outlined above under $pattern(reg-exp). Example: $count(.*?(---[+][+][+][+]) .*) counts the number of <H4> headers in a page.
$ntopics	Number of topics found in current web. This is the current topic count, not the total number of topics
$nhits	Number of hits if multiple="on". Cumulative across all topics in current web. Identical to $ntopics unless multiple="on"
$pager	pager control - can be optionally customised using the pagerformat below
$n or $n()	New line. Use $n() if followed by alphanumeric character, e.g. write Foo$n()Bar instead of Foo$nBar Most macros accept parameter strings which are split over multiple lines. This is usually more readable than using $n tokens. If you are familiar with sectional includes, you might also consider nested sectional includes to hold the newline content outside of the parameter string entirely. Note that newline is not a line break. The browser will wrap the lines together. If you require a line break, displaying the results on two lines, use %BR%. Or use two consecutive newlines to create a TML "Paragraph".
$nop or $nop()	Is a "no operation". This token gets removed; useful for nested search
$quot	Double quote (") (\" also works)
$percent	Percent sign (%) ($percnt also works)
$dollar	Dollar sign ($)
$lt	Less than sign (<)
$gt	Greater than sign (>)
$amp	Ampersand (&)
$comma	Comma (,)

Examples

Here are some samples of formatted searches. The SearchPatternCookbook has other examples, such as creating a picklist of usernames, searching for topic children and more.

Search showing topic name and summary

Write this:

%SEARCH{
   "VarREMOTE"
   scope="topic"
   nonoise="on"
   header="| *Topic*        | *Summary*  |"
   format="| [[$topic]]     | $summary   |"
   footer="| *Topics found* | *$ntopics* |"
}%

To get this:

Topic	Summary
Topics found	3
VarREMOTEADDR	#VarREMOTEADDR REMOTE_ADDR environment variable * Syntax: %REMOTE_ADDR% * Expands to: == * Related: ENV, HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_PORT, REMOTE_USER
VarREMOTEPORT	#VarREMOTEPORT REMOTE_PORT environment variable * Syntax: %REMOTE_PORT% * Expands to: * Related: ENV, HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_USER
VarREMOTEUSER	#VarREMOTEUSER REMOTE_USER environment variable * Syntax: %REMOTE_USER% * Expands to: * Related: ENV, HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_PORT, USERNAME, WIKINAME ...

Table showing form field values of topics with a form

In a web where there is a form that contains a TopicClassification field, an OperatingSystem field and an OsVersion field we could write:

| *Topic:* | *!OperatingSystem:* | *!OsVersion:* |
%SEARCH{
   "TopicClassification~'FrequentlyAskedQuestion'"
   type="query"
   nonoise="on"
   format="| [[$topic]] | $formfield(OperatingSystem) | $formfield(OsVersion) |"
}%

To get this (simulated):

Topic:	OperatingSystem:	OsVersion:
IncorrectDllVersionW32PTH10DLL	OsWin	95/98
WinDoze95Crash	OsWin	95

Extract some text from a topic using regular expression

The following example makes use of the $pattern() token to extract the first level-1 heading for each topic:

%SEARCH{
    "^---[+][^+][^\r\n]+[\r\n]"
    type="regex"
    nonoise="on"
    header="Headings:"
    limit="5"
    format="   * [[$topic][$pattern([\r\n\-+!]+([^\r\n]*?)[\r\n].*)]]"
    footer="Found $ntopics topics with level-1 headings"
}%

Test case

Headings:

• What is an ACRONYM?
• Access Control
• A List of Wiki Administrator Documentation
• Administrator Skills Assumptions
• Admin tools

Found 5 topics with level-1 headings

Nested Search

SEARCH is one of many macros that produce output which may be controlled with format, header and footer parameters, among others. To make use of additional macros in the output, familiarity with inside-out, left-to-right order of expansion rules is required. There are two forms:

1. Standard: Use %INNERMACRO% to build the parameter string before %OUTERMACRO% is expanded

    %OUTERMACRO{
      format="%INNERMACRO%"
    }%

2. Delayed: Use the parameter string to incorporate %INNERMACRO% into the output of %OUTERMACRO%

    %OUTERMACRO{
      format="$percentINNERMACRO$percent"
    }%

   No permission to view System.Macros

No permission to view System.Macros

Worked example

Problem: search for some topics in an initial (outer) search, and for each of them apply a second (inner) search. The idea is to use the outer search to build a series of inner seraches.

Consider the following example. Let's search for all topics that contain the word "culture" (outer search), and find out where each topic found is linked from (inner search).

Initial (outer) search:

%SEARCH{
   "culture"
   nonoise="on"
   format="   * $topic is referenced by: (list all references)"
}%

Second (inner) search:

For each hit, we want this search:

%SEARCH{
   "(topic found in outer search)"
   nonoise="on"
   format="$topic"
   separator=", "
}%

Now let's nest the two.

Method 1 (nesting with escapes)

The inner search cannot be placed directly into the format string of the outer, because of the "inside-out, left-to-right" macro expansion behaviour discussed earlier. It must be delayed so that the outer search is evaluated first. To do this, we need to escape the inner search, i.e. let the outer search build a series of searches comprised of the inner search.

• Use $percent to escape (delay) the inner search's SEARCH macro
• Use \" to escape the double quotes
• Use $dollar to escape the $ of $topic

Write this:

%SEARCH{
   "culture"
   nonoise="on"
   limit="5"
   format="\
   * $topic is referenced by:
      * $percentSEARCH{
         \"$topic\"
         nonoise=\"on\"
         format=\"$dollartopic\"
         separator=\", \"
      }$percent"
}%

To get this:

• AccessControl is referenced by:
  • AdminDocumentationCategory, CommandAndCGIScripts, CompleteDocumentation, DataForms, DefaultPreferences, DevelopingPlugins, FAQHiddenUsersAndGroups, FAQRebuildingWikiUsersTopic, FileAttachment, InstallationGuidePart1, ManagingTopics, ManagingUsers, PreferenceSettings, PublishedAPI, ReferenceManual, ReleaseHistory, ReleaseNotes01x00, ReleaseNotes01x01, SitePermissions, SiteTools, SkinTemplates, TipTopic017, TopicsAndWebs, TwentyMinuteTutorial, UserAuthentication, VarSEARCH, WebPreferencesHelp, WikiWord
• BeginnersStartHere is referenced by:
  • PatternSkinElements, ReleaseNotes01x00, ReleaseNotes01x01, UserDocumentationCategory, WebHome, WebLeftBarExample, WelcomeGuest
• FAQWhatIsWikiWiki is referenced by:
  • DataForms, FAQWhatIsWikiWiki, FormattedSearch, UserDocumentationCategory
• FormattedSearch is referenced by:
  • AccessControl, BookView, CompleteDocumentation, DataForms, DeveloperDocumentationCategory, EditTablePlugin, FormatTokens, IfStatements, MetaData, QuerySearch, ReferenceManual, ReleaseHistory, ReleaseNotes01x00, ReleaseNotes01x01, RenderListPlugin, SearchHelp, SearchPatternCookbook, SiteTools, SpreadSheetPlugin, TopicsAndWebs, TwistyPlugin, UserDocumentationCategory, VarFORMAT, VarMETASEARCH, VarSEARCH, VarURLPARAM, WebLeftBarExample, WebPreferences
• UserDocumentationCategory is referenced by:
  • ACRONYM, AccessControl, AccessKeys, AdminDocumentationCategory, AdminToolsCategory, BookView, BumpyWord, CompleteDocumentation, DataForms, DeveloperDocumentationCategory, DocumentGraphics, DontNotify, FAQAnApplicationWithWikiForm, FAQDeleteOrRenameATopic, FAQDeleteOrRenameAnAttachment, FAQEditDoesNotIncreaseTheRevision, FAQGnuGeneralPublicLicense, FAQSimultaneousEdits, FileAttachment, FileAttribute, ForceNewRevision, FormattedSearch, GlossaryOfTerms, GoBox, GoodStyle, HiddenAttachment, IncludeTopicsAndWebPages, InterWikis, LoginName, MainFeatures, ManagingTopics, ProjectLogos, QuietSave, ReferenceManual, RegularExpression, SearchPatternCookbook, SitePermissions, SkinBrowser, StandardColors, TextEditor, TimeSpecifications, TopicsAndWebs, TwentyMinuteTutorial, UserToolsCategory, UsingHTML, WabiSabi, WebLeftBarExample, WikiNotation, WikiWikiClones, WikiWord, YouAreHere

When nesting with escapes, each new nesting level must "escape the escapes", e.g. write $dollarpercentSEARCH{ for level three, $dollardollarpercentSEARCH{ for level four, etc.

Method 2 (nesting with sectional includes)

Nested expressions with delayed macros can be difficult to write: care must be taken to escape all the quotes of the inner delayed macro, and it may become confusing whether to use $topic, $dollartopic or $dollardollartopic.

If you find yourself using escaped tokens like $dollartopic, another approach is to use the STARTSECTION/ENDSECTION feature of INCLUDE. Instead of nesting the inner search expression directly inside the format string of the outer, the inner search is written as a separate stand-alone section of a topic which is INCLUDEd into the format string of the outer.

Write this:

%SEARCH{
   "culture"
   nonoise="on"
   limit="5"
   format="\
   * $topic is referenced by:
      * $percentINCLUDE{\"%TOPIC%\" section=\"mysearch\" thetopic=\"$topic\"}$percent"
}%

<!-- HTML comment to hide this section from the user and web browser's DOM.
     verbatim prevents the section being evaluated. Alternatively, sections
     like this can be placed into dedicated utility topics which may hold
     many such re-usable pieces of your wiki application
<verbatim>
%STARTSECTION{"mysearch"}%%SEARCH{
   "%thetopic%"
   nonoise="on"
   format="$topic"
   separator=", "
}%%ENDSECTION{"mysearch"}%
</verbatim>
-->

Output will be the same as for the first method

Nested search can be slow, especially if you nest more than 3 levels deep. Nesting is limited to 16 levels.

Most recently changed pages

Write this:

%SEARCH{
   "1"
   type="query"
   nonoise="on"
   order="modified"
   reverse="on"
   limit="7"
   format="| [[$topic]] | $wikiusername  | $date |"
}%

To get this:

WebTopBarExample	UrsBeyerle	19 Mar 2017 - 09:57
WebPreferences	UrsBeyerle	19 Mar 2017 - 09:53
WebLeftBarWebsList	MiriamKuebbeler	21 Feb 2014 - 10:24
WebTemplateTopics	ProjectContributor	23 Sep 2011 - 21:18
WebSearch	ProjectContributor	01 Jul 2011 - 02:16
WikiSyntax	ProjectContributor	19 Sep 2010 - 14:08
WikiName	ProjectContributor	19 Sep 2010 - 14:08

Search with conditional output

Sometimes it may be desirable for each hit to be displayed differently depending on some criteria. For example, maybe you want to list 20 topics modified in 2009, but decorate the hits which are children of UserDocumentationCategory with an icon.

1. Specify a search which returns the hits you need
2. For each search hit, test the condition that will influence the output using a nested IF statement

Write this:

%SEARCH{
   "info.date >= d2n('2009-01-01') AND info.date <= d2n('2009-12-31')"
   type="query"
   limit="20"
   format="   * $percentICON{
      \"$percentIF{
         \"'$topic'/parent.name='UserDocumentationCategory'\"
         then=\"info\"
         else=\"gear\"
      }$percent\"
   }$percent [[$topic]]"
}%

Details:

• The SEARCH has a delayed ICON. The $percent ensures that ICON is evaluated once for each search hit
• The ICON contains an IF, which again is delayed with the $percent token and will also be evaluated for each SEARCH hit. Additionally, the inside-out, left-to-right rule discussed earlier means that this IF expression will be evaluated before ICON.
• If $topic is a child of UserDocumentationCategory, the info icon is used; otherwise, gear.

To get this:

• AccessKeys
• AdminSkillsAssumptions
• BookView
• BumpyWord
• DefaultWebStatistics
• DontNotify
• EnhancementRequests
• ExampleTopicTemplate
• FamFamFamSilkCompanion1Icons
• FamFamFamSilkCompanion2Icons
• FamFamFamSilkIcons
• FileAttribute
• HiddenAttachment
• HierarchicalNavigationChildExample
• JQueryBgiframe
• JQueryEmpty
• JQueryFoswiki
• JQueryMigrate
• JQuerySupersubs
• JQueryTreeview

Embedding search forms to return a formatted result

Use an HTML form and an embedded formatted search on the same topic. You can link them together with an URLPARAM macro. Example:

Write this:

<form action="%SCRIPTURLPATH{"view"}%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%">
Find Topics:
<input type="text" name="q" size="32"\
  value="%URLPARAM{"q" encode="entity"}%" />&nbsp;<input\
  type="submit" class="foswikiSubmit" value="Search" />
</form>

Result:
%SEARCH{
   "%URLPARAM{"q" encode="quote"}%"
   type="keyword"
   nosearch="on"
   format="   * $web.$topic: %BR% $summary"
}%

To get this:

Find Topics:  

Result:

---

Related Topics: UserDocumentationCategory, SearchHelp, Macros#VarSEARCH, SearchPatternCookbook, RegularExpression