Re: SearchBox API

On 03/20/2011 01:36 AM, Tony Gentilcore wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Back in October I proposed the SearchBox API to the whatwg [1]. It
> enables "instant" style interaction between the user agent's search
> box and the default search provider's results page.

When I tried instant search on Chrome, it did something only when
I was typing an url. It preloaded possibly right url before
I pressed enter. It didn't seem to utilize the coordinate
information of SearchBox API at all. (Perhaps I wasn't testing it correctly)
A browser could certainly preload pages similarly even
without the API.

So, why does the search page need any data?
Couldn't browser interact with the web search in the
background and show (and possibly preload) results the
way it wants to. That way there wouldn't be an API which
fits in to only one kind of UI.


I think I'm missing some of the reasoning for the API.
Could you perhaps clarify why Google ended up with such
API?
Also, would be great to see some examples where all of
features of the API are being used.


-Olli



>
> Since then it has been implemented by Google web search and Chrome.
> You can demo it by checking "Enable Instant for faster searching and
> browsing" in Chrome's preferences.
>
> Some suggested this list might be a better place to poll for interest
> and discuss the API. Are there any user agents or search providers who
> are interested in working to standardize this interface[2]?
>
> Any feedback is welcome as well.
>
> -Tony
>
> [1] http://lists.whatwg.org/pipermail/whatwg-whatwg.org/2010-October/028818.html
> [2] http://dev.chromium.org/searchbox
>
>

Received on Sunday, 20 March 2011 21:35:21 UTC