Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 UNLEASHED

Chapter 27. Integrating Search Functionality

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Integrating Search Functionality

• Creating a Search Results Page

• Using Parameters

As you have seen, a database exists for the sole purpose of storing data. Tables exist to separate that data into well-structured and meaningful blocks of information that can be accessed at any time in an ordered manner. Most successful websites exist because the information in those sites is relatively easy to access. When you search for a book on Amazon.com, for example you expect to find it within seconds of being on the site. You type a book name, click Search, and the results appear in a well-structured and elegant manner. If you visit eBay's website in an effort to find that treasure someone might be auctioning off, you type the name of the item you are looking for and select a form object, usually a Submit button, to perform the search. It's safe to say that in today's application service provider business model, most companies employ some mechanism for allowing their users quick access to the data that powers the company.

It's true that the web took off with the inception of the modern search engine. Companies such as Yahoo, Excite, and Google fueled the medium we know as the web by making accessible the information contained within billions of websites on the Internet. Employing basic, filtered, and advanced methods of searching, those companies and others powered the Internet into what we know it as today. This chapter focuses on the ability to integrate these search methods into your web application, specifically providing your users with the capabilities to search for information that they need in your site.

As you've done with the rest of the chapters in this book, you can work with the examples in this chapter by downloading the files from www.dreamweaverunleashed.com.

Remember, you'll want to save the files for Chapter 27 (not the folder) in the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Dorknozzle<technology> directory, where <technology> represents the server technology (ASP, ASPX, CFM, PHP) you plan to use. Of course, make sure that your site is also properly defined in Dreamweaver, including the appropriate server-side technology you plan to use in the Testing Server category.