Search interface

The Drupal search interface manages a global search mechanism.

Modules may plug into this system to provide searches of different types of data. Most of the system is handled by search.module, so this must be enabled for all of the search features to work.

There are three ways to interact with the search system:

  • Specifically for searching nodes, you can implement hook_node_update_index() and hook_node_search_result(). However, note that the search system already indexes all visible output of a node, i.e. everything displayed normally by hook_view() and hook_node_view(). This is usually sufficient. You should only use this mechanism if you want additional, non-visible data to be indexed.
  • Implement hook_search_info(). This will create a search tab for your module on the /search page with a simple keyword search form. You will also need to implement hook_search_execute() to perform the search.
  • Implement hook_update_index(). This allows your module to use Drupal's HTML indexing mechanism for searching full text efficiently.

If your module needs to provide a more complicated search form, then you need to implement it yourself without hook_search_info(). In that case, you should define it as a local task (tab) under the /search page (e.g. /search/mymodule) so that users can easily find it.

Functions

NameLocationDescription
hook_search_accessdrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpDefine access to a custom search routine.
hook_search_admindrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpAdd elements to the search settings form.
hook_search_executedrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpExecute a search for a set of key words.
hook_search_infodrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpDefine a custom search type.
hook_search_preprocessdrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpPreprocess text for search.
hook_search_resetdrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpTake action when the search index is going to be rebuilt.
hook_search_statusdrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpReport the status of indexing.
hook_update_indexdrupal-7/modules/search/search.api.phpUpdate the search index for this module.
search_boxdrupal-7/modules/search/search.moduleForm builder; Output a search form for the search block's search box.
search_box_form_submitdrupal-7/modules/search/search.moduleProcess a block search form submission.
search_datadrupal-7/modules/search/search.modulePerform a standard search on the given keys, and return the formatted results.
search_excerptdrupal-7/modules/search/search.moduleReturns snippets from a piece of text, with certain keywords highlighted. Used for formatting search results.
search_formdrupal-7/modules/search/search.moduleRender a search form.
search_indexdrupal-7/modules/search/search.moduleUpdate the full-text search index for a particular item.
template_preprocess_search_block_formdrupal-7/modules/search/search.moduleProcess variables for search-block-form.tpl.php.

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