jSearch

Welcome to my super-search engine! I hate having to remember the URLs of every search engine I want to use, so I designed a JavaScript-based search thingy. All you do is enter a search phrase as if you were querying the engine, then select which engine you want, then click "Search". If you want to see the engine yourself, click "Go There". For the engines that have help, you can click "Help". Clicking "About" brings you to this page.

Several people wonder about the jSearch engine. This, of course, is a takeoff of IBM's jCentral search engine for Java resources (guess which language is my favorite right now!) The vast majority of internet search engines use URLs (HTTP GET commands, for those who are interested) to send queries to the backend engine. Consequently, I can copy those URLs, determine where the search string needs to go in the URL, and then submit queries myself. True, it is a sort of hijacking of search engines, but you don't have to wait for all their annoying ads to load! Basically, it constructs a URL and then directs browser windows to these URLs. The net effect of this technology is that you can enter a search phrase, select a search engine (they are organized by category) and click Search. Results will pop up in a new window, unless you select otherwise.

Link to jSearch! If you want to put jSearch on your web page, simply insert the following lines into your HTML (case is sensitive):


<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.2" SRC="http://thibs.menloschool.org/~bean/programs/jsearch/jSearch.js"></SCRIPT>
<LINK REL=STYLESHEET HREF="http://thibs.menloschool.org/~bean/programs/jsearch/jSearch.php3">

Then, to include a large jSearch on your page, insert the following line:

<SCRIPT>writeSearchEngine("jSearchEngine", "http://thibs.menloschool.org/~bean/programs/jsearch/", 1);</SCRIPT>

To include a mini jSearch on your page, insert the following line:

<SCRIPT>writeSearchEngine("jSearchEngine", "http://thibs.menloschool.org/~bean/programs/jsearch/", 0);</SCRIPT>

There is a warning: You will have to have v4.0 or higher of Netscape or Internet Explorer to see jSearch on your page. For the technical, you really only need JavaScript 1.1, which implies a v4 browser. Netscape 3.0 works too.