Chapter 4. The Multiple Search Engine Interface
| Application Features | JavaScript Techniques |
|---|---|
| • Frames-Based Multiple Search Engine | • Reusing Your Code |
| • Single-Click Searching | • Foregoing OO |
| • Simple Search Engine Management | • Math Versus Memory |
| • Using escape() |
Multiple search engine apps written in JavaScript abound on the Net.
This kind of application is one of the coolest and potentially
easiest things to develop in JavaScript. And why not? You can
capitalize on OPD (other people’s data) to make your web site a
portal to the network universe. This is my version. There are
certainly more robust applications out there, but this one gives you
significant advantages fairly easily. Figure 4.1
shows the first look as you open
ch04/index.htmlin your
browser.
Using this application isn’t complicated. The user enters query text in the bottom left corner, then uses the arrows to advance through a layer-based menu of available search engines. All the user needs to do is click on the button of the search engine he or she wants to send the query text to, and the results show up in the center frame. I searched the Image Surfer database for the term “andromeda” and received the results shown in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4-1. The multiple search engine interface

Figure 4-2. Image ...