Programming ColdFusion MX, 2nd Edition

Advanced Techniques

Now that you understand the basics of using the Verity search engine with ColdFusion, it is time to take a look at a couple of advanced techniques to help you get the most out of the technology. This section covers several advanced topics including how to build top-ten lists for your Internet or intranet site, custom attributes, modifying the Verity summary attribute, and searching database and document collections simultaneously.

Creating a Top-Ten List

A cool feature that you can add to your Internet or intranet site to help your visitors find information fast is a top-ten list. Top-ten lists are nothing more than a list of the ten most frequently searched terms on your site. The list appears as a series of links that execute a Verity search when clicked. The user need not enter a search criteria as the cfsearch tag is automatically populated based on the link clicked from the top-ten list.

Before you can actually start using a top-ten list on your site, you have to compile a list of the most frequently searched-for terms on the site. This is a relatively easy task requiring a simple database table, a small bit of coding, and time to allow users to add terms to the list.

The first step in creating a top-ten list is to create a database table to store all the search terms that users enter as search criteria in your search page. Start by creating a table in your database called Keywords. For this example, I used Microsoft Access, but feel free to use the database ...