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How to Integrate a FileHold Search with a Web Page
In FileHold 14, a new type of saved search called a quick search was added as a new feature. A quick search is a type of saved search where the search template is saved with only one empty variable in the template. When a user runs a quick search, they are required to enter the search term for a single empty variable while all other search criteria, if configured, remain fixed.
In FileHold 14.2, a new feature has been introduced that allows you to invoke a quick search via an URL from an external application or in this example, from a web page. What is nice about this feature is that even though the search results may change due to the addition, removal, or changing versions of documents, the displayed results will always be correct.
In the Web Client, a new tool called the URL Builder can be used to create the URL that will be used to invoke the quick search. In the URL Builder, the server address, the client type (Web Client or Portal Web Client), log in type (local or Active Directory user), UI type (normal, locked or XML), and the quick search value are specified. Once configured, a URL can be generated and used in external applications.
In this example, I want to display the end user and administration documentation for FileHold 14.2 in a web page. In order to do this, I have configured the following:
- The guest portal was set up on the FileHold demo server. It was configured so that no username or password is needed to login prior to displaying the search results. If you are not using the guest portal or Active Directory integration with automatic log in, then you will be required to enter a username and password before seeing the search results.
- A public quick saved search was created. The search criteria was set to:
- Documentation schema / FileHold version equals 14.2
- Documentation schema / Type of Documentation in the list set to Administration and End User
- The quick search variable was set to Documentation schema / FileHold version equals 14.2.
- A special view was created for the search results and the default view was assigned to the quick search. Setting the default view for the search allows the search results to be displayed with specific information within the view. In this example, FileHold Version and Type of Documentation were added as columns to the view.
- Using the URL Builder, the settings were configured as shown below:
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Where:
- The client type is set to Portal Web Client
- The login type is Normal since Active Directory integration is not being used.
- The UI type is Locked so that only the search results are displayed in an embedded locked view. The library tree, context menu functionality, and metadata pane are not visible or available.
- The title bar and the search results summary (summary bar) were disabled.
- The page numbers were set to be at the top and bottom of the page and on the right hand side; however, there are not enough search results returned to see the page numbers.
- The quick search criteria was set to version equals 14.2.
- The generated URL was copied, pasted, and saved into a notepad file since the configuration itself cannot be saved within FileHold.
The generated URL was placed into iframe code within the web page. For example:
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="1" height="400" src="https://Demo.filehold.com:8443/FH/FileHold/WebClientPortal/qSearch.aspx?name=FileHold+14.2+Documentation+Search&value=59%3b60&ui=lock&titlebar=disable&summarybar=disable" width="1200">
The search results are displayed embedded into this web page. The type of documentation, the FileHold version number and the other view information are shown. Click on one of the PDF documents to open it within the iframe in the web page.
You can see the benefits of having search results embedded in other applications or web page. This allows a search to be invoked within FileHold, without the end user having to know or run the search process manually in FileHold itself, to display accurate documentation related to a specific product, project, or customer. Used in conjunction with the guest portal, viewing documents appears seamless to the visitors of the web page.