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Locator: NIE Home / Publications / Enterprise Search Newsletter / Volume 2 Number 4 / Article 2:

Searching with the Ultraseek XPA Java API

By Miles Kehoe. - Volume 2 Number 4 - January 2005

In our first newsletter back in 2003, we provided a sample Windows Shell Script program to allow command line searching of Verity K2 collections.

Ultraseek, Verity's other search product line, is thought to be more of a web-based tool with a powerful and friendly browser-based console and search; but using the XPA Java library, you can access Ultraseek collections from within command line programs. This month we will show you how.

Why a Command Line Anyway

• create reports and status for export to other people
• integrate information into other applications (Excel, Powerpoint, etc.)
• gain access to some fine control points not available in the console
• some people just prefer the command line "black screen of death"

First Steps

Now you're ready to get going. Copy the sample program listed in Figure 1 and save it as Search1.java. Note that Java is case sensitive, so be sure to save the file using the exact name specified in the "public class" statement just after the imports.

You'll also need to know the Ultraseek server name and port. You can discover these by firing up the Ultraseek Administrative Console shortcut in your browser and observing the system name and port you use to access the console. In Figure 1, the host name is titan and the port is the standard Ultraseek port 8765. Your host may be a fully qualified name, something like max.ideaeng.com.

/* A very simple Ultraseek XPA example, based loosely on
   Verity's SearchOneCollection example
*/
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import com.ultraseek.xpa.search.*;
import com.ultraseek.xpa.server.*;

public class Search1 {

// Null constructor
Search1() { }

// The entire demo runs in main()
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	// We will be asking the user to type in queries
	InputStreamReader inputStreamReader = new InputStreamReader(System.in);
	BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(inputStreamReader);

	// Change this to the name of your Ultraseek server
	String host = "titan";
	// The default port for Ultraseek is 8765, so you can usually
	// leave this as is
	int port = 8765;
	System.out.println( "Using " + host + ':' + port );

	UltraseekServer searchServer = new UltraseekServer(host,port);
	System.out.println("Remote Version: " + searchServer.getVersionString() );

	System.out.println();

	System.out.println("Enter searches; enter empty search to exit");
	// Loop until done
	for (;;) {
		System.out.println();
		System.out.print("search: ");
		String line = bufferedReader.readLine();

		// Exit if we got a null or blank line
		if (line==null) break;
		if( line.trim().length() == 0 )
			break;

		// Parse and Compile the query
		Query query = Query.parse(line);

		// Run the search
		SearchResultList searchResultList = searchServer.search(query);

		System.out.println();

		// If we have some results
		if( !searchResultList.isEmpty() ) {
			Iterator iterator = searchResultList.iterator();
			// Need try/catch to detect end of results list
			try {
				// For each matching document
				while (iterator.hasNext()) {
					SearchResult searchResult = (SearchResult)iterator.next();
					// Print the score
					System.out.print( "" + searchResult.getScore() + " " );
					// Print the title
					System.out.println( searchResult.getTitle() );
					// - OR -
					// Print the URL
					// System.out.println( searchResult.getURL() );
				}
			} catch (NoSuchElementException e) {
				// No more results from server, this is not an error
			}
		} else { // Else No results
				System.out.println( "No matches found" );
		}
	}
}

}

Figure 1

The Code and Supporting Files

@echo off
set TARGET=Search1.java
set MYCP=C:\Apps\Ultraseek53\lib\xpasearch.jar
set JAVAC=javac

"%JAVAC%" -classpath .;"%MYCP%" %TARGET%

Figure 2: COMPILE_SEARCH1.BAT

@echo off
set TARGET=Search1
set MYCP=C:\Apps\Ultraseek53\lib\xpasearch.jar
set JAVA=java

"%JAVA%" -cp .;"%MYCP%" %TARGET%

Figure 3: RUN_SEARCH1.BAT

Compiling and Running the Program

	COMPILE_SEARCH1

Once your code does compile, you're ready to run Figure 4 shows a session in our development labs:

	RUN_SEARCH1
	Using titan:8765
	Remote Version: 5.3.1

	Enter searches; enter empty search to exit

	search: xpa

	0.42 Verity Ultraseek XPA ProgrammerÆs Guide 2.1
	0.35999998 Verity Ultraseek Customization Guide
	0.35999998 Verity Ultraseek Administrator Guide
	0.29 Verity Ultraseek Installation Guide
	0.29 Verity Ultraseek Implementation Guide

	search:null
	D:\Dev\ultra>
Figire 4: Sample Session

That's it!

Reviewing The Steps

• Copy Figure 1 into a file called Search1.java
  • Make sure the host name and port match your configuration
• Copy Figure 2 into a file called COMPILE_SEARCH1.BAT
  • Make sure the MYCP variable points to where xpasearch.jar is stored
• Copy Figure 3 into a file called RUN_SEARCH1.BAT
  • Make sure the MYCP variable points to where xpasearch.jar is stored
• Verify that the Java compiler is in your path
  • From the command line type javac to confirm
• Compile the program
  • From the command line type COMPILE_SEARCH1
  • Look for no errors or messages
• Run the program
  • From the command line type RUN_SEARCH1
  • Enter search terms
  • Enter a blank search to exit