BEP:18
Title:Search Engine Specificiation
Version:11031
Last-Modified:2008-02-28 16:43:58 -0800 (Thu, 28 Feb 2008)
Author:Richard Choi <rchoi at bittorrent.com>
Status:Draft
Type:Standards Track
Content-Type:text/x-rst
Created:12-Feb-2008
Post-History:

Rationale

The .btsearch file specifies the structure through which the client can conduct searches on torrent search engines. By publishing a simple .btsearch file, search engines can easily be added to a client's built-in torrent search box.

Formatting

The .btsearch file is based on a subset of the broader OpenSearch description document [1], and consists of the following elements.

OpenSearchDescription element

The root node of the .btsearch document:

Parent: None
Requirements: Must appear once as the root node

ShortName element

Contains a short human-readable name for the search engine:

Parent: OpenSearchDescription
Requirements: Must appear exactly once

Description element

Contains a human-readable description of the search engine:

Parent: OpenSearchDescription
Requirements: Must appear exactly once

Url element

Describes structure through which search requests are made:

Parent: OpenSearchDescription
Requirements: Must appear exactly once
Attributes: template - specifies a parameterized template URL for the
search query, in which {searchTerms} is replaced by the URL-encoded
user-supplied query.

Example

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<OpenSearchDescription>
<ShortName>BitTorrent</ShortName>
<Description>Search torrents on BitTorrent.com</Description>
<Url template="http://www.bittorrent.com/search?q={searchTerms}&category=All"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>