topics/search/adding-custom-suggestions.jd

page.title=Adding Custom Suggestions
parent.title=Search
parent.link=index.html
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">
<h2>Key classes</h2>
<ol>
<li>{@link android.app.SearchManager}</li>
<li>{@link android.content.SearchRecentSuggestionsProvider}</li>
<li>{@link android.content.ContentProvider}</li>
</ol>
<h2>In this document</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#TheBasics">The Basics</a></li>
<li><a href="#CustomSearchableConfiguration">Modifying the searchable configuration</a></li>
<li><a href="#CustomContentProvider">Creating a Content Provider</a>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="#HandlingSuggestionQuery">Handling a suggestion query</a></li>
    <li><a href="#SuggestionTable">Building a suggestion table</a></li>
  </ol>
</li>
<li><a href="#IntentForSuggestions">Declaring an Intent for suggestions</a>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="#IntentAction">Declaring the Intent action</a></li>
    <li><a href="#IntentData">Declaring the Intent data</a></li>
  </ol>
</li>
<li><a href="#HandlingIntent">Handling the Intent</a></li>
<li><a href="#RewritingQueryText">Rewriting the query text</a></li>
<li><a href="#QSB">Exposing search suggestions to Quick Search Box</a></li>
</ol>
<h2>See also</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="searchable-config.html">Searchable Configuration</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html">Content Providers</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}resources/samples/SearchableDictionary/index.html">Searchable
Dictionary sample app</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>

<p>The Android search framework provides the ability for your application to
provide suggestions while the user types into the Android search dialog. In this guide, you'll learn
how to create custom suggestions. These are suggestions based on custom data provided by your
application. For example, if your application is a word dictionary, you can suggest words from the
dictionary that match the text entered so far. These are the most valuable suggestions because you
can effectively predict what the user wants and provide instant access to it. Once you provide
custom suggestions, you then make them available to the system-wide Quick Search Box, providing
access to your content from outside your application.</p>

<p>Before you begin, you need to have implemented the Android search dialog for searches in your
application. If you haven't done this, see <a href="search-dialog.html">Using the Android Search
Dialog</a>.</p>


<h2 id="TheBasics">The Basics</h2>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/search/search-suggest-custom.png" alt="" height="417"
style="float:right;clear:right;" />

<p>When the user selects a custom suggestions, the Search Manager will send a customized Intent to
your searchable Activity. Whereas a normal search query will send an Intent with the {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} action, you can instead define your custom suggestions to use
{@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_VIEW} (or any other action), and also include additional data
that's relevant to the selected suggestion. Continuing
the dictionary example, when the user selects a suggestion, your application can immediately
open the definition for that word, instead of searching the dictionary for matches.</p>

<p>To provide custom suggestions, you need to do the following:</p>

<ul>
  <li>Implement a basic searchable Activity, as described in <a
href="search-dialog.html">Using the Android Search Dialog</a>.</li>
  <li>Build a table (such as in an {@link android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase}) for your
suggestions and format the table with required columns.</li>
  <li>Create a <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html">Content
Provider</a> that has access to your suggestions table and declare the provider
in your manifest.</li>
  <li>Declare the type of {@link android.content.Intent} to be sent when the user selects a
suggestion (including a custom action and custom data). </li>
  <li>Modify the searchable configuration with information about the content provider.</li>
</ul>

<p>Just like the Search Manager handles the rendering of the search dialog, it will also do the work
to display all search suggestions below the search dialog. All you need to do is provide a source
from which the suggestions can be retrieved.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If you're not familiar with creating Content
Providers, please read the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html">Content
Providers</a> developer guide before you continue.</p>

<p>When the Search Manager identifies that your Activity is searchable and also provides search
suggestions, the following procedure will take place as soon as the user types into the Android
search box:</p>

<ul>
  <li>The Search Manager takes the search query text (whatever has been typed so far) and performs a
query to the content provider that manages your suggestions.</li>
  <li>Your content provider then returns a {@link android.database.Cursor} that points to all
suggestions that are relevant to the search query text.</li>
  <li>The Search Manager then displays the list of suggestions provided by the Cursor (as
demonstrated in the screenshot to the right).</li>
</ul>

<p>At this point, the following may happen:</p>

<ul>
  <li>If the user types another key, or changes the query in any way, the above steps are repeated
and the suggestion list is updated as appropriate. </li>
  <li>If the user executes the search, the suggestions are ignored and the search is delivered
to your searchable Activity using the normal {@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH}
Intent.</li>
  <li>If the user selects a suggestion, an Intent is sent to your searchable Activity, carrying a
custom action and custom data so that your application can open the suggested content.</li>
</ul>


<h2 id="CustomSearchableConfiguration">Modifying the searchable configuration</h2>

<p>To add support for custom suggestions, add the {@code android:searchSuggestAuthority} attribute
to the {@code &lt;searchable&gt;} element in your searchable configuration file. For example:</p>

<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:label="@string/app_label"
    android:hint="@string/search_hint"
    android:searchSuggestAuthority="my.package.MyCustomSuggestionProvider" >
&lt;/searchable>
</pre>

<p>You may require some additional attributes, depending on the type of Intent you attach
to each suggestion and how you want to format queries to your content provider. The other optional
attributes are discussed in the relevant sections below.</p>


<h2 id="CustomContentProvider">Creating a Content Provider</h2>

<p>Creating a content provider for custom suggestions requires previous knowledge about Content
Providers that's covered in the <a
href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html">Content Provider</a> developer
guide. For the most part, a content provider for custom suggestions is the
same as any other content provider. However, for each suggestion you provide, the respective row in
the {@link android.database.Cursor} must include specific columns that the Search Manager
understands.</p>

<p>When the user starts typing into the search dialog, the Search Manager will query your Content
Provider for suggestions by calling {@link
android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String) query()} each time
a letter is typed. In your implementation of {@link
android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String) query()}, your
content provider must search your suggestion data and return a {@link
android.database.Cursor} that points to the rows you determine to be good suggestions.</p>

<p>The following two sections describe how the Search Manager will send requests to your Content
Provider and how you can handle them, and define the columns that the Search Manager understands and
expects to be provided in the {@link android.database.Cursor} returned with each query.</p>


<h3 id="HandlingSuggestionQuery">Handling the suggestion query</h3>

<p>When the Search Manager makes a request for suggestions from your content provider, it will call
{@link android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String)}. You must
implement this method in your content provider so that it will search your suggestions and return a
Cursor that contains the suggestions you deem relevant.</p>

<p>Here's a summary of the parameters that the Search Manager will pass to your {@link
android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String) query()} method
(listed in order):</p>

<dl>
  <dt><code>uri</code></dt>
  <dd>This will always be a content {@link android.net.Uri}, formatted as:
<pre class="no-pretty-print">
content://<em>your.authority</em>/<em>optional.suggest.path</em>/<em>{@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_URI_PATH_QUERY}</em>
</pre>
<p>The default behavior is for Search Manager to pass this URI and append it with the query text.
For example:</p>
<pre class="no-pretty-print">
content://<em>your.authority</em>/<em>optional.suggest.path</em>/<em>{@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_URI_PATH_QUERY}</em>/puppies
</pre>
<p>The query text on the end will be encoded using URI encoding rules, so you may need to decode
it.</p>
<p>The <em>{@code optional.suggest.path}</em> portion is only included in the URI if you have set
such a path in your searchable configuration file with the {@code android:searchSuggestPath}
attribute. This is only needed if you use the same content provider for multiple searchable
activities, in which case you need to disambiguate the source of the suggestion query.</p>
<p>Note that {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_URI_PATH_QUERY} is not the literal
string provided in the URI, but a constant that you should use if you need to refer to this
path.</p>
  </dd>

  <dt><code>projection</code></dt>
  <dd>This is always null</dd>

  <dt><code>selection</code></dt>
  <dd>This is the value provided in the {@code android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute of
your searchable configuration file, or null if you have not declared the {@code
android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute. More about this below.</dd>

  <dt><code>selectionArgs</code></dt>
  <dd>This contains the search query as the first (and only) element of the array if you have
declared the {@code android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute in your searchable configuration. If
you have not declared {@code android:searchSuggestSelection}, then this parameter is null. More
about this below.</dd>

  <dt><code>sortOrder</code></dt>
  <dd>This is always null</dd>
</dl>

<p>As you may have realized, there are two ways by which the Search Manager can send you the search
query text. The default manner is for the query text to be included as the last path of the content
URI that is passed in the {@code uri} parameter. However, if you include a selection value in your
searchable configuration's {@code
android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute, then the query text will instead be passed as the first
element of the {@code selectionArgs} string array. Both options are summarized below.</p>


<h4>Get the query in the Uri</h4>

<p>By default, the query will be appended as the last segment of the {@code uri}
parameter (a {@link android.net.Uri} object). To retrieve the query text in this case, simply use
{@link android.net.Uri#getLastPathSegment()}. For example:</p>

<pre>
String query = uri.getLastPathSegment().toLowerCase();
</pre>

<p>This will return the last segment of the Uri, which is the query text entered in the search
dialog.</p>


<h4>Get the query in the selection arguments</h4>

<p>Instead of using the URI, you may decide it makes more sense for your {@link
android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String) query()} method to
receive everything it needs to perform the look-up and you want the
{@code selection} and {@code selectionArgs} parameters to carry values. In this case, you can
add the {@code android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute to your searchable configuration with your
SQLite selection string. In this selection string, you can include a question mark ("?") as
a placeholder for the actual search query. This selection string will be delivered as the
{@code selection} string parameter, and the query entered into the search dialog will be delivered
as the first element in the {@code selectionArgs} string array parameter.</p>

<p>For example, here's how you might form the {@code android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute to
create a full-text search statement:</p>

<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:label="@string/app_label"
    android:hint="@string/search_hint"
    android:searchSuggestAuthority="my.package.MyCustomSuggestionProvider"
    android:searchSuggestIntentAction="android.Intent.action.VIEW"
    android:searchSuggestSelection="word MATCH ?">
&lt;/searchable>
</pre>

<p>When you then receive the {@code selection} and {@code selectionArgs} parameters in your {@link
android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String) ContentProvider.query()}
method, they will carry the selection ("word MATCH ?") and the query text, respectively. When
these are passed to an SQLite {@link
android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase#query(String,String[],String,String[],String,String,
String) query} method, they will be synthesized together (replacing the question mark with the query
text, wrapped in single-quotes). Note that if you chose this method and need to add any wildcards to
your query text, you must do so by appending (and/or prefixing) them to the {@code selectionArgs}
parameter, because this is the value that will be wrapped in quotes and inserted in place of the
question mark.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Tip:</strong> If you don't want to define a selection clause in
the {@code android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute, but would still like to receive the query
text in the {@code selectionArgs} parameter, simply provide a non-null value for the {@code
android:searchSuggestSelection} attribute. This will trigger the query to be passed in {@code
selectionArgs} and you can ignore the {@code selection} parameter. In this way, you can instead
define the actual selection clause at a lower level so that your content provider doesn't have to
handle it.</p>


<h3 id="SuggestionTable">Building a suggestion table</h3>

<div class="sidebox-wrapper">
<div class="sidebox">
<h2>Creating a Cursor on the fly</h2>
<p>If your search suggestions are not stored in a table format using the columns required by the
Search Manager, then you can search your suggestion data for matches and then format them
into the necessary table on the fly. To do so, create a {@link android.database.MatrixCursor} using
the required column names and then add a row for each suggestion using {@link
android.database.MatrixCursor#addRow(Object[])}. Return the final product from your Content
Provider's {@link
android.content.ContentProvider#query(Uri,String[],String,String[],String) query()} method.</p>
</div>
</div>

<p>When you return suggestions to the Search Manager with a {@link android.database.Cursor}, the
Search Manager expects there to be specific columns in each row. So, regardless of whether you
decide to store
your suggestion data in an SQLite database on the device, a database on a web server, or another
format on the device or web, you must format the suggestions as rows in a table and
present them with a {@link android.database.Cursor}. There are several columns that the Search
Manager will understand, but only two are required:</p>

<dl>
  <dt>{@link android.provider.BaseColumns#_ID}</dt>
  <dd>This is the unique row ID for each suggestion. The search dialog requires this in order
to present the suggestions in a ListView.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_TEXT_1}</dt>
  <dd>This is the line of text that will be presented to the user as a suggestion.</dd>
</dl>

<p>The following columns are all optional (and most will be discussed further in the following
sections, so you may want to skip this list for now):</p>

<dl>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_TEXT_2}</dt>
  <dd>If your Cursor  includes this column, then all suggestions will be provided in a two-line
format. The data in this column will be displayed as a second, smaller line of text below the
primary suggestion text. It can be null or empty to indicate no secondary text.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_ICON_1}</dt>
  <dd>If your Cursor  includes this column, then all suggestions will be provided in an
icon-plus-text format with the icon on the left side. This value should be a reference to the
icon. It can be null or zero to indicate no icon in this row.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_ICON_2}</dt>
  <dd>If your Cursor  includes this column, then all suggestions will be provided in an
icon-plus-text format with the icon on the right side. This value should be a reference to the
icon. It can be null or zero to indicate no icon in this row.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_ACTION}</dt>
  <dd>If this column exists and this element exists at the given row, this is the action that will
be used when forming the suggestion's Intent . If the element is not provided, the action will be
taken from the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentAction} field in your searchable configuration. At
least one of these
must be present for the suggestion to generate an Intent. Note: If your action is the same for all
suggestions, it is more efficient to specify the action using {@code
android:searchSuggestIntentAction} and omit this column from the Cursor .</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA}</dt>
  <dd>If this column exists and this element exists at the given row, this is the data that will be
used when forming the suggestion's Intent. If the element is not provided, the data will be taken
from the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentData} field in your searchable configuration. If neither
source is provided,
the Intent's data field will be null. Note: If your data is the same for all suggestions, or can be
described using a constant part and a specific ID, it is more efficient to specify it using {@code
android:searchSuggestIntentData} and omit this column from the Cursor .
</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA_ID}</dt>
  <dd>If this column exists and this element exists at the given row, then "/" and this value will
be appended to the data field in the Intent. This should only be used if the data field specified
by the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentData} attribute in the searchable configuration has already
been set to an appropriate base string.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_EXTRA_DATA}</dt>
  <dd>If this column exists and this element exists at a given row, this is the <em>extra</em> data
that will be used when forming the suggestion's Intent. If not provided, the Intent's extra data
field will be
null. This column allows suggestions to provide additional arbitrary data which will be
included as an extra in the Intent's {@link android.app.SearchManager#EXTRA_DATA_KEY} key.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_QUERY}</dt>
  <dd>If this column exists and this element exists at the given row, this is the data that will be
used when forming the suggestion's query, included as an extra in the Intent's {@link
android.app.SearchManager#QUERY} key. Required if suggestion's action is {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH}, optional otherwise.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SHORTCUT_ID}</dt>
  <dd>Only used when providing suggestions for Quick Search Box. This column is used to indicate
whether a search suggestion should be stored as a
shortcut, and whether it should be validated. Shortcuts are usually formed when the user clicks a
suggestion from Quick Search Box. If missing, the result will be stored as a shortcut and never
refreshed. If set to {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_NEVER_MAKE_SHORTCUT}, the result will
not be stored as a shortcut.
Otherwise, the shortcut id will be used to check back for for an up to date suggestion using
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_URI_PATH_SHORTCUT}.</dd>
  <dt>{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SPINNER_WHILE_REFRESHING}</dt>
  <dd>Only used when providing suggestions for Quick Search Box. This column is used to specify that
a spinner should be shown instead of an icon from {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_ICON_2}
while the shortcut of this suggestion is being refreshed in Quick Search Box.</dd>
</dl>

<p>Again, most of these columns will be discussed in the relevant sections below, so don't worry if
they don't make sense to you now.</p>


<h2 id="IntentForSuggestions">Declaring an Intent for suggestions</h2>

<p>When the user selects a suggestion from the list that appears below the search
dialog (instead of performing a search), the Search Manager will send
a custom {@link android.content.Intent} to your searchable Activity. You must define both the
<em>action</em> and <em>data</em> for the Intent.</p>


<h3 id="IntentAction">Declaring the Intent action</h3>

<p>The most common Intent action for a custom suggestion is {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_VIEW}, which is appropriate when
you want to open something, like the definition for a word, a person's contact information, or a web
page. However, the Intent action can be whatever you want and can even be different for each
suggestion.</p>

<p>To declare an Intent action that will be the same for all suggestions, define the action in
the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentAction} attribute of your searchable configuration file. For
example:</p>

<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:label="@string/app_label"
    android:hint="@string/search_hint"
    android:searchSuggestAuthority="my.package.MySuggestionProvider"
    android:searchSuggestIntentAction="android.Intent.action.VIEW" >
&lt;/searchable>
</pre>

<p>If you want to declare an Intent action that's unique for each suggestion, add the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_ACTION} column to
your suggestions table and, for each suggestion, place in it the action to use (such as
{@code "android.Intent.action.VIEW"}). </p>

<p>You can also combine these two techniques. For instance, you can include the {@code
android:searchSuggestIntentAction} attribute with an action to be used with all suggestions by
default, then override this action for some suggestions by declaring a different action in the
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_ACTION} column. If you do not include
a value in the {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_ACTION} column, then the
Intent provided in the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentAction} attribute will be used.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>: If you do not include the
{@code android:searchSuggestIntentAction} attribute in your searchable configuration, then you
<em>must</em> include a value in the {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_ACTION}
column for every suggestion, or the Intent will fail.</p>


<h3 id="IntentData">Declaring Intent data</h3>

<p>When the user selects a suggestion, your searchable Activity will receive the Intent with the
action you've defined (as discussed in the previous section), but the Intent must also carry
data in order for your Activity to identify which suggestions was selected. Specifically,
the data should be something unique for each suggestion, such as the row ID for the suggestion in
your suggestions table. When the Intent is received,
you can retrieve the attached data with {@link android.content.Intent#getData()} or {@link
android.content.Intent#getDataString()}.</p>

<p>There are two ways to define the data that is included with the Intent:</p>

<ol type="a">
  <li>Define the data for each suggestion inside the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA} column of your suggestions table.</li>
  <li>Fragment a data URI into two pieces: the portion common to all suggestions and the portion
unique to each suggestion. Place these parts into the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentData}
attribute of the searchable configuration and the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA_ID} column of your
suggestions table, respectively.</li>
</ol>

<p>The first option is straight-forward. Simply provide all necessary data information for each
Intent in the suggestions table by including the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA} column and then populating it with unique
data for each row. The data from this column will be attached to the Intent exactly as it
is found in this column. You can then retrieve it with with {@link android.content.Intent#getData()}
or {@link android.content.Intent#getDataString()}.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Tip</strong>: It's usually easiest to use the table's row ID as the
Intent data because it's always unique. And the easiest way to do that is by using the
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA} column name as an alias for the row ID
column. See the <a
href="{@docRoot}resources/samples/SearchableDictionary/index.html">Searchable Dictionary sample
app</a> for an example in which {@link android.database.sqlite.SQLiteQueryBuilder} is used to
create a projection map of column names to aliases.</p>

<p>The second option is to fragment your data URI into the common piece and the unique piece.
Declare the piece of the URI that is common to all suggestions in the {@code
android:searchSuggestIntentData} attribute of your searchable configuration. For example:</p>

<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:label="@string/app_label"
    android:hint="@string/search_hint"
    android:searchSuggestAuthority="my.package.MySuggestionProvider"
    android:searchSuggestIntentAction="android.Intent.action.VIEW"
    android:searchSuggestIntentData="content://my.package/datatable" >
&lt;/searchable>
</pre>

<p>Now include the final path for each suggestion (the unique part) in the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA_ID}
column of your suggestions table. When the user selects a suggestion, the Search Manager will take
the string from {@code android:searchSuggestIntentData}, append a slash ("/") and then add the
respective value from the {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA_ID} column to
form a complete content URI. You can then retrieve the {@link android.net.Uri} with with {@link
android.content.Intent#getData()}.</p>

<h4>Add more data</h4>

<p>If you need to express even more information with your Intent, you can add another table column,
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_EXTRA_DATA}, which can store additional
information about the suggestion. The data saved in this column will be placed in {@link
android.app.SearchManager#EXTRA_DATA_KEY} of the Intent's extra Bundle.</p>


<h2 id="HandlingIntent">Handling the Intent</h2>

<p>Now that your search dialog provides custom search suggestions with custom formatted Intents, you
need your searchable Activity to handle these Intents as they are delivered once the user selects a
suggestion. (This is, of course, in addition to handling the {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} Intent, which your searchable Activity already does.)
Accepting the new Intent is rather self-explanatory, so we'll skip straight to an example:</p>

<pre>
Intent intent = getIntent();
if (Intent.ACTION_SEARCH.equals(intent.getAction())) {
    // Handle the normal search query case
    String query = intent.getStringExtra(SearchManager.QUERY);
    doSearch(query);
} else if (Intent.ACTION_VIEW.equals(intent.getAction())) {
    // Handle a suggestions click (because my suggestions all use ACTION_VIEW)
    Uri data = intent.getData());
    showResult(rowId);
}
</pre>

<p>In this example, the Intent action is {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_VIEW} and the data carries a complete URI pointing to the suggested
item, as synthesized by the {@code android:searchSuggestIntentData} string and {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA_ID} column. The URI is then passed to a local
method that will query the content provider for the item specified by the URI and show it.</p>


<h2 id="RewritingQueryText">Rewriting the query text</h2>

<p>If the user navigates through the suggestions list using the device directional controls, the
text in the search dialog won't change, by default. However, you can temporarily rewrite the
user's query text as it appears in the text box with
a query that matches the currently selected suggestion. This enables the user to see what query is
being suggested (if appropriate) and then select the search box and edit the query before
dispatching it as a search.</p>

<p>You can rewrite the query text in the following ways:</p>

<ol type="a">
  <li>Add the {@code android:searchMode} attribute to your searchable configuration with the
"queryRewriteFromText" value. In this case, the content from the suggestion's {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_TEXT_1}
column will be used to rewrite the query text.</li>
  <li>Add the {@code android:searchMode} attribute to your searchable configuration with the
"queryRewriteFromData" value. In this case, the content from the suggestion's
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_INTENT_DATA} column will be used to rewrite the
query text. Note that this should only
be used with Uri's or other data formats that are intended to be user-visible, such as HTTP URLs.
Internal Uri schemes should not be used to rewrite the query in this way.</li>
  <li>Provide a unique query text string in the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_QUERY} column of your suggestions table. If this column is
present and contains a value for the current suggestion, it will be used to rewrite the query text
(and override either of the previous implementations).</li>
</ol>


<h2 id="QSB">Exposing search suggestions to Quick Search Box</h2>

<p>Once your application is configured to provide custom search suggestions, making them available
to the globally-accessible Quick Search Box is as easy as modifying your searchable configuration to
include {@code android:includeInGlobalSearch} as "true".</p>

<p>The only scenario in which additional work will be required is if your content provider  for
custom suggestions requires a permission for read access. In which case, you need to add a special
{@code &lt;path-permission>} element for the provider to grant Quick Search Box read access to your
content provider. For example:</p>

<pre>
&lt;provider android:name="MySuggestionProvider"
          android:authorities="my.package.authority"
          android:readPermission="com.example.provider.READ_MY_DATA"
          android:writePermission="com.example.provider.WRITE_MY_DATA">
  &lt;path-permission android:pathPrefix="/search_suggest_query"
                   android:readPermission="android.permission.GLOBAL_SEARCH" />
&lt;/provider>
</pre>

<p>In this example, the provider restricts read and write access to the content. The
{@code &lt;path-permission>} element amends the restriction by granting read access to content
inside the {@code "/search_suggest_query"} path prefix when the {@code
"android.permission.GLOBAL_SEARCH"} permission exists. This grants access to Quick Search Box
so that it may query your content provider for suggestions.</p>

<p>Content providers that enforce no permissions are already available to the search
infrastructure.</p>


<h3 id="EnablingSuggestions">Enabling suggestions on a device</h3>

<p>When your application is configured to provide suggestions in Quick Search Box, it is not
actually enabled to provide suggestions in Quick Search Box, by default. It is the user's choice
whether to include suggestions from your application in the Quick Search Box. To enable search
suggestions from your application, the user must open "Searchable items" (in Settings > Search) and
enable your application as a searchable item.</p>

<p>Each application that is available to Quick Search Box has an entry in the Searchable items
settings page. The entry includes the name of the application and a short description of what
content can be searched from the application and made available for suggestions in Quick Search Box.
To define the description text for your searchable application, add the {@code
android:searchSettingsDescription} attribute to your searchable configuration. For example:</p>

<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:label="@string/app_label"
    android:hint="@string/search_hint"
    android:searchSuggestAuthority="my.package.MySuggestionProvider"
    android:searchSuggestIntentAction="android.Intent.action.VIEW"
    android:includeInGlobalSearch="true"
    android:searchSettingsDescription="@string/search_description" >
&lt;/searchable>
</pre>

<p>The string for {@code android:searchSettingsDescription} should be as concise as possible and
state the content that is searchable. For example, "Artists, albums, and tracks" for a music
application, or "Saved notes" for a notepad application. Providing this description is important so
the user knows what kind of suggestions will be provided. This attribute should always be included
when {@code android:includeInGlobalSearch} is "true".</p>

<p>Remember that the user must visit this settings menu to enable search suggestions for your
application before your search suggestions will appear in Quick Search Box. As such, if search is an
important aspect of your application, then you may want to consider a way to message this to your
users &mdash; perhaps with a note the first time they launch the app about how to enable search
suggestions for Quick Search Box.</p>


<h3 id="ManagingShortcuts">Managing Quick Search Box suggestion shortcuts</h3>

<p>Suggestions that the user selects from Quick Search Box may be automatically made into shortcuts.
These are suggestions that the Search Manager has copied from your content provider  so it can
quickly access the suggestion without the need to re-query your content provider. </p>

<p>By default, this is enabled for all suggestions retrieved by Quick Search Box, but if your
suggestion data may change over time, then you can request that the shortcuts be refreshed. For
instance, if your suggestions refer to dynamic data, such as a contact's presence status, then you
should request that the suggestion shortcuts be refreshed when shown to the user. To do so,
include the {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SHORTCUT_ID} in your suggestions table.
Using this column, you can
configure the shortcut behavior for each suggestion in the following ways:</p>

<ol type="a">
  <li>Have Quick Search Box re-query your content provider for a fresh version of the shortcutted
suggestion.
    <p>Provide a value in the {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SHORTCUT_ID} column
and the suggestion will be
re-queried for a fresh version of the suggestion each time the shortcut is displayed. The shortcut
will be quickly displayed with whatever data was most recently available until the refresh query
returns, after which the suggestion will be dynamically refreshed with the new information. The
refresh query will be sent to your content provider with a URI path of {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_URI_PATH_SHORTCUT}
(instead of {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_URI_PATH_QUERY}). The Cursor you return should
contain one suggestion using the
same columns as the original suggestion, or be empty, indicating that the shortcut is no
longer valid (in which case, the suggestion will disappear and the shortcut will be removed).</p>
    <p>If a suggestion refers to data that could take longer to refresh, such as a network based
refresh, you may also add the {@link
android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SPINNER_WHILE_REFRESHING} column to your suggestions
table with a value
of "true" in order to show a progress spinner for the right hand icon until the refresh is complete.
(Any value other than "true" will not show the progress spinner.)</p></li>
  <li>Prevent the suggestion from being copied into a shortcut at all.
    <p>Provide a value of {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_NEVER_MAKE_SHORTCUT} in the
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SHORTCUT_ID} column. In
this case, the suggestion will never be copied into a shortcut. This should only be necessary if you
absolutely do not want the previously copied suggestion to appear at all. (Recall that if you
provide a normal value for the column then the suggestion shortcut will appear only until the
refresh query returns.)</p></li>
  <li>Allow the default shortcut behavior to apply.
    <p>Simply leave the {@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SHORTCUT_ID} empty for each
suggestion that will not change and can be saved as a shortcut.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Of course, if none of your suggestions will ever change, then you do not need the
{@link android.app.SearchManager#SUGGEST_COLUMN_SHORTCUT_ID} column at all.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>: Quick Search Box will ultimately decide whether to shortcut
your app's suggestions, considering these values as a strong request from your application.</p>


<h3 id="AboutRanking">About Quick Search Box suggestion ranking</h3>

<p>Once your application's search results are made available to Quick Search Box, how they surface
to the user for a particular query will be determined as appropriate by Quick Search Box ranking.
This may depend on how many other apps have results for that query, and how often the user has
selected on your results compared to those of the other apps. There is no guarantee about how
ranking will occur, or whether your app's suggestions will show at all for a given query. In
general, you can expect that providing quality results will increase the likelihood that your app's
suggestions are provided in a prominent position, and apps that provide lower quality suggestions
will be more likely to be ranked lower and/or not displayed.</p>

<div class="special">
<p>See the <a href="{@docRoot}resources/samples/SearchableDictionary/index.html">Searchable
Dictionary sample app</a> for a complete demonstration of custom search suggestions.</p>
</div>