Search.hs: +docs, and export simpleEngine so users can define their own

XMonad/Actions/Search.hs

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 module XMonad.Actions.Search (      -- * Usage
                                  -- $usage
                                  search,
+                                 simpleEngine,
                                  promptSearch,
                                  selectSearch,
 
@@ -35,6 +36,26 @@ import XMonad.Prompt.Shell (getShellCompl)
 import XMonad.Util.Run (safeSpawn)
 import XMonad.Util.XSelection (getSelection)
 
+{- $usage
+
+   This module is intended to allow easy access to databases on the Internet
+   through XMonad's interface. The idea is that one wants to run a search but the
+   query string and the browser to use must come from somewhere. There are two
+   places the query string can come from - the user can type it into a prompt
+   which pops up, or the query could be available already in the X Windows
+   copy/paste buffer (perhaps you just highlighted the string of interest).
+
+   Thus, there are two main functions: 'promptSearch', and 'selectSearch'
+   (implemented using the more primitive 'search'). To each of these is passed an
+   engine function; this is a function that knows how to search a particular
+   site.
+   For example, the 'google' function knows how to search Google, and so on. You pass
+   promptSearch and selectSearch the engine you want, the browser you want, and
+   anything special they might need; this whole line is then bound to a key of
+   you choosing in your xmonad.hs. For specific examples, see each function.
+   This module is easily extended to new sites by using 'simpleEngine'.
+-}
+
 -- A customized prompt.
 data Search = Search
 instance XPrompt Search where
@@ -71,31 +92,46 @@ type SearchEngine = String -> String
 search :: MonadIO m => Browser -> SearchEngine -> String -> m ()
 search browser site query = safeSpawn browser $ site query
 
--- | Given a base URL, create the SearchEngine that escapes the query and
+{- | Given a base URL, create the SearchEngine that escapes the query and
--- appends it to the base
+   appends it to the base. You can easily define a new engine locally using simpleEngine
+   without needing to modify Search.hs:
+
+   > newEngine = simpleEngine "http://site.com/search="
+
+   The important thing is that the site has a interface which accepts the query
+   string as part of the URL. Alas, the exact URL to feed simpleEngine varies
+   from site to site, often considerably. Generally, examining the resultant URL
+   of a search will allow you to reverse-engineer it if you can't find the
+   necessary URL already described in other projects such as Surfraw. -}
 simpleEngine :: String -> SearchEngine
 simpleEngine site query = site ++ escape query
 
 -- The engines
-amazon, google, imdb, wayback, wikipedia, hoogle :: SearchEngine
+amazon, google, hoogle, imdb, wayback, wikipedia :: SearchEngine
 amazon    = simpleEngine "http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?index=all&keyword="
 google    = simpleEngine "http://www.google.com/search?num=100&q="
+hoogle    = simpleEngine "http://www.haskell.org/hoogle/?q="
 imdb      = simpleEngine "http://www.imdb.com/Find?select=all&for="
 wikipedia = simpleEngine "https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Special:Search?go=Go&search="
 wayback   = simpleEngine "http://web.archive.org/"
 {- This doesn't seem to work, but nevertheless, it seems to be the official
    method at <http://web.archive.org/collections/web/advanced.html> to get the
    latest backup. -}
-hoogle    = simpleEngine "http://www.haskell.org/hoogle/?q="
 
--- | Like 'search', but in this case, the string is not specified but grabbed
+{- | Like 'search', but in this case, the string is not specified but grabbed
--- from the user's response to a prompt.
+ from the user's response to a prompt. Example:
+
+ > , ((modm,               xK_g     ), promptSearch greenXPConfig "firefox" google)
+
+-}
 promptSearch :: XPConfig -> Browser -> SearchEngine -> X ()
 promptSearch config browser site = mkXPrompt Search config (getShellCompl []) $ search browser site
 
--- | Like search, but for use with the X selection; it grabs the selection,
+{- | Like search, but for use with the X selection; it grabs the selection,
--- passes it to a given searchEngine and opens it in a browser. The various
+   passes it to a given searchEngine and opens it in the given browser. Example:
--- *Selection functions specialize this to a particular search engine to make
+
--- things easier.
+> , ((modm .|. shiftMask, xK_g     ), selectSearch "firefox" google)
+
+-}
 selectSearch :: MonadIO m => Browser -> SearchEngine -> m ()
-selectSearch browser searchEngine = search browser searchEngine =<< getSelection
+selectSearch browser searchEngine = search browser searchEngine =<< getSelection