Using the search-ms Protocol
The search-ms protocol is a convention for querying the Windows Search index, or any other application that is registered for the protocol. The search-ms protocol uses the following standard URL-encoded syntax:
search-ms:[//]parameter=value[¶meter=value]
The syntax begins by identifying the protocol itself (search-ms:). The forward slashes (//) are optional and do not affect execution of the query. The parameter/value pairs are arguments passed to the Search engine, as described in the following table.
| Parameter | Value | Description | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| query | URL-encoded text | The query text entered by the user. | Both |
| inputlocale | Any valid LCID | The LCID that identifies the input language for the query. | Both |
| keywordlocale | Any valid LCID | The LCID that identifies the language of the international version of the Indexer. The default is 1033 (en-us). | Both |
| crumb | AQS statement | This argument restricts the scope being searched. In Vista, search-ms supports full AQS, except for a special implementation of location. In XP, search-ms also supports full AQS, except for a special implementation of kind and store. |
Both |
| syntax | NQS, AQS (not case sensitive) | The query syntax to use to search the index: either Natural Query Syntax or Advanced Query Syntax. AQS is the default and is always assumed parsed and supported. | Vista |
| stackedby | Any valid property from the property system | A property that specifies the column to stack results by. | Vista |
| subquery | A fully specified path for a Saved Search file (*.search-ms) | The results of the subquery are used as the source for the query. That is, the query terms are searched for against the results of the subquery. | Vista |
| displayname | URL-encoded string | The name of the current search. | Vista |