This post is about creating a custom core results web part which will render the search results similar to list view UI i.e. using grid view with pagination, context menus, & column sorting / filtering.  Most of the business users demand this kind of UI, as they expect to have a consistent user interface while working with documents.  Moreover, it’s much usable when the document actions are available in the search results itself.  The user can search for some documents and can do the same set of actions what they can do with the document’s library list view.

Problem

• Search results should enable the user to checkout/check inand perform other related actions for the document
• User’s should be able to sort & filter on the search result columns
• The UI for the search results should be similar to the UI of a document library / list library

 Solution

• Custom Core Results Web Part implementing custom rendering format for the search results using the SPGridView, as this control provides the pagination, sorting & filtering feature

 Key Considerations/Challenges

• The approach should reuse the OOTB Core Results web part to the max, thus reducing effort in re-inventing the wheel
• Consistent UI should be provided for the user, between the search UI and the other list views in SharePoint
• Most of all the features of OOTB Core Results web part can be reused for this approach, but the rendering of search result must be overridden for rendering the results in grid format with pagination, context menus and sorting/filtering
• The pagination for the SPGridView control is based on the datasource being bound to that. Hence, the OOTB core results web part’s output should be set to the desired size, which is really not possible, as the PageSize property of the OOTB core results web part restricts the maximum size to 50
• he context menus for the search results should be generated by using the same mechanism how SharePoint does it for the document library / list items

 Approach

• To implement the custom rendering format in grid, the SPGridView control is used, as it implicitly provides the following features:
  • Pagination
  • Sorting
  • Filtering
• For the SPGridView to have its own pagination, the results being returned from the OOTB Core Results web part should be overridden with the custom value. The number of records being returned by the OOTB core results web part can be overridden by manipulating the SRHO (Search Result Hidden Object) being used by the OOTB core results web part
• The javascript function that is responsible for generating the context menu for list items, expects few set of parameters for each item to determine the items to be generated for the context menus. These set of parameters can be explicitly rendered along with the search results

 1)  Manipulating the SRHO to return the desired no. of results (using Reflection)

//Get the SRHO from the context

object srhoInContext = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Items["OSSSRHDC_0"]

 //Create a Query instance

Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Query.Query customQuery = new Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Query.Query(Microsoft.Office.Server.ServerContext.Current)

 //Invoke the methods “SetKeywordQueryProperties” & “SetQueryProperties” to populate the properties for the customQuery object

srhoInContext.GetType().GetMethod

(“SetKeywordQueryProperties”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance

).Invoke(srhoInContext, new object[] { customQuery });

 srhoInContext.GetType().GetMethod

(“SetQueryProperties”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic

).Invoke(srhoInContext, new object[] { customQuery });

 //Set the desired page size to the custom query object

customQuery.RowLimit = 1000

 //Execute the query and obtain results

Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Query.ResultTableCollection customResults = customQuery.Execute();

 //Set the property variables of the SRHO using Reflection

srhoInContext.GetType().GetField(

“m_Result”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance

).SetValue(srhoInContext, customResults);

 srhoInContext.GetType().GetField(

“m_totalRows”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance

).SetValue(srhoInContext, relevantResultTable.TotalRows);

 srhoInContext.GetType().GetField(

“m_RowCount”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance

).SetValue(srhoInContext, relevantResultTable.RowCount);

 srhoInContext.GetType().GetField(

“m_BestBetRowCount”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance

).SetValue(srhoInContext, bestBetResultTable.RowCount);

 srhoInContext.GetType().GetField(

“m_HighConfidenceRowCount”,

System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance

).SetValue(srhoInContext, highConfidenceResultTable.RowCount);

 //Put the manipulated SRHO object back into context

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Items["OSSSRHDC_0"] = srhoInContext

 //Get the results data table

DataTable tbl = new DataTable();

tbl.Load(customResults[Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Query.ResultType.RelevantResults],LoadOption.OverwriteChanges);

 The above manipulation, just updates only the “m_Result” variable of ResultTableCollection type in SRHO object, which of ResultTableCollection.  But, the xmlResponseDoc, representing the results in xml document, is not updated.

 2)  Using SPGridView for enabling Pagination, Sorting & Filtering

//INITIALIZE THE SPGRIDVIEW WITH THE PROPERTIES ENABLED FOR PAGINATION, SORTING AND FILTERING

SPGridView resultsView = new SPGridView();

 

// Initialize SPGridView

resultsView = new SPGridView();

 

// setting the basic properties of SPGridView

resultsView.ID = “<SPGridViewID>”";

resultsView.AutoGenerateColumns = false;

 

// setting the sorting properties

resultsView.AllowSorting = true;

 

// setting the paging properties

resultsView.PageSize = <desiredPageSize>;

resultsView.AllowPaging = true;

resultsView.PagerStyle.HorizontalAlign = HorizontalAlign.Right;

 

// setting the event handlers

resultsView.RowDataBound += new wRowEventHandler(resultsView_RowDataBound);

 

// setting the filter properties

resultsView.AllowFiltering = true;

resultsView.FilterDataFields = “<list of column names to be filtered>”;

resultsView.FilteredDataSourcePropertyName = “FilterExpression”;

resultsView.FilteredDataSourcePropertyFormat = “{1} LIKE ‘{0}’”;

 

// INITIALIZE THE DATASOURCE

ObjectDataSource ds = new ObjectDataSource();

ds.TypeName = “<TypeName>,”;

ds.TypeName += System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().FullName;

ds.SelectMethod = “FillDataTable”;

ds.ID = “<ID>”;

 

// setting the data source for the grid view

resultsView.DataSourceID = ds.ID

 

// add both the datasource and the grid to the control collection

this.Controls.Add(ds);

this.Controls.Add(resultsView);

 

// Set the PagerTemplate property to null for enabling the default pagination controls

// this line must be after adding the grid to the control collection

resultsView.PagerTemplate = null;

 

// Override the OnPreRender & Render method to set the filter expression and perform data //bind

 

protected override void OnPreRender(EventArgs e)

{

            ViewState["FilterExpression"] = ds.FilterExpression;

            base.OnPreRender(e);

}

 

protected override void Render(HtmlTextWriter writer)

{

            resultsView.DataBind();

            base.Render(writer);

}

 

// Setting the column headers with filter icon

// include the following code block in the RowDataBound Eventhandler method for

// SPGridView

 

if ((sender != null) && (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.Header))

{

    string strFilteredColumn = ((SPGridView)sender).FilterFieldName;

    SetGridViewFilterIcon(resultsView, strFilteredColumn, e.Row);

}

 

public void SetGridViewFilter(SPGridView gridView, string strFilteredColumn, GridViewRow gridViewRow)

{

            if ((string.IsNullOrEmpty(strFilteredColumn) == false) && (gridViewRow != null))

            {

                // Show icon on filtered column

                for (int iIndex = 0; iIndex < gridView.Columns.Count; iIndex++)

                {

                    DataControlField currentField = gridView.Columns[iIndex];

 

                    if (currentField.HeaderText.Equals(strFilteredColumn))

                    {

                        Image filterIcon = new Image();

                        filterIcon.ImageUrl = “/_layouts/images/ewr093.gif”;

                        filterIcon.ImageAlign = ImageAlign.Left;

                        filterIcon.Style[System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriterStyle.MarginTop] = “2px”;

                        filterIcon.ID = “FilterIcon”;

 

                        Panel panel = new Panel();

                        panel.Controls.Add(filterIcon);

 

                        gridViewRow.Cells[iIndex].Controls.Add(panel);

 

                        break;

                    }

                }

            }

}

3)  Populating the context menus for search result items, using the OOTB javascript function which automatically picks up the required attributes and generates the context menus

Reference Table for the hidden attributes being used in this custom search results webpart, for enabling the javascript to populate the context mneus for search results.  The attributes needs to be passed in two places

            1.  ContextInfo object attributes

            2.  Input type attributes

Attribute Name	Description	Value Type
listBaseType	The base type id for the item list	Numeric value
listTemplate	The list template id for the list	Numeric value
listName	The list name in GUID format	GUID
view	The list’s view ID	GUID
listUrlDir	Relative URL for the list	string
HttpPath	Docsf_vti_binfowssvr.dll?65001	string
HttpRoot	Fully qualified URL for the site	string
imagesPath	Relative URL for the images	string
PortalUrl
SendToLocationName
SendToLocationUrl
RecycleBinEnabled
OfficialFileName
WriteSecurity
SiteTitle	Title of the site	string
ListTitle	Title of the list	string
displayFormUrl	Server relative Url for the display form.	string
editFormUrl	Server relative Url for the edit form.	string
ctxId	The Id for the context object	string
g_ViewIdToViewCounterMap[x]	x – replace it with list view GUID	string
CurrentUserId	Numeric notation for current user	Numeric
isForceCheckout	Is force checkout enabled	true/false
EnableMinorVersions	Is minor versions enabled	true/false
verEnabled	Is versioning enabled	0 – true / 1 – false
WorkflowAssociated	Is workflow associated	true/false
ContentTypeEnabled	Is content type enabled	true/false
ctx<id>=ctx	Above properties are associated to the contextinfo object ctx & assign it to the ctx<id> – id replace with 1, if only one context object in place, else replace <id> with appropriate number

 

INPUT TYPE ATTRIBUTES
Attribute Name	Description	Value Type
CTXName	Name of the attribute specifies the context info object reference, with the above-mentioned properties set.	ContextInfo object
id	Id of the item in it’s list	Numeric
url	Relative Url of the item	Url as string
dref	Item’s file directory reference	Url as string
perm	Permission Mask of the list item	Octal as string
type	Type of the item	string
ext	Item’s file extension	string
icon	<icon>|<client app. ProgID>|<action name>
	<icon> – icon name	string
	<client app. ProgID> – ProgID of the item’s associated application	string
	<action name> – Action to be done	string
otype	Object Type	string
couid	Checked out user’s numeric id	Numeric
sred	Server redirect Url	Url as string
cout	Checked Out Status	Numeric
hcd	Controls if a menu item to navigate to the “/_layouts/updatecopies.aspx” will be added.  I am guessing this   has to do with records management (update copies of the document when it was changed).
csrc	Copy source link	string
ms	Moderation Status	Numeric
ctype	Content Type name	string
cid	Content Type Id	Octal as string
uis	UI version Id	Numeric as string
surl	Source Url	Url as string

// FORMAT FOR THE CONTEXT INFO ATTRIBUTES SCRIPT

<SCRIPT>

ctx = new ContextInfo();

ctx.listBaseType = <listBaseTypeID>;

ctx.listTemplate = <ListTempateID>;

ctx.listName = “{<GUID of List>}”;

ctx.view = “{GUID of List Default View}”;

ctx.listUrlDir = “<list url>”;

ctx.HttpPath = “u002f<site>u002f_vti_binu002fowssvr.dll?CS=65001″;

ctx.HttpRoot = “http:u002fu002f<SERVER>:<PORT>u002f<SITE>”;

ctx.imagesPath = “u002f_layoutsu002fimagesu002f”;

ctx.PortalUrl = “”;

ctx.SendToLocationName = “”;

ctx.SendToLocationUrl = “”;

ctx.RecycleBinEnabled = -1;

ctx.OfficialFileName = “”;

ctx.WriteSecurity = “1″;

ctx.SiteTitle = “<SITE TITLE>”;

ctx.ListTitle = “<LIST TITLE>”;

if (ctx.PortalUrl == “”) ctx.PortalUrl = null;

ctx.displayFormUrl = “<URL OF DISPLAY FORM>”;

ctx.editFormUrl = “<URL OF EDIT FORM>”;

ctx.isWebEditorPreview = 0;

ctx.ctxId = 1;

g_ViewIdToViewCounterMap[ "{<GUID of List's default view>}" ]= 1;

ctx.CurrentUserId = <CURRENT USER ID (numeric)>;

ctx.isForceCheckout = <true/false>;

ctx.EnableMinorVersions = <true/false>;

ctx.verEnabled = 1;

ctx.WorkflowsAssociated = <true/false>;

ctx.ContentTypesEnabled = <true/false>;

ctx1 = ctx;

</SCRIPT>

 

// FORMAT FOR THE INPUT TYPE ATTRIBUTES

<table height=”100%” cellspacing=0 class=”ms-unselectedtitle” onmouseover=”OnItem(this)”

CTXName=”ctx1″

Id=”<ID of the item in it’s list>”

Url=”<Relative Url of the item>”

DRef=”<File Directory Reference>”

Perm=”<Permission Mask>”

Type=”"

Ext=”<file extension>”

Icon=”<ImageIcon filename>|<ProgID of client application>|<action>”

OType=”<FileSystemObjectTypeID>”

COUId=”<CheckedOutUserID>”

SRed=”"

COut=”<IsCheckedOut><0/1>”

HCD=”"

CSrc=”"

MS=”<ModerationStatus>”

CType=”<ContentType>”

CId=”<ContentTypeID>”

UIS=”<UI String for version>”

SUrl=”">

<tr>

<td width=”100%” Class=”ms-vb”>

<A onfocus=”OnLink(this)”

HREF=”<itemURL>”

onclick=”return DispEx(this,event,’TRUE’,'FALSE’,'TRUE’,'SharePoint.OpenDocuments.3′,

’0′,’SharePoint.OpenDocuments’,”,”,”,’1073741823′,’1′,’0′,’0x7fffffffffffffff’)”>

The above code implemented still have some nitty bitty issues, which I’m still working on.  I thought I’d just give a headsup on the overall approach, so that it will help someone firefighting the same kind of issue.

Screenshots

1. Custom Core Results Web Part 

2.  Custom Core Results Web Part – with Filter Menu 

3.  Custom Core Results Web Part – with Context Menu