Google Search Appliance User Experience Guide - Manual (Page 4)

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Chapter 1 Presentation Methods
Overview
Sending a search query to the Google Search Appliance (GSA) returns results in raw XML. To make this
XML presentable to the end user, the GSA parses the XML, along with an XSLT stylesheet, and this
generates an HTML web page.
One of the first decisions to be made when deciding upon the user experience is which presentation
method to use. By presentation method, we mean the platform on which the search interface is presented
to the users.
There are two primary methods of delivering the search experience to your users:
●
Google Search Appliance presentation layer
○ Presented directly from the GSA
○ Presented by way of an inline frame
●
Application presentation layer
This section will help you choose an appropriate method for your users based on technical requirements
and the outcomes you are trying to achieve.
Google Search Appliance presentation layer
The Google Search Appliance uses an XSLT stylesheet for its presentation layer.
Key considerations
Using this built-in presentation layer has several advantages and some limitations and disadvantages .
Advantages
Using the GSA presentation layer has the following advantages:
●
All presentation is rendered on-box and delivered directly to the user. The search appliance does
not require any additional hardware to manage presentation.
●
Built-in user features, such as Query Suggestions, Document Preview, Translation, User Results,
Expert Search, Dynamic Result Clusters, and so on, can be enabled and delivered to users as
simply as selecting a checkbox.
●
Relatively sophisticated user experiences can be delivered by means of declarative XSLT
transformations through direct customization of the stylesheet.
●
The search experience can be delivered very quickly, with minimal XSLT/XML/HTML knowledge.
● Using inline frames, you can present the search interface within the context of an otherwise static
web page.
●
Simplifies secure search authentication setup due to a reduction in the number of security hops.