KeyToss Keyword-Powered Search Tool Patch

[samkim]

Update 5: Added webOS App Finder - @a
UPDATE 4: This patch is compatible with webOS 1.3.5.
UPDATE 3: The webOS 1.3.1 compatible version of this patch is now available.
UPDATE 2: This tool now requires that keywords be preceded by @.
UPDATE: emoney_33 has packaged this patch, and it is available via both Preware and WebOS Quick Install.

This patch enhances the Pre's universal search so that you can access over fifty different search tools using keywords.

Examples:

@a location
Search for location-related apps in webOS App Finder.
For more info, see this thread.
webOS App Finder site: webOS App Finder - KeyToss Mobile Portal


@d auspicious
Look up "auspicious" on dictionary.com.

@yt thriller
Find the Thriller video on YouTube.

@af api
Find the abbreviation "api" on Acronym Finder.

@def computer
Look up "computer" in the English-French dictionary.

@i lost
Search for "Lost" on IMDb.

@ac 646
Find out where area code 646 is.

@am logitech speakers
Search for Logitech speakers on Amazon.com.

@w palm
Look up "palm" on Wikipedia.
The advantage here is that you can use Wikipedia without tapping the screen.


If there's no keyword, then it'll automatically send the query to Google:
precentral store
Search for the PreCentral store on Google.

To force a Google search when the search itself contains a keyword, precede the search term with 'g':
@g i robot
Search Google for "I Robot".


Enter a keyword without a search term to just go to the site (though you may have to touch the search bar to bypass the local device search):
@th
Go to thesaurus.com.


There are over fifty search tools to choose from. You can get the most current list at KeyToss:

@k list (or @help)
Bring up a list of available keywords.

The keyword list is also posted below.

[Sunsparc]

Sounds like a good idea, I just dont know that I would use it myself.

[The_lane]

ooh, lemme finish breakfast and get back to you, this looks nifty. List of all the shortcuts?

[The_lane]

ooh, lemme finish breakfast and get back to you, this looks nifty. List of all the shortcuts?

[samkim]

Updated List of Keywords as of Jan 27

Here is the current list of keywords, followed by the sites they are associated with.

Keyword	Search Tool

ab	About.com
af	Acronym Finder
am	Amazon.com
an	Answers.com
aol	AOL.com
a	App Search - search for webOS apps
ac	Area Code
arin	ARIN IP WHOIS
ask	Ask.com
bn	Barnes & Noble.com
by	Bartleby.com
b	Bing.com
cn	CNET
dhl	DHL Package Tracking
d	Dictionary.com
def	Dictionary: English-French
deg	Dictionary: English-German
dei	Dictionary: English-Italian
dek	Dictionary: English-Korean
des	Dictionary: English-Spanish
dfe	Dictionary: French-English
dge	Dictionary: German-English
die	Dictionary: Italian-English
dke	Dictionary: Korean-English
dse	Dictionary: Spanish-English
e	eBay
en	Engadget
fe	FedEx Package Tracking
fl	Flickr
g	Google
gf	Google Finance
gi	Google Images
gl	Google Local
gms	Google Mobile Sites
gn	Google News
gp	Google Products
gwt	Google Wireless Transcoder
i	IMDb
mo	Mowser
nyt	New York Times
pg	Price Grabber
sk	Skweezer
th	Thesaurus.com
ta	TripAdvisor
ups	UPS Tracking
ud	Urban Dictionary
usps	US Postal Service Tracking
vu	Vuclip Mobile Video Search
we	Weather.com
whois	WHO.IS
w	Wikipedia
y	Yahoo
yw	Yahoo Weather
yp	YellowPages.com
yelp	Yelp
yt	YouTube
yn	YubNub
ynm	YubNub Mobile

There are some interesting possibilities here. I could assign shortcuts to mobile sites, even those without any search, and maybe even allow for customization - so that you could access all of your sites by pressing a few keys. (Yeah, I know, the touchscreen and gestures are cool and easy to use; but the keyboard can be way faster.)

[samkim]

I've updated the original post and the list of keywords.

Note that with location-based searches (Google Local, Yellow Pages, and Yelp), the searches work differently from the KeyToss mobile site. This patch does not send your location - so each site will perform the search based on the last location that you selected for that site.


Again, note that you can bring up the current list of keywords by typing:
k list

(You can also replace "k" with "kt", and you can abbreviate "list" as "l", "li", or "lis". Use whatever is convenient to bypass locally stored contacts.)

[MaxLOL]

this is awesome brah! thanks!

[charlestwesco]

Could you make a hack that would allow me to search the other fields of web os contacts other than just the name fields? I really miss being able to search the contacts notes field especially.

[biggamer3]

wow great work!

[charlestwesco]

Could you or someone in patch community PLEASE create a patch that would allow me to search the contact memo and address fields! I need this old Palm OS functionality sooooooo bad in my business!

[JerryG]

Originally Posted by charlestwesco

Could you or someone in patch community PLEASE create a patch that would allow me to search the contact memo and address fields! I need this old Palm OS functionality sooooooo bad in my business!

You should create a new thread in this forum (not within this thread), with the title starting with "PATCH REQUEST:" (or similar). and a quick description, and expand upon that in your (first) post.

I'll be glad to give you a +1 on your idea, I like it.

I'm not a WebOS dev as yet, so can't help much more than that. Where are those darned 36-hour days they promised me...

HTH,
-JerryG

[akurei77]

Originally Posted by samkim

There are some interesting possibilities here. I could assign shortcuts to mobile sites, even those without any search, and maybe even allow for customization - so that you could access all of your sites by pressing a few keys. (Yeah, I know, the touchscreen and gestures are cool and easy to use; but the keyboard can be way faster.)

Thanks for this. I've been used to working this way since a friend introduced me to opera about 3 years ago, and not being about to seach google news or dictionary.com without having to go to the site first has been a little annoying.

Customization would be great. I know that personally I like the ability to just enter 4 characters or less and get to all of my favorite sites. I'm not sure how fluidly that will work with the universal search, but worst case scenario you should just have to touch the screen.

Whether you decide to go that route or not, thanks again.

[samkim]

I've received some feedback about problems with searches that begin with terms that match keywords, such as "i", "a", "dr", and "who". The current solution is to precede such searches with 'g' to force a Google search. So one would have to type 'g i claudius' to do a Google search for 'i claudius'.

But since Google is the most popular search tool, perhaps it would be better to change the syntax of other searches. I'm considering having keywords be preceded by @.

So '@i claudius' would search IMDb for 'claudius'.

And 'i claudius' would search Google for 'i claudius'.


Does anyone object or have any strong feelings about this change? I've already prepped the code, but I wanted to check here before I pulled the trigger. It's all server-side, so you wouldn't have to update your patch.

[whitesmoke]

any chance of updating the flickr search to search via the new mobile flickr site instead of the older mobile version?

[samkim]

Originally Posted by whitesmoke

any chance of updating the flickr search to search via the new mobile flickr site instead of the older mobile version?

Updating searches is easy, but I don't think you can specify the new mobile site with a url. The site uses javascript to switch between old and new, and it seems to fail on the Pre. Not sure why.

I'd suggest contacting flickr to make their new mobile site compatible with the Pre.

[rhyzer]

hi,

i'm new to all this and i'm trying to install keytoss. the installation keeps failing, and when i check the ipkg log the failure reads "ErrorGenericMethodException: Failure during post-install script execution" has anybody else had this problem and/or could anybody suggest where i might find help to figure out how resolve this? i've looked around a bit for info on keytoss script failures but haven't turned up anything.

thanks!

[samkim]

Originally Posted by rhyzer

hi,

i'm new to all this and i'm trying to install keytoss. the installation keeps failing, and when i check the ipkg log the failure reads "ErrorGenericMethodException: Failure during post-install script execution" has anybody else had this problem and/or could anybody suggest where i might find help to figure out how resolve this? i've looked around a bit for info on keytoss script failures but haven't turned up anything.

thanks!

Hi,
I'm sorry, but I haven't seen that before. Which installer are you using (WebOS Quick Install or Preware)? My first suggestion would be to restart the Pre and then try the other installer.

But maybe someone who's more familiar with the installer programs could chime in...

[rhyzer]

hi sam, thanks very much. i was using preware. i'll give it a go with webos quick install and let you know how i fare.

Originally Posted by samkim

Hi,
I'm sorry, but I haven't seen that before. Which installer are you using (WebOS Quick Install or Preware)? My first suggestion would be to restart the Pre and then try the other installer.

But maybe someone who's more familiar with the installer programs could chime in...

[samkim]

Originally Posted by rhyzer

hi sam, thanks very much. i was using preware. i'll give it a go with webos quick install and let you know how i fare.

I've uploaded the patch file, which you can download and install with Quick Install. Just drag the icon for the downloaded file into QI's main window, and click Install.

KeyToss Keyword Search patch

[feivel]

What about a search in precentral.net forums?From the pre, I need this. Plus it seems ironic to lrave it off.