BSCW helps you to submit queries to Web search engines. At present, BSCW supports the search services AltaVista, Excite, Infoseek and Lycos. for AltaVista you can also chose between a 'simple' or an 'advanced' AltaVista search.

BSCW will display the result (= list of hits) returned by the search engine in a page that resembles a folder page with URL objects. By default the list is sorted by the relevance ranking provided by the search engine. You may re-order the listing by selecting the request sort via the respective  View    Sort   on menu entry.

• Click the [By name] or the [By location] button

to re-display the list in different sort orders.

Immediately below the icon of the search service, BSCW displays your query as a link to the original results page of the search engine. Use this link if you want to work directly with the search engine, e. g. to redefine your query.

Special actions in the Search Result page

The 'verify' operation checks if the selected URLs are still valid. This is useful since search engines often deliver URLs which no longer exist.

The 'copy' operation copies the selected URLs into your clipboard. They can then be 'pasted' into other BSCW folders.

The 'copy' and 'verify' operation are also available for indivual URLs from their respective 'Action' menu.

 More Hits   collects additional hits from the search engine and appends them to the entries in the search result page.

 Redo Search   submits the query again as originally specified, to update the search results.

 Edit Query   brings up the search form again and lets you modify the query.

Note:

The Web search engines occasionally modify the format of their lists of 'hits'. As a consequence, the BSCW server software may have to be modified to handle the new format.

If you notice that a Web search via BSCW no longer produces the expected results, please ask your BSCW administrator to contact OrbiTeam for a software patch.