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Jabber Search This specification provides canonical documentation of the 'jabber:iq:search' namespace currently in use within the Jabber community. &LEGALNOTICE; 0055 Active Historical Standards JIG XMPP Core XEP-0004 iq-search http://www.xmpp.org/schemas/iq-search.xsd &stpeter; 1.2 2004-03-22 psa Clarified scope (searching of any information repository, not just user directories); added search and result examples to the extensibility section. 1.1 2004-01-06 psa Added XML schema; added text regarding extensibility via Data Forms; added FORM_TYPE submission. 1.0 2003-01-09 psa Updated status to Active per vote of the Jabber Council. 0.1 2002-11-01 psa Initial version.

This specification documents a protocol currently used to search information repositories on the Jabber network. To date, the jabber:iq:search protocol has been used mainly to search for people who have registered with user directories (e.g., the "Jabber User Directory" hosted at users.jabber.org). However, the jabber:iq:search protocol is not limited to user directories, and could be used to search other Jabber information repositories (such as chatroom directories) or even to provide a Jabber interface to conventional search engines.

The basic functionality is to query an information repository regarding the possible search fields, to send a search query, and to receive search results. Note well that there is currently no mechanism for paging through results or limiting the number of "hits", and that the allowable search fields are limited to those defined in the XML schema; however, extensibility MAY be provided via the &xep0004; protocol, as described below.

In order to search an information respository, a user first needs to discover what search fields are supported by the service:

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The service MUST then return the possible search fields to the user, and MAY include instructions:

Fill in one or more fields to search for any matching Jabber users. ]]>

The user MAY then submit a search request, specifying values for any desired fields:

Capulet ]]>

The service SHOULD then return a list of search results that match the values provided:

Juliet Capulet JuliC juliet@shakespeare.lit Tybalt Capulet ty tybalt@shakespeare.lit ]]>

If there are no matching directory entries, the service MUST return an empty <query/> element:

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The fields defined in the 'jabber:iq:search' namespace are strictly limited to those specified in the schema. If a host needs to gather additional information, Data Forms SHOULD be used; a host MUST NOT add new fields to the 'jabber:iq:search' namespace. Support for extensibility via Data Forms is RECOMMENDED, but is not required for compliance with this document.

The extensibility mechanism for searching makes use of a hidden FORM_TYPE field for the purpose of standardizing field names within the form, as defined in &xep0068;. Implementations supporting this extensibility mechanism SHOULD support field standardization as well.

]]> Use the enclosed form to search. If your Jabber client does not support Data Forms, visit http://shakespeare.lit/ User Directory Search Please provide the following information to search for Shakespearean characters. jabber:iq:search ]]> jabber:iq:search male ]]> jabber:iq:search Benvolio Montague benvolio@montague.net male Romeo Montague romeo@montague.net male . . . ]]>

There are no security features or concerns related to this proposal.

This document requires no interaction with &IANA;.

The ®ISTRAR; shall include the following information in its registries.

The XMPP Registrar includes the 'jabber:iq:search' namespace in its registry of protocol namespaces.

The following fields are reserved for use within jabber:x:data forms scoped by a FORM_TYPE of 'jabber:iq:search'; additional fields MAY be added via the XMPP Registrar's normal registration process but are outside the scope of this document.

jabber:iq:search XEP-0055 Forms enabling directory searches. ]]> The protocol documented by this schema is defined in XEP-0055: http://www.xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0055.html ]]>