Federated Search Virtual Earth Map Connector Sample

By using the Federated Search Web Part, you can display more than results from OpenSearch (1.0/1.1) sites on your search results page. The same lightweight interface, or connector, that enables you to display the results of SQL Server database queries and to include results from sites that do not expose XML feeds can also be used to display the results of Web service requests.

This sample demonstrates that you can extend the connector concept to Web service requests other than search queries. It shows how to use a connector to pass a structured address string to the Microsoft MapPoint Web service to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of that address. After you have those coordinates, displaying a Microsoft Virtual Earth map requires only the addition of some ECMAScript code (JScript, JavaScript) to your Federated Location definition file.

For the download, which includes the complete code for the Federated Search Virtual Earth Map Connector sample application, see Federated Search Connector for Virtual Earth Maps Sample.

Prerequisites

To use the Federated Search Virtual Earth Map Connector sample, you must have a MapPoint developer account. Your environment must have the following installed:

• Office SharePoint Server 2007

• Infrastructure Update for Microsoft Office Servers

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with Microsoft Visual C# enabled

Completing the Walkthrough

The following topics walk you through creating and deploying a federated search Virtual Earth map connector:

Step 1: Set Up the Project for the Federated Search Virtual Earth Map Connector

Step 2: Add the Code for the Federated Search Virtual Earth Map Connector

Step 3: Create the Virtual Earth Map Location and Customize the XSL

See Also

Concepts

Architecture Guidance for Building Federated Search Connectors
Federated Results Web Parts XSLT