Quick MSDN Search in Firefox

Question

Is there a way to get an MSDN search bar in Firefox which will autocomplete .Net class and member names (and preferably also Win32 API methods) and take me directly to the MSDN page?

Google toolbar with Shift+Enter (I'm feeling lucky) will usually go directly to the msdn page for a .Net class, but it doesn't have targeted autocomplete. Also, since I'm too lazy to type site:msdn.microsoft.com, it doesn't always take me to MSDN. (eg, Graphics)

Just to address your "too lazy to type site:..." remark: you can create keyword searches for the address bar in firefox. Go to Google, right click on the search box and select "Add a keyword for this search..." Enter something like 'MSDN' in the keyword field. Next, edit the bookmark you just created (keywords are bookmarks) and edit the URL to include the 'site:' filter. Something like "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%s%20site:msdn.microsoft.com" should work. — AgentConundrum, Jan 07 '10 at 18:48
I guess SO doesn't completely display links in comments. The link points to the right place though. — AgentConundrum, Jan 07 '10 at 18:50
Unfortunately, a keyword search will not have autocompletion. — Dirk Vollmar, Jan 07 '10 at 18:56
I know. That's why I posted it as a comment addressing only that minor point, rather than as an answer. — AgentConundrum, Jan 07 '10 at 18:59

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 07 '10 at 18:41

7

There are several msdn search providers available.

answered Jan 07 '10 at 18:41

Jeff Paquette

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score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 07 '10 at 18:50

5

This search plugin (from the list flyfishr64 linked to) works quite well (suggestions and everything).

answered Jan 07 '10 at 18:50

Shog9

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It goes to a search results page instead of directly to the first result. – SLaks Jan 07 '10 at 18:58

Gregory Pakosz · Answer 3 · 2010-01-07T19:01:28.867

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You could create a bookmark with a wildcard %s and the msdn keyword by using the following url for the bookmarked page:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/search/en-us/?query=%s

Now in the address bar, when I type "msdn StringBuilder" it brings me to this result page: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/search/en-us/?query=StringBuilder

I did the same with the stackoverflow keyword and the http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/%s url.

EDIT: as @AgentConundrum pointed out, using the http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%s%20site:msdn.microsoft.com url will restrict Google search to the msdn.microsoft.com site.

edited Jan 07 '10 at 19:01

answered Jan 07 '10 at 18:51

Gregory Pakosz

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I just made this comment on the question, after having decided against posting it as it's own answer. I'm gonna cry when you're upvoted. :P – AgentConundrum Jan 07 '10 at 18:56
I thought of this. However, it wouldn't give autocomplete. – SLaks Jan 07 '10 at 18:56
No, since great minds talk alike, you'll upvote me happily :) – Gregory Pakosz Jan 07 '10 at 18:57
This might even be improved by adding `site:msdn.microsoft.com` to the query as suggested by AgentConundrum: google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%s%20site:msdn.microsoft.com%22 – Dirk Vollmar Jan 07 '10 at 18:57

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

I ended up editing this search plugin from Shog9's answer and changing the search URL to Google's I'm Feeling Lucky.

Here's the XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/">
    <!-- Created on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:11:13 GMT -->
    <ShortName>MSDN</ShortName>
    <Description>Search MSDN documentation</Description>
    <Url type="text/html" method="get" template="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;q={searchTerms}+site%3Amsdn.microsoft.com&amp;btnI=I"/>
    <Url type="application/x-suggestions+json" template="http://services.social.microsoft.com/search//Data/AutoCompleteTerms?t={searchTerms}&amp;b=Msdn&amp;l=en-US&amp;m=10&amp;rf=oss10"/>
    <Image width="16" height="16">http://mycroft.mozdev.org/updateos.php/id0/msdn_schnore.ico</Image>
    <Developer>Schabse Laks</Developer>
    <InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
    <moz:SearchForm>http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US/</moz:SearchForm>
    <Url type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" rel="self" template="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/updateos.php/id0/msdn_schnore.xml"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Quick MSDN Search in Firefox

4 Answers4