Is there is any way to replace the default search module in Drupal

Question

i am planning to create an custom search module in drupal .my aim is to replace the existing search feature (ie the default search ) is there is any way to override the default search feature ...

Answer 1

Sure there is! See this example: http://drupal.org/project/apachesolr

Answer 2

You can implement hook_search and create your own search, and you can use Custom Search to set your default search and/or disable the standard ones.

You can also just use the Forms API and hook_menu and do something completely custom.

Also check out the accepted answer to Search hook for filtering results? for another idea.

Answer 3

I'm not sure of your Drupal background - but if you're new, you might like to know: you can do a lot with Exposed Filters in Views to provide search functionalitites. Depending on what you want to do, you could just de-activate the search module, and create a View with exposed filters for searching the appropriate content types and fields, and create a Block display for that view (on the left side of the UI, where you make a "page").