Unified Search Interface

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products feature determining a plurality of search result items responsive to a search query. A plurality of search modes are identified based on the query or the plurality of search result items or both. Each search mode is associated with a respective collection of records. The plurality of search result items are provided to a user with an indication of each search mode in the plurality of search modes. User input selecting a first search mode is received, where the first search mode is one of the plurality of search modes. One or more mode-specific search result items are determined based on the search query, where each mode-specific search result item is from the collection of records that is associated with the first search mode. The one or more mode-specific search result items are provided to the user.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a search query;   generating first search results that identify resources that a search engine has identified as being responsive to the search query;   identifying one or more search modes based on the search query, the resources, or both the search query and the resources, each of the one or more search modes being associated with a particular collection of records from among multiple collections of records;   providing a first user interface that presents for display at least a portion of the first search results and a respective search mode selector for each of one or more of the identified one or more search modes;   receiving user input selecting a first search mode by selecting one of the search mode selectors;   generating second search results that satisfy the search query and that refer to mode-specific records that are associated with the first search mode;   formatting a plurality of the second search results using a mode-specific presentation template that is associated with the first search mode to generate formatted search results; and   providing a second user interface that presents for display the formatted search results.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein all records in each particular collection have a common attribute structure of data elements that pertain to the respective search mode. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first search mode is associated with a first collection of records that share a first common attribute structure. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first search results identify resources that the search engine has identified from a corpus of resources as being responsive to the search query. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that the search query includes one or more keywords that are associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that one or more of the resources include respective keywords that are associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that one or more of the resources are associated with respective one or more records from among the multiple collections of records, the one or more records being associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the second user interface further presents a user interface element that identifies and allows users to specify an attribute value constraint for an attribute that is specific to the first search mode; and   the method further comprises:
 receiving an indication of a user selection of the user interface element, 
 removing from the second user interface second search results that do not satisfy the attribute value constraint to generate a revised second user interface, and 
 providing the revised second user interface for display. 
   
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the second user interface further presents a user interface element that allows users to sort the second search results according to values of an attribute that is specific to the first search mode; and   the method further comprises:
 receiving an indication of a user selection of the user interface element, 
 reordering in the second user interface the second search results in a sorted order according to values of the attribute to generate a revised second user interface, wherein before the user selection the second search results were not presented in the sorted order, and 
 providing the revised second user interface for display. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the first user interface presents for display a respective search mode selector for each of two or more of the identified search modes. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 identifying mode-specific user interface elements that are associated with the first search mode, wherein the second user interface further presents for display the mode-specific user interface elements;   receiving user input selecting one of the mode-specific user interface elements;   generating a display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element; and   providing a third user interface that presents for display the generated display of third search results.   
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein generating the display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element includes ordering the third search results by values of a mode-specific attribute that is associated with the selected mode-specific user interface element. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein generating the display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element includes limiting the third search results to search results that have attribute values that satisfy a constraint that is associated with the selected mode-specific user interface element. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the mode-specific presentation template specifies a mode-specific format for displaying the mode-specific records; and   another of the search modes is associated with another mode-specific presentation template that specifies another different mode-specific format for displaying records.   
     
     
         25 . A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a search query;   generating first search results that identify resources that a search engine has identified as being responsive to the search query;   identifying one or more search modes based on the search query, the resources, or both the search query and the resources, each of the one or more search modes being associated with a particular collection of records from among multiple collections of records;   providing a first user interface that presents for display at least a portion of the first search results and a respective search mode selector for each of one or more of the identified one or more search modes;   receiving user input selecting a first search mode by selecting one of the search mode selectors;   generating second search results that satisfy the search query and that refer to mode-specific records that are associated with the first search mode;   formatting a plurality of the second search results using a mode-specific presentation template that is associated with the first search mode to generate formatted search results; and   providing a second user interface that presents for display the formatted search results.   
     
     
         26 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein all records in each particular collection have a common attribute structure of data elements that pertain to the respective search mode. 
     
     
         27 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the first search mode is associated with a first collection of records that share a first common attribute structure. 
     
     
         28 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the first search results identify resources that the search engine has identified from a corpus of resources as being responsive to the search query. 
     
     
         29 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that the search query includes one or more keywords that are associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         30 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that one or more of the resources include respective keywords that are associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         31 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that one or more of the resources are associated with respective one or more records from among the multiple collections of records, the one or more records being associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         32 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein:
 the second user interface further presents a user interface element that identifies and allows users to specify an attribute value constraint for an attribute that is specific to the first search mode; and   the operations further comprise:
 receiving an indication of a user selection of the user interface element, 
 removing from the second user interface second search results that do not satisfy the attribute value constraint to generate a revised second user interface, and 
 providing the revised second user interface for display. 
   
     
     
         33 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein:
 the second user interface further presents a user interface element that allows users to sort the second search results according to values of an attribute that is specific to the first search mode; and   the operations further comprise:
 receiving an indication of a user selection of the user interface element, 
 reordering in the second user interface the second search results in a sorted order according to values of the attribute to generate a revised second user interface, wherein before the user selection the second search results were not presented in the sorted order, and 
 providing the revised second user interface for display. 
   
     
     
         34 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the first user interface presents for display a respective search mode selector for each of two or more of the identified search modes. 
     
     
         35 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying mode-specific user interface elements that are associated with the first search mode, wherein the second user interface further presents for display the mode-specific user interface elements;   receiving user input selecting one of the mode-specific user interface elements;   generating a display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element; and   providing a third user interface that presents for display the generated display of third search results.   
     
     
         36 . The computer storage medium of  claim 35 , wherein generating the display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element includes ordering the third search results by values of a mode-specific attribute that is associated with the selected mode-specific user interface element. 
     
     
         37 . The computer storage medium of  claim 35 , wherein generating the display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element includes limiting the third search results to search results that have attribute values that satisfy a constraint that is associated with the selected mode-specific user interface element. 
     
     
         38 . The computer storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein:
 the mode-specific presentation template specifies a mode-specific format for displaying the mode-specific records; and   another of the search modes is associated with another mode-specific presentation template that specifies another different mode-specific format for displaying records.   
     
     
         39 . A system comprising:
 one or more computers; and   a computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a search query; 
 generating first search results that identify resources that a search engine has identified as being responsive to the search query; 
 identifying one or more search modes based on the search query, the resources, or both the search query and the resources, each of the one or more search modes being associated with a particular collection of records from among multiple collections of records; 
 providing a first user interface that presents for display at least a portion of the first search results and a respective search mode selector for each of one or more of the identified one or more search modes; 
 receiving user input selecting a first search mode by selecting one of the search mode selectors; 
 generating second search results that satisfy the search query and that refer to mode-specific records that are associated with the first search mode; 
 formatting a plurality of the second search results using a mode-specific presentation template that is associated with the first search mode to generate formatted search results; and 
 providing a second user interface that presents for display the formatted search results. 
   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein all records in each particular collection have a common attribute structure of data elements that pertain to the respective search mode. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the first search mode is associated with a first collection of records that share a first common attribute structure. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the first search results identify resources that the search engine has identified from a corpus of resources as being responsive to the search query. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that the search query includes one or more keywords that are associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that one or more of the resources include respective keywords that are associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein identifying one or more search modes comprises:
 determining that one or more of the resources are associated with respective one or more records from among the multiple collections of records, the one or more records being associated with the one or more search modes.   
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein:
 the second user interface further presents a user interface element that identifies and allows users to specify an attribute value constraint for an attribute that is specific to the first search mode; and   the operations further comprise:
 receiving an indication of a user selection of the user interface element, 
 removing from the second user interface second search results that do not satisfy the attribute value constraint to generate a revised second user interface, and 
 providing the revised second user interface for display. 
   
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein:
 the second user interface further presents a user interface element that allows users to sort the second search results according to values of an attribute that is specific to the first search mode; and   the operations further comprise:
 receiving an indication of a user selection of the user interface element, 
 reordering in the second user interface the second search results in a sorted order according to values of the attribute to generate a revised second user interface, wherein before the user selection the second search results were not presented in the sorted order, and 
 providing the revised second user interface for display. 
   
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the first user interface presents for display a respective search mode selector for each of two or more of the identified search modes. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 identifying mode-specific user interface elements that are associated with the first search mode, wherein the second user interface further presents for display the mode-specific user interface elements;   receiving user input selecting one of the mode-specific user interface elements;   generating a display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element; and   providing a third user interface that presents for display the generated display of third search results.   
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 49 , wherein generating the display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element includes ordering the third search results by values of a mode-specific attribute that is associated with the selected mode-specific user interface element. 
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 49 , wherein generating the display of third search results based on the selected mode-specific user interface element includes limiting the third search results to search results that have attribute values that satisfy a constraint that is associated with the selected mode-specific user interface element. 
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein:
 the mode-specific presentation template specifies a mode-specific format for displaying the mode-specific records; and   another of the search modes is associated with another mode-specific presentation template that specifies another different mode-specific format for displaying records.