Use Another Launcher to create fast-access search tools

Nov 27, '03 10:54:00AM

Contributed by: jkp

I think this tip is top notch for anyone who uses the web as their main resource for learning about and using computers. I want my info fast, and I have found just the way to do it! First thing, you need to get a hold of Another Launcher ($15 donationware). Yes, it is another launcher utility, but from what I can see it is one of the best out there. I was using LaunchBar and several other haxies at the same time to do the same job as this baby. It offers the same functionality as LaunchBar (infact more fully featured version of the same concept) aswell as iTunes control, many other things, and the best bit, customised websearches.

The default setup comes with a websearch bar in the menu bar at the top. That's fine, but I think it gets better than that. Following on the LaunchBar concept, you can assign hotkeys for programs or, in this case, for any one of the 'Another Launcher' smart items. So what did I do? First I assigned a Google search to a simple sortcut, in my case just F5, and then I followed the same logic and assigned a few other well-used searches to other keyc ombos. It comes with many predefined searches, and as a developer, I particuarly liked being able to search the PHP docs at a button press.

It also includes a macosxhints.com search, but lacks a search for the OS X Hints forum site. For me, this would be the most useful of all, since, for any power user of the OS, it far outweighs the usefulness of the OS Help ;). So I had a dig 'round in the HTML code for the Forums' search engine, and extracted the info I needed to make this another one of the searches availible. So for anyone who wants to give it a go ... you need to go to the Preferences part of Another Launcher (on the Customize window's toolbar), then click on Web Search, click the small gear icon and choose Search Engine from the pop-up menu. Give it a name (macosxhints' Forum Search), a short name (Hints Forums), and for the Address field, enter:


http://forums.macosxhints.com/search.php?query=
In the Query field, enter (this should be one long line with no added spaces; broken here for a narrower display):
&forumchoice=1&titleonly=&showposts=&searchdate=-1&beforeafter=&sortby=lastpost&
 sortorder=descending&action=simplesearch
> Now I have simply assigned my new 'Help' seach to the Help key (in the main Another Launcher screen), seemingly functionless before. But now it has a whole new lease on life! Please correct me if I'm wrong in using that key and you know of any confilicts it might create ... anyway, hope that hint helps someone else out!

[robg adds: I hadn't tried Another Launcher before; it's a pretty amazing application, though somewhat confusing (and I cannot find a way to have it not include my hard drive icons in its menu). It's ability to globally assign function keys is quite useful, and the iTunes controller is a welcomed add-on. When I tested this hint, I used Command-Help (and Option-Help and Control-Help) for the key assignments, just in case some app had reserved the Help key.]

Comments (3)


Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20031119121340864