Sharepoint Search Delegate Controls

Question

I have been followinf this http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms470880.aspx to create a delegate control to overide the default search used in Sharepoint. I am trying to make the search use a custom search scope called people. I don't seem able to do this. Could anyone please give me some tips?

Feature xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Feature 
  Id="9E16894A-998F-4928-97B3-FCB35EAD1C49"
  Title="Standard User Interface Items"
  Description="Provides several standard user interface components and links"
  Version="12.0.0.0"
  Hidden="TRUE"
  DefaultResourceFile="core"
  Scope="Web"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"&gt;
  <ElementManifests>
    <ElementManifest Location="controls\SearchArea.xml" />
  </ElementManifests>
</Feature>

SearchArea.xml Enter text here Go!

mySearchArea.ascx

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SearchArea,Microsoft.SharePoint,Version=12.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c"    compilationMode="Always" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="wssawc" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> <%@ Register Tagprefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Register Tagprefix="SharePoint" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> <%@ Register Tagprefix="Utilities" Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities" Assembly="Microsoft.SharePoint, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %> <%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint" %>
<%
    string strScopeWeb = null;
    string strScopeList = null;
    string strWebSelected = null;
    SPWeb web = SPControl.GetContextWeb(Context);
    string strEncodedUrl
        = SPHttpUtility.EcmaScriptStringLiteralEncode(
            SPHttpUtility.UrlPathEncode(web.Url + "/_layouts/searchresults.aspx", false, false)
            );
    strEncodedUrl = "'" + strEncodedUrl + "'";
    strScopeWeb = "'" + SPHttpUtility.HtmlEncode( web.Url ) + "'";
    SPList list = SPContext.Current.List;
    if ( list != null &&
             ((list.BaseTemplate != SPListTemplateType.DocumentLibrary && list.BaseTemplate != SPListTemplateType.WebPageLibrary) ||
              (SPContext.Current.ListItem == null) ||
              (SPContext.Current.ListItem.ParentList == null) ||
              (SPContext.Current.ListItem.ParentList != list))
       )
    {
        strScopeList = list.ID.ToString();
    }
    else
    {
        strWebSelected = "SELECTED";
    }
%>
<table border=0 cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class='ms-searchform'><tr>
<td>
<SELECT id='idSearchScope' name='SearchScope' class='ms-searchbox' title=<%SPHttpUtility.AddQuote(SPHttpUtility.HtmlEncode(SearchScopeToolTip),Response.Output);%>>
<OPTION value=<%=strScopeWeb%> <%=strWebSelected%>> <SharePoint:EncodedLiteral runat="server" text="<%$Resources:wss,search_Scope_Site%>" EncodeMethod='HtmlEncode' Id='idSearchScopeSite'/> </OPTION>
<%
if (strScopeList != null)
{
%>
    <OPTION value=<%=strScopeList%> SELECTED> <SharePoint:EncodedLiteral runat="server" text="<%$Resources:wss,search_Scope_List%>" EncodeMethod='HtmlEncode' Id='idSearchScopeList'/> </OPTION>
<%
}
%>
</SELECT>
</td>
<td>
<INPUT Type=TEXT id='idSearchString' size=25 name='SearchString' display='inline' maxlength=255 ACCESSKEY=S class='ms-searchbox' onKeyDown="return SearchKeyDown(event, <%=strEncodedUrl%>);" title=<%SPHttpUtility.AddQuote(SPHttpUtility.HtmlEncode(SearchTextToolTip),Response.Output);%>>
</td>
<td>
<div class="ms-searchimage"><a target='_self' href='javascript:' onClick="javascript:SubmitSearchRedirect(<%=strEncodedUrl%>);javascript:return false;" title=<%SPHttpUtility.AddQuote(SPHttpUtility.HtmlEncode(SearchImageToolTip),Response.Output);%> ID=onetIDGoSearch><img border='0' src="/_layouts/images/gosearch.gif" alt=<%SPHttpUtility.AddQuote(SPHttpUtility.HtmlEncode(SearchImageToolTip),Response.Output);%>></a></div>
</td>
</tr></table>

Answer 1

To change the default search scope you don't need to create a delegate control. This can be done by selecting Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Collection Administration | Search scopes, and clicking on the "Display Group: Search Dropdown" link (note this can take a few minutes to take effect).

If you want to override other properties on the default control you can use a delegate control similar to the one below in your feature:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"&gt;
  <Control
      Id="SmallSearchInputBox"
      Sequence="25"
      ControlClass="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.SearchBoxEx" 
      ControlAssembly="Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c">
    <Property Name="GoImageUrl">/_layouts/1033/images/myapp/go-btn.gif</Property>
    <Property Name="GoImageUrlRTL">/_layouts/1033/images/myapp/go-btn.gif</Property>
    <Property Name="GoImageActiveUrl">/_layouts/1033/images/myapp/go-btn-hover.gif</Property>
    <Property Name="GoImageActiveUrlRTL">/_layouts/1033/images/myapp/go-btn-hover.gif</Property>
    <Property Name="QueryPromptString">Enter search query here</Property>
    <Property Name="UseSiteDefaults">true</Property>
    <Property Name="FrameType">None</Property>
    <Property Name="ShowAdvancedSearch">false</Property>
    <Property Name="DropDownMode">HideScopeDD</Property>
    <Property Name="TextBoxWidth">200</Property>
    <Property Name="CssClass">headersearch</Property>
  </Control>
</Elements>

See SearchBoxEx Members on MSDN for more information on the properties available.

If that doesn't do what you need then you can place a custom control in the %Program Files%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\CONTROLTEMPLATES directory and load it using a feature similar to the one below:

<Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/"&gt;        
<Control Id="SmallSearchInputBox"
    Sequence="25"
    ControlSrc="~/_ControlTemplates/MySearchControl.ascx"/>    
</Elements>

Note you must also ensure that your masterpage has the appropriate delegate control tag:

<SharePoint:DelegateControl runat="server" ControlId="SmallSearchInputBox"/>