Search by Package Type and Query Language Surfacing
- 2016-08-17 - Initial spec draft
- 2016-08-19 - Initial review completed
With the introduction of Package Types to NuGet Packages, authors are now able to specify if a package should be installed under the "tools" or "dependencies" node in a project.json. With this new classification, comes the necessity to be able to limit search results to only packages that are "tools" or "dependencies". Currently, the NuGet Search API provides certain search operators to returns results that match certain IDs, Authors, etc. This spec details the addition of a new operator for Package Type, as well as a feature to surface the query language for the NuGet Search API.
Many NuGet Package consumers utilize the search function of the website and client (both use the same service) to look for packages to use. This features is aimed at any NuGet consumer that wants to find specific package types for their development.
Additionally, the addition of features to surface the query language for the NuGet Search API will be for any consumer who wants to have more powerful search.
Through our customer development interviews, we found that many NuGet customers wanted more a more powerful search to be able to find the packages they needed for their development. Of the 25 NuGet customers we talked to, 13 out of 15 (86.7%) applicable consumers expressed a want for searching by publisher or author. This functionality is already in place with the Search API, customers are just not aware of it. Users want to have more specific searches with filtering by author, owner, and other factors, we need to empower them to do so.
The enable searching by Package Type, users should be able to type PackageType:[TYPE] into the search bar. The PackageType tag will be case-sensitive.
A user can specify anything to be a Package Type, though only two are officially supported ("DotnetCliTool" and "Dependency"). As such, this search tag sill support the searching of any string for Project Type and return the applicable results. If a package does not have a Package Type specified in in the .nuspec, the package is automatically assumed to be a "Dependency" type.
Searching with a type will return all packages of that specified type. The [TYPE] string is not case-sensitive.
To increase awareness of the existing search functionalities, we should expose the existing search operators to users via tooltips. There are two different options to show the available functionalities.
The following operators are available for the user to search with:
-
Name:Package Name -
Id:Package ID -
Author:Package’s Author -
Owner:Package’s Owner -
PackageType:Package Type
To better surface the ability to use tags with searching, the VS Client Search Bar should include a prompt to type '?' in the search bar to bring up search options.
Typing this will bring up a dropdown that will display all the possible tags a user can use for their queries.
These entries are selectable, and one is clicked, the selected tag will be entered into the search bar. For example, selecting the Id entry will add Id: to the search bar. This will allow the user to enter the package id they are searching for.
The alternative is including an info button to the side of the search bar.
Upon clicking on the info button, a tooltip will appear that displays all the search tags available to the user.
The user will then be able to type the tag into the search bar to better filter their searches.