NAME
Google::Search - Interface to the Google AJAX Search API and suggestion API
VERSION
version 0.027
SYNOPSIS
my $search = Google::Search->Web( query => "rock" );
while ( my $result = $search->next ) {
print $result->rank, " ", $result->uri, "\n";
}
You can also use the single-argument-style invocation:
Google::Search->Web( "query" )
The following kinds of searches are supported
Google::Search->Local( ... )
Google::Search->Video( ... )
Google::Search->Blog( ... )
Google::Search->News( ... )
Google::Search->Image( ... )
Google::Search->Patent( ... )
You can also take advantage of each service's specialized interface
# The search below specifies the latitude and longitude:
$search = Google::Search->Local( query => { q => "rock", sll => "33.823230,-116.512110" }, ... );
my $result = $search->first;
print $result->streetAddress, "\n";
You can supply an API key and referrer (referer) if you have them
my $key = ... # This should be a valid API key, gotten from:
# http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/signup.html
my $referrer = "http://example.com/" # This should be a valid referer for the above key
$search = Google::Search->Web(
key => $key, referrer => $referrer, # "referer =>" Would work too
query => { q => "rock", sll => "33.823230,-116.512110" }
);
Get suggestions from the unofficial Google suggestion API using "suggest"
my $suggestions = Google::Search->suggest( $term )
DESCRIPTION
Google::Search is an interface to the Google AJAX Search API (<http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/>).
Currently, their API looks like it will fetch you the top 64 results for your search query.
You may want to sign up for an API key, but it is not required. You can do so here: <http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/signup.html>
Shortcut usage for a specific service
Google::Search->Web
Google::Search->Local
Google::Search->Video
Google::Search->Blog
Google::Search->News
Google::Search->Book
Google::Search->Image
Google::Search->Patent
USAGE
Google::Search->new( ... )
Prepare a new search object (handle)
You can configure the search by passing the following to "new":
query The search phrase to submit to Google
Optionally, this can also be a hash of parameters to submit. You can
use the hash form to take advantage of each service's varying interface.
Make sure to at least include a "q" parameter with your search
service The service to search under. This can be any of: web,
local, video, blog, news, book, image, patent
start Optional. Start searching from "start" rank instead of 0.
Google::Search will skip fetching unnecessary results
key Optional. Your Google AJAX Search API key (see Description)
referrer Optional. A referrer that is valid for the above key
For legacy purposes, "referer" is an acceptable spelling
Both "query" and "service" are required
$search->first
Returns a Google::Search::Result representing the first result in the
search, if any.
Returns undef if nothing was found
$search->next
An iterator for $search. Will the return the next result each time it is
called, and undef when there are no more results.
Returns a Google::Search::Result
Returns undef if nothing was found
$search->result( <rank> )
Returns a Google::Search::Result corresponding to the result at <rank>
These are equivalent:
$search->result( 0 )
$search->first
$search->all
Returns Google::Search::Result list which includes every result Google
has returned for the query
In scalar context an array reference is returned, a list otherwise
An empty list is returned if nothing was found
$search->match( <code> )
Returns a Google::Search::Result list
This method will iterate through each result in the search, passing the result to <code> as the first argument. If <code> returns true, then the result will be included in the returned list
In scalar context this method returns the number of matches
$search->first_match( <code> )
Returns a Google::Search::Result that is the first to match <code>
This method will iterate through each result in the search, passing the result to <code> as the first argument. If <code> returns true, then the result will be returned and iteration will stop.
$search->error
Returns a Google::Search::Error if there was an error with the last
search
If you receive undef from a result access then you can use this routine to see if there was a problem
warn $search->error->reason;
warn $search->error->http_response->as_string;
# Etc, etc.
This will return undef if no error was encountered
Google::Search->suggest( $term, ... ) Return a nested array from the Google auto-complete suggestion service. Each inner array consists of: the suggestion, the number of results, and the rank of the suggestion:
my $suggestions = Google::Search->suggest( 'monkey' )
print $suggestions->[0][0] # "monkey bread recipe"
print $suggestions->[0][1] # "413,000 results"
print $suggestions->[0][2] # 0
for my $suggestion ( @$suggestions ) {
...
}
To override the language (or any query parameter or to add in your own parameters), pass in an array:
# Get the results back in German (de)
Google::Search->suggest( [ hl => 'de' ], 'monkey' )
To alter the URI hostname/path or to give a custom user agent, pass in a
Google::Search->suggest( [ hl => 'de' ], 'monkey', {
host => 'clients1.google.de',
agent => 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)'
} )
The passing order of the array, hash, and string does not matter
AUTHOR
Robert Krimen <robertkrimen@gmail.com>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2010 by Robert Krimen.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.