Patent ID: 8121997

Claim:
A search system for searching intranet datasets and Internet datasets, the search system comprising: a first interface portion for receiving a search query from an end user; a preference that indicates a target search engine referenced by the search query, wherein: the preference is modifiable by the end user, the target search engine cannot be determined from the search query alone, and the target search engine may operate upon an intranet dataset or an Internet dataset; and a search translation unit that: determines the target search engine indicated by the preference, determines an input syntax selected by the end user, wherein: the selected input syntax is one of a plurality of sets of input syntaxes, each set of the plurality of sets includes a plurality of operator terms, and the plurality of operator terms include operator terms that implement a Boolean AND and OR operations on terms of the search query, and translates the search query with the user selected input syntax, which is comprised of a first plurality of operator terms, to a translated search query with a syntax used by the target search engine that is comprised of a second plurality of operator terms, wherein: the search translation unit is: at least partially embodied in hardware; and hosted within an intranet used by the end user, the first plurality of operator terms uses different operator terms to perform a same operation as the second plurality of operator terms, the first plurality of operator terms are not natively supported by the target search engine, and operator terms of the plurality of sets of input syntaxes are customizable by the end user, and the user customizable operator terms determine how terms of the search query with the user selected input syntax are translated by the search translation unit.