Q: How do I filter a search result based on the values of a given property?

 A: The simplest way is to use a standard-filter in EPiServer, the following code shows how to filter a search result. At first it excludes every page except the ones that have been modified by a user named Eva, then it will sort the result by the published date in chronological order. The code is to be put in the Page_Load() event before DataBind().

(The Filters namespace used below can be found in the EPiServer namespace)

Filters.FilterCompareTo filterCompareTo = 
   new Filters.FilterCompareTo("PageChangedBy", "Eva"); 
Filters.FilterSort filterSort = 
   new Filters.FilterSort 
       ( Filters.FilterSortOrder.PublishedAscending );
SearchResults.Filter += 
   new EPiServer.WebControls.FilterEventHandler( filterCompareTo.Filter );
SearchResults.Filter += 
   new EPiServer.WebControls.FilterEventHandler( filterSort.Filter ); 

public void SearchFilter(object sender, FilterEventArgs e)
{
   PageDataCollection pages = e.Pages;
   for (int pageIndex = pages.Count - 1; pageIndex >= 0; pageIndex--)
   {
      PageData pageData = pages[pageIndex];
 
      if (pageData.PageTypeName.Equals("discussion") &&
          pageData.Property.Exists("MainBody") &&
          pageData.Property["MainBody"].ToString().IndexOf("agree") >= 0)
      {
          // keep page
      }
      else
      {
         pages.RemoveAt(pageIndex);
      }
   }                   
}

Add the following line of code in the Page_Load() event:

SearchResults.Filter  += new FilterEventHandler(SearchFilter);

It is also possible to combine filters and you can use both of the filters above in one result. The result will be a list of discussions where Eva has written the word “agree” and the listing will be sorted by the published date.

Filters.FilterCompareTo filterCompareTo = 
   new Filters.FilterCompareTo("PageChangedBy", "Eva");  
Filters.FilterSort filterSort = 
   new Filters.FilterSort(Filters.FilterSortOrder.PublishedAscending);

// Tell PageSearch that it should not use its default sort filter.
// (by default it adds a filter for a PageRank ascending sort
// and if we do not set the SortBy property to Null it will not care
// about our custom sort filter).
SearchResults.SortBy = null;

SearchResults.Filter += new
   EPiServer.WebControls.FilterEventHandler( filterCompareTo.Filter );
SearchResults.Filter += new FilterEventHandler(SearchFilter);
SearchResults.Filter += new
    EPiServer.WebControls.FilterEventHandler ( filterSort.Filter );

The filters are executed in the order they are added to the filter queue.