Custom Collection

A Custom Collection lets you index and search your own content using the SearchBlox REST API.

To get your API key, go to Administration > License.

To get your SB-PKEY, a Super Admin or Admin can go to Administration > Users.

Creating a Custom Collection

Follow these steps to create a Custom Collection:

Log in to the Admin Console.
Go to the Collections tab.
Click "Create a New Collection" or the "+" icon.
Select "Custom Collection" as the collection type.
Enter a unique name for the collection (e.g., "Custom API").
Set Collection Access (Private or Public).
Configure Collection Encryption as per your security requirements.
Choose the content language (if not English).
Click Save to create the collection.

After creation, you will be taken to the Path tab to configure the collection.

Custom Collection Settings

To learn more details on REST-API, parameters and URLs read REST API.
The following table has the list of basic settings available in Custom collection

Setting	Description
Relevance Stemming	When enabled, words are reduced to their root form. For example, "running", "runs", and "ran" all become "run".
Relevance Spelling Suggestions	Provides spelling suggestions for the collection. Default is YES.
Keyword-in-Context Display	Shows search results with the description from the content area where the search term appears.
HTML Parser Settings	Configures the HTML parser to read the description from HTML tags: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6.
HTTP Basic Authentication	Sends username and password to the HTTP server in the Authorization header when requesting a document. Required attributes: username and password
HTTP Proxy Server Setting	Required when accessing HTTP content through a proxy server. Needed attributes: Proxy Server URL, Username, and Password.
Enable Content API	Allows crawling document content that includes special characters.

SearchBlox API Explorer

SearchBlox has a built-in tool called API Explorer to try out APIs with examples.
Access the API Explorer at: https://localhost:8443/api
The link is also available when selecting the custom collection path.
Using API Explorer, you can perform these REST API actions for Custom Collections:
- Create Collection
- Clear Collection
- Delete Collection
- Index Document
- Update Document Metadata
- Delete Document
For other API requests, you can use tools like Postman.
SB-PKEY is required for all API requests. In API Explorer, use the Private Key text box; in Postman, set it in the header parameter.

The SearchBlox REST API requires JSON input.
Click "Try it out" to edit the JSON request.
Provide the correct API key, collection name, location, and other required details.
During indexing, the JSON request is shown in pop-ups, followed by a status message once the operation completes.

SearchBlox also supports HTTP API and other APIs, but they are not compatible with API Explorer right now. Tools such as PostmanAPI can be used to try out HTTP API.