resultsfor

Resultsfor is a term used in information retrieval to describe a unified query mechanism for retrieving result items from diverse data stores. In this context, resultsfor denotes both a lightweight command-line tool and a small domain-specific language that expresses what to fetch and how to present it. Typical implementations expose a REST or JSON-based API that accepts a resultsfor query and returns a structured set of results, including fields such as id, title, snippet, score, source, and timestamp.

The design goals of resultsfor include cross-source consistency, reproducibility of results, and support for incremental or paginated retrieval. By providing a common query model, it aims to reduce the need to adapt to multiple vendor-specific query languages and APIs.

Backends for a resultsfor system may include databases, search indexes, file stores, and external APIs. The system is typically built with pluggable adapters, allowing new data sources to be added without changing the client logic. Communications are usually over JSON, with authentication and optional encryption, and results can be cached or streamed to the client.

Query language features commonly include boolean operators, field predicates, range queries, facets, sorting, and paging controls. Example: resultsfor type:article AND author:"Doe" AND date:[2020-01-01 TO 2020-12-31] SORT_BY:relevance LIMIT:50.

Usage scenarios include prototyping, academic experiments, and internal search tooling where multiple data stores must be queried through a single interface. The concept is pragmatic rather than standardized, and implementations vary across projects.

See also: information retrieval, search engine, query language.