Javascript Tagging Library: Track Query

Overview

Instructions to send queries information using the Javascript Tagging Library.

Step-by-step guide

Query data can be sent to Empathy using the trackQuery function including the following parameters:

trackQuery(terms, results, page, options, callback)

trackQuery Parameters

Parameter	Description	Data Type	Mandatory

Parameter	Description	Data Type	Mandatory
terms	The query typed by the user	String	Yes
results	Number of results returned by the search engine	Integer	Yes
page	The page number	Integer	Yes
options	Object that may contain information about filters and other data like session and userID	Object	No*
callback	Function that will be executed after sending data	Function	No
*This parameters are not mandatory for the service but necessary for the statistics

Options

The options object should contains additional parameters not passed as parameters in function call:

{    
	lang: LANGUAGUE,
	scope: SCOPE,
	store: STORE,
	catalog: CATALOG,
	section: SECTION,
	user: USER_ID,
	session: SESSION_ID
}

Parameter	Description	Data Type	Mandatory

Parameter	Description	Data Type	Mandatory
FILTERS: possible values (and other custom filters if applicable) will be provided by Empathy
lang	Language identifier (es, en...)	String	No
scope	Scope identifier (desktop, mobile, android app, iOS app...)	String	No
store	Store value if it is required for the project	String	No
catalog	Catalog value if it is required for the project	String	No
section	Section value if it is required for the project	String	No
TRACKING: user and session identifiers should use the UUID format
user	UserID used for user based services	String	No
session	SessionID used for user based services	String	No

The callback function receives an object with the following content. Also receives params sent in options.

{
	totalHits: results,
    page: page,
    q: terms,
    referrer: document.referrer
}

Code samples

Normal Usage

Specifying a callback parameter

/**
 * This example suppose that the provided scope is 'desktop' and the parameter to be included in the options parameter is the lang
 * parameter with value 'en' . UserID and SessionID are also included.
 **/

var options = {
    lang:'en',
	scope: 'desktop',
	session: 'q1w2e3r4t5y6',
	user: 'u1s2e3r'
}

empathyTAG.trackQuery('test', 10, 1, options, function(responseData){
    alert('test');
});

Without a callback (No functions will be executed after tracking the data)

/**
 * This example suppose that the provided scope is 'desktop' and the parameter to be included in the options parameter is the lang
 * parameter with value 'en' . UserID and SessionID are also included.
 **/

var options = {
    lang:'en',
	scope: 'desktop',
	session: 'q1w2e3r4t5y6',
	user: 'u1s2e3r'
}

empathyTAG.trackQuery('test', 10, 1, options);

Best practices

In most of the cases, you should implement one of these solutions to prevent receiving partial queries:

Prevent partial queries applying a delay before sending the trackQuery information, the delay time in the following example will be 2000 ms (2 seconds).
var _timeoutID; var options = { lang:'en', scope: 'desktop', session: 'q1w2e3r4t5y6', user: 'u1s2e3r' } window.clearTimeout(_timeoutID); _timeoutID = window.setTimeout(function(){ empathyTAG.trackQuery('test', 10, 1, options, function(responseData){ alert('test'); }); },2000);

Prevent partial queries filtering the query length to be considered as valid. For this example, it will be used 3 characters as minimal length.
//This variable should be filled with the query typed by the user var userQuery = 'test'; var _timeoutID; var options = { lang:'en', scope: 'desktop', session: 'q1w2e3r4t5y6', user: 'u1s2e3r', } if (userQuery.length > 3){ window.clearTimeout(_timeoutID); _timeoutID = window.setTimeout(function(){ empathyTAG.trackQuery('test', 10, 1, options, function(responseData){ alert('test'); }); },2000); }

Remember send queries when search engine returns 0 results. It's very important for future actions in search engine.
/** * This example suppose that the provided scope is 'testscope' and the parameter to be included in the options parameter is the lang * parameter with value 'en' **/ var options = { lang:'en', scope: 'desktop', session: 'q1w2e3r4t5y6', user: 'u1s2e3r' } empathyTAG.trackQuery('test', 10, 0, options);

Blank queries: Do not send a query without characters. Usually when users click in search button without write nothing in search box.
- In this case be careful to not send the placeholder text (i.e. "Search...")