v0.4.1 - New trigger keyword, search APIs by default

Summary

This release has two big breaking changes when upgrading from v0.3.0 or earlier:

1. Changed the keyword to trigger the extension from aws to ase.

   After a few weeks of use now I realized that I regularly search for aws ... terms in the Omnibox where I intended to actually perform a search engine search, instead of a search using the AWS search extension. Unfortunately the space character does trigger the keyword and thus drops the user into a search in AWS search extension, even if might not have wanted it.

   To avoid this annoying clash, this release changes the trigger keyword from aws to ase (short for AWS search extension). While not quite as intuitive as aws, it still shares most of the traits that aws had as a keyword:

   • It is as short with only 3 characters in length.

   • It is as easy to type: the characters are all in the left cluster for QWERTY, QWERTZ, and AZERTY keyboard layouts, and they are in the home row for Dvorak.

• Change default search behaviour, searching the API docs by default.

  Instead of searching the (for most of the user base probably more obscure) AWS CloudFormation documentation by default, this release changes that a non-prefixed query will target the API documentation instead.

  You can still search in AWS CloudFormation docs of course, either by prefixing your search query with a : or by having two colons (::) somewhere in your search query.

  Note: a consequence of : being used as the prefix for searching AWS CloudFormation docs is that commands are now prefix by !, i.e. :help turns into !help, :update into !update, and so on.

To help users that get automatic updates for the extension (when they have installed it through a major browser extension store) get important information about updates, this release also includes automatic update notices that open in a new tab when the extension is updated. The current policy for when to show update notices is that they should only be displayed when there are user-facing breaking changes (such as the keyword-change), and that they are only displayed once!

Besides these user-facing changes there were a few internal changes and updates to CI that should make the development and use of the extension more reliable:

• Optimized index generation.
• Implemented basic schema-validation for generated indices to ensure that the unattended index-update process does not break the extension.

About AWS search extension

AWS search extension is a browser-extension compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge (and probably most Chromium-based browsers). It provides search results for AWS API references and the AWS CloudFormation reference, and opens the official AWS documentation page when you select an item by pressing Enter.

You can start searching by typing the keyword ase into the searchbar, followed by a space (or also tab in Chromium-based browsers), which will select the AWS search extension. Everything you now type will search through the included indices of the AWS CloudFormation and AWS API documentation.

You can find detailed information on how to structure in the official README.

Official extension/add-on store links

• Google Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aws-search-extension/plpaphbmolljpgbkjjfkhcffhffobngd
• Mozilla Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/aws-search-extension/
• Microsoft Edge: https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/aws-search-extension/ddokgnahbddokclcciibbpelhjgemihl

Extension packages

You can find the extension packages attached.

How to install the extension package:

• Google Chrome/Chromium
  • Download the attached file aws_search_extension-chrome-v0.4.1.zip.
  • Open chrome://extensions in your browser.
  • Drag-and-drop the downloaded ZIP into the extensions-view.
• Firefox
  • Download the attached file aws_search_extension-firefox-v0.4.1.xpi.
  • Open about:addons in your browser.
  • Drag-and-drop the downloaded ZIP into the extensions-view.