Introduction
For terminology definitions, see the Google for Work Glossary.
The Google Search Appliance accepts search requests as input, and returns search results as output.
Search requests, the input, are simple HTTP requests to the Google Search Appliance. Search users typically use HTML forms displayed in a web browser to make these requests, but other applications can also send search requests by making appropriate HTTP requests. For information on the search request format and options, see Request Format.
HTML-formatted results can be displayed directly in a web browser. The search appliance generates HTML results by applying an XSL stylesheet to the XML results. You can customize the appearance of the HTML results by modifying this stylesheet. For more information, see Custom HTML.
XML-formatted output makes it possible to process the search results in web applications or other environments. For information on the XML results format, see XML Output.