title: Scaffolding with SearchContext
summary: Configure the search form within ModelAdmin using the SearchContext class.
# SearchContext
[api:SearchContext] manages searching of properties on one or more [api:DataObject] types, based on a given set of
input parameters. [api:SearchContext] is intentionally decoupled from any controller-logic, it just receives a set of
search parameters and an object class it acts on.
The default output of a [api:SearchContext] is either a [api:SQLQuery] object for further refinement, or a
[api:DataObject] instance.
[api:SearchContext] is mainly used by [ModelAdmin](/developer_guides/customising_the_admin_interface/modeladmin).
## Usage
Defining search-able fields on your DataObject.
:::php
'Text'
'HiddenProperty' => 'Text',
'MyDate' => 'Date'
);
public function getCustomSearchContext() {
$fields = $this->scaffoldSearchFields(array(
'restrictFields' => array('PublicProperty','MyDate')
));
$filters = array(
'PublicProperty' => new PartialMatchFilter('PublicProperty'),
'MyDate' => new GreaterThanFilter('MyDate')
);
return new SearchContext(
$this->class,
$fields,
$filters
);
}
}
See the [SearchFilter](../model/searchfilters) documentation for more information about filters to use such as the
`GreaterThanFilter`.
In case you need multiple contexts, consider name-spacing your request parameters by using `FieldList->namespace()` on
the `$fields` constructor parameter.
### Generating a search form from the context
:::php
getCustomSearchContext();
$fields = $context->getSearchFields();
$form = new Form($this, "SearchForm",
$fields,
new FieldList(
new FormAction('doSearch')
)
);
return $form;
}
public function doSearch($data, $form) {
$context = singleton('MyDataObject')->getCustomSearchContext();
$results = $context->getResults($data);
return $this->customise(array(
'Results' => $results
))->renderWith('Page_results');
}
}
## Related Documentation
* [ModelAdmin](/developer_guides/customising_the_admin_interface/modeladmin)
* [Site Search](/tutorials/site_search)
## API Documentation
* [api:SearchContext]
* [api:DataObject]