Spotlight search based OSX app

Question

I've been on the iOS side alot, and was thinking about a mac app.

There isnt much interface to it.

The app is a reference app, with data thats searchable. there are about 300 items.

I want the app to:

1. Be searchable in the Spotlight. Typing in spotlight should bring about that item(s) from the app
2. Searching an Image and hovering over it with the mouse will bring about a small display window for that image or textfile, showing its contents. I wanted something similar, though the app would Not be a textfile based app, but I'd like the native OS to show a sample window.

a native window like this.

For example searching for an xml file and hovering over an item would bring out a sample window. I want my customised window to appear for that but to act in a similar fashion. I'm not sure if I've conveyed my question well enough.

Answer 1

You need to create a QuickLook plugin and register it with the system. Spotlight uses QuickLook to render the previews of items it finds.

You may also need to create a Spotlight Importer to tell Spotlight how to index your data.