One query, one page

The data that the MDEX Engine returns in response to a query includes all of the information that the application modules would need to build an entire page for a typical application.

The MDEX Engine returns the following objects in response to a query request:

Endeca records
Follow-on query information
Supplemental information, such as merchandising information, or information that enables the “Did You Mean” functionality

This enables the MDEX Engine to reduce the number of queries required to build an entire page, thereby improving performance. The performance improvement is gained by leveraging the processing for one section of a page to build the rest of the page.

For example, separate requests for record search information and navigation control information can be redundant. (Of course, you can make as many queries to the MDEX Engine as you want to build your pages, if the application design warrants it.)