19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the data processing system defines a configuration definition for a specific search engine based on the search filter rules and the rule-based configuration.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more data processing systems to: receive metadata for a plurality of searchable objects, the metadata including at least one of an object type definition and object properties; define search filter rules based on user properties and data conditions; perform a search according to a rule-based configuration, the rule-based configuration including filters for object properties and filter ordering rules, the filter ordering rules specifying the order in which the filters are applied; and display search results according to the rule-based configuration.