OSDX file is generally used to connect external data stores using OpenSearch protocol to the Microsoft Windows client. Using this file allows the users to search for the files available in remote data stores.

The standard and required elements in the structure of the OSDX file are shortname, description, URL template parameters, page size and paged results. Along with these elements there are some extended elements which are also present in OSDX file in some cases. These elements are property mapping and maximum result count. The structure of these elements is based on XML file format and when writing these elements XML standards should be followed.