Many thanks Shawn and Jorn - the use of the MAX parameter makes sense
now. Onto, Ajax and JSON. On the Autocomplete site there is an
example as follows:
EXAMPLE
Autocomplete a text-input with data received via AJAX. For small to
medium sized datasets.
JavaScript:
$.getJSON("my_backend.php", function(data) {
$("#input_box").autocomplete(data);
});
HTML:
<input id="input_box" />
Is this still valid to use for my requirements with a large number of
string items on the server, a small subset of string items returned to
Autocomplete, and continually going back and forth to the server for
subsets of data?
I'm using a Python backend which has a module (library) called
'simplejson' that can package the subset data into JSON format before
sending to Autocomplete.
Cheers!
Dinesh
On Apr 2, 1:14 pm, Shawn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> As Jorn said (and he'd be THE definitive source as the author of that
> plugin) - the MAX parameter is not used by the server. Otherwise, I
> think you have the gist of it.
>
> The routine regarding the MAX goes like so:
>
> - user enters some text
> - that text is passed to the server side code via the Q parameter
> - the server side code does something that may or may not make use of
> the Q parameter to generate results. (The point is that what happens on
> the server doesn't really matter for the plugin - as long as the results
> are in the proper format)
> - the server then sends those results back. ALL of them that matched
> the server side processing. If you had 100 entries that started with
> "A" and the user had typed "A" then you would be getting 100 entries
> returned to your plugin (assuming you did the filter correctly on the
> server)
> - The plugin checks if it has a MAX value - if so then it takes the
> first X results and displays them. (where X is the MAX value)
> - If there is no MAX value (or it is set to zero - I think), then all
> the results are rendered.
>
> So, if the server side filtering results in 1000 values, then 1000
> values are returned to the script. If a MAX value is not specified,
> then 1000 values are displayed. So, you may want to set a height and
> "overflow: auto" on the result div so you get a nice scrollbar.
>
> Don't forget that MAX may have a default value. I think the docs say it
> defaults to 10, but I remember getting eradicate issues with this. But
> that was probably my specific code. Anyways - I found it better to set
> an explicit value for MAX to get the behavior I wanted (which was to NOT
> restrict the number of output rows...).
>
> Not sure if it helps, but I blogged about the autocomplete plugin back
> in December: http://grover.open2space.com/node/190 More to do with
> making use of database IDs with the results though. Maybe this is a
> little advanced for what you need, or maybe it'll trigger something
> that'll help... (otherwise, my apologies if this is a shameless plug)
>
> Shawn
>
> dineshv wrote:
> > Hi Shawn.
>
> > Thank-you very much for the clear explanation. I mean "remote" as in
> > "the same domain". Let's see if I understand your explanation:
>
> > A large number (>10,000) of string items are held in a database (or
> > array) at the server. We want to make the string items available to
> > the autocomplete plugin at the browser. However, we only want a
> > (relevant and small) subset of the string items sent to the browser at
> > a time dependent on what the user enters into the input box.
>
> > Text (well letters, really) entered into the input box are sent to the
> > server as the autocomplete 'q' parameter. The server queries the
> > database (or array) to find MAX items around the user-entered text and
> > sends these items to the browser (as aJSONstring). The MAX
> > parameter can be set within autocomplete or within the query to the
> > database (or array).
>
> > Is this the gist of it? Btw, my backend is written in Python.
>
> > Dinesh
>
> > On Apr 1, 4:09 pm, Shawn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >> When you say remote, do you mean another domain?? If so, then yes there
> >> are some problems there, but your server side page for getting your
> >> results can handle that.
>
> >> If you mean remote as in "not on the same web page, but from a
> >> file/database accessible in the same domain", then I suspect a slight
> >> misunderstanding is taking place here. In this case, you feed the
> >> autocomplete plugin a file to request your data from. That file can be
> >> server side processing code that will dynamically create your results
> >> list for you. How that server side page goes about the process is
> >> irrelevant to the autocomplete plugin - it only cares about what data it
> >> is given. Sooooo, the sample you need is something like this:
>
> >> $("#mytext").autocomplete("mydata.php");
>
> >> Then the mydata.php file does the filtering you need:
>
> >> <?php
> >> $sql = "select name from employee where name like '". $_GET["q"] ."'";
> >> //... database connection code ....
> >> $result = $db->query($sql);
> >> //... code to generate the autocomplete input based on the data
> >> // in the $result variable.
> >> writeoutput($resultText);
> >> ?>
>
> >> Notice that the $sql will automatically filter the result list based on
> >> what data is passed to the PHP file (via the Q parameter - which is what
> >> the person has typed in the text box). So the results being passed back
> >> to the autocomplete plugin are already filtered to be a smaller subset
> >> of data.
>
> >> Now, that subset of data can still be a large number of items. You can
> >> address that by either changing the SQL statement, the way the server
> >> side code works, or by setting the "max" parameter of the autocomplete
> >> plugin. Setting the max parameter will only show X number of items -
> >> but all the results are still returned to your script. So if you are
> >> simply getting too much data back, the ideal solution is to change the
> >> server side code to something more suitable.
>
> >> Hopefully I have properly understood what you were asking for, and that
> >> this helps you out. G'Luck.
>
> >> Shawn
>
> >> dineshv wrote:
> >>> Thanks Hamish but as far as I can tell this is a known problem ie.
> >>> retrieving remoteJSON-format data using the autocomplete plugin.
> >>> Be great to hear from folks who know if this has been fixed in the
> >>> latest autocomplete plugin code and if example code exists to show how
> >>> it is done. Cheers!
> >>> Dinesh
> >>> On Apr 1, 3:10 pm, Hamish Campbell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>>>> TheJSONexample on the autocomplete
> >>>>> site doesn't work as it sends the entire
> >>>>> remote data to the browser instead of
> >>>>> returning just a limited number of items.
> >>>> Probably becuase it requires a backend page to provide dynamic results
> >>>> based on the search query.
> >>>> Note:
> >>>> When the user starts typing, a request
> >>>> is send to the specified backend
> >>>> ("my_autocomplete_backend.php"),
> >>>> with a GET parameter named q that contains
> >>>> the current value of the input box and a paremeter
> >>>> "limit" with the value specified for the max option.
> >>>> A value of "foo" would result in this request url:
> >>>> my_autocomplete_backend.php?q=foo&limit=10
> >>>> The result must return with one value on each line.
> >>>> The result is presented in the order
> >>>> the backend sends it.
