Question

I am wondering how should i proceed with a rails form search like twitter to search multiple models.

I have implemented a search model/controller which will search based on the textbox and will eventually have ajax. But i am just wondering how can i implement it in my header file. Rendering may do is job but not sure how to call the searches controller.

Thanks in advance. Followed this tutorial http://railscasts.com/episodes/111-advanced-search-form

Answer 1

One approach would be to create a Search class. Create a form partial that has a query input that when submitted, is send to the Search class. Search will then come up with a collection of search results, which you then output to a separate view. Having a Search class allows you to keep additional capabilities to your search–additional models and ways to rank results.

Here is an skeletal example…

class Search
  attr_accessor :query

  def initialize(*args)
    self.query = args[0] && args[0][:query] ? args[0][:query] : nil
  end

  def elements
    query.nil? ? [] : query.downcase.split(/ /)
  end

  def class_a
    class_a_objects = []
    ...some code that finds the objects you are searching for...
    return class_a_objects.uniq
  end

  def class_b
    class_a_objects = []
    ...some code that finds the objects you are searching for...
    return issuers.uniq
  end

  def class_c
    ..
  end

  ....

  def results
    class_a_objects + class_b_objects + class_c_objects
  end

end

In your searching code for each class, use the ‘elements’ method to search through the individual query objects.

For the form

= form_tag("/search", :method => :get) do
  = text_field 'search', :query
  = submit_tag 'search'

Routes.rb

match '/search' => "search#query", :as => 'search'

Then a Search controller with a ‘query’ action. In this controller, simply do

class SearchController
   def query
     @results = Search.new(:query => params[:search][:query] ).results
   end
end

Add a view ‘search’ for this controller action, where you render your @results. Your results will be a collection of individual objects from different classes, so your view can handle each item separately, which can be handled with additional partials, based on the object class.