Question

I have a model with CharField()

class MyModel(models.Model)
   field = models.CharField(...)

How can I configure Haystack to index first letter of this field in SearchIndex?

class MyIndex(SearchIndex):
   starts_with = CharFiled(?)

Answer 1

I found out that Haystack has something like Django`s forms clean functions which is called prepare.

So in my case to get first letter from field I can do:

class MyIndex(SearchIndex):
starts_with = CharField()

def prepare_starts_with(self, obj):
    return obj.field[:1]