Question

Is it possible to select DISTINCT values using Rails3 JQuery autocomplete gem?

Answer 1

It is much better and simpler to use scopes.

In your model:

scope :uniquely_named, group(:name)

In your controller:

autocomplete :user, :name, :scopes => [:uniquely_named]

This solution allows more complex filtering to be easily applied:

model:

scope :uniquely_named, group(:name)
scope :online, where(:online => true)

controller:

autocomplete :user, :name, :scopes => [:uniquely_named, :online]

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