Programming language for 'dynamic' search? - ruby-on-rails

Question

I am a complete beginner, so please excuse if this question is maybe phrased incorrectly or I am using the wrong terms for certain things.
I have got an MS Word Document in which there are, say, four-hundred diary entries. The software I want to write enables the user to search for specific terms within one entry. So I might want to have all the diary entries that contain both the words "happy" and "sad". Another option I want to include is to search for all diary entries written between e.g. 2008 and 2012 etc.
I would like the search to be 'dynamic', in the sense that the user might type in one word, and while that word is being typed the results-table already filters all the diary entries. So the table changes while the user is typing the word, according to what is currently being typed in the search box.
Is this possible & what exactly is this feature called? What programming language would you recommend me? I would like to have all of this online, so maybe php or ruby would be useful?

Answer 1

Your choice of Ruby-on-Rails is apt for this issue:
Store each diary entry as a database entry
Search these entries using "full text search" - either on the db, or third party
Return the "live" functionality with JS
MVC
Rails uses MVC programming pattern to give you ability to save into the database. This is important because if you're going to develop in rails, you'll need to keep to the MVC pattern:
Basically, you keep your Diary entries in the database, use the controller to manipulate the data & use the view to show the data:
#app/models/entry.rb
Class Entry < ActiveRecord::Base
#-> stores & brings back the entry data
end
#app/controllers/entries_controller.rb
Class EntriesController < ApplicationController
respond_to :js, :html, :json, only: :search
def index
#entries = Entry.all
end
def search
#entries = Entry.search params[:query]
respond_with #entries
end
end
#config/routes.rb
resources :entries do
collection do
match :search, via [:get, :post]
end
end
--
Full Text Search
When you send the request to your controller, the way you'll handle the search will be with a class method in your Entry model (that's where you get your data from), either referencing -
#app/models/entry.rb
Class Entry < ActiveRecord::Base
def self.search(query)
where("title LIKE '%#{query}%'")
end
end
You can either use full text search for the SQL variant you're using, or use a third party search, like Solr or something
--
"Live" Search
You can get "live" search working with Javascript (example here):
There are a number of tutorials on how to do this online - just Google live search rails or autocomplete rails. However, the principle is basically the same for all implementations:
JS will capture the text entered into a search box
JS sends Ajax request to your Rails controller
Controller sends response to ajax
JS takes response & shows on screen
Notice how this is primarily focused on the JS element? Here's the code we use:
#app/assets/javascripts/application.js
//Livesearch
$(document).ready( function() {
var base_url = window.location.protocol + "//" + window.location.host;
$('#SearchSearch').searchbox({
url: base_url + '/search/',
param: 'search',
dom_id: '#livesearch',
loading_css: '#livesearch_loading'
})
});
#app/assets/javascripts/livesearch.js
// Author: Ryan Heath
// http://rpheath.com
(function($) {
$.searchbox = {}
$.extend(true, $.searchbox, {
settings: {
url: 'search',
param: 'search',
dom_id: '#livesearch',
minChars: 2,
loading_css: '#livesearch_loading',
del_id: '#livesearch_del'
},
loading: function() {
$($.searchbox.settings.loading_css).show()
},
idle: function() {
$($.searchbox.settings.loading_css).hide()
},
start: function() {
$.searchbox.loading()
$(document).trigger('before.searchbox')
},
stop: function() {
$.searchbox.idle()
$(document).trigger('after.searchbox')
},
kill: function() {
$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).fadeOut(50)
$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).html('')
$($.searchbox.settings.del_id).fadeOut(100)
},
reset: function() {
$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).html('')
$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).fadeOut(50)
$('#SearchSearch').val('')
$($.searchbox.settings.del_id).fadeOut(100)
},
process: function(terms) {
if(/\S/.test(terms)) {
$.ajax({
type: 'GET',
url: $.searchbox.settings.url,
data: {search: terms.trim()},
complete: function(data) {
$($.searchbox.settings.del_id).fadeIn(50)
$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).html(data.responseText)
if (!$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).is(':empty')) {
$($.searchbox.settings.dom_id).fadeIn(100)
}
$.searchbox.stop();
}
});
return false;
}else{
$.searchbox.kill();
}
}
});
$.fn.searchbox = function(config) {
var settings = $.extend(true, $.searchbox.settings, config || {})
$(document).trigger('init.searchbox')
$.searchbox.idle()
return this.each(function() {
var $input = $(this)
$input
.keyup(function() {
if ($input.val() != this.previousValue) {
if(/\S/.test($input.val().trim()) && $input.val().trim().length > $.searchbox.settings.minChars){
$.searchbox.start()
$.searchbox.process($input.val())
}else{
$.searchbox.kill()
}
this.previousValue = $input.val()
}
})
})
}
})(jQuery);