autocomplete layers

rubyonrails-talk
1

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to extend the functionality of the autocomplete just a little bit but without understanding exactly what it's doing, I'm finding it get it where I want. If anyone could lend a hand, it would be appreciated.

1. Is there anyway to keep the search results in place, even as the user interacts with other elements on the page? Right now, if you click anywhere on the site, the results disappear right away.

2. Can the configuration be changed so that a default list appears when the query is blank? For instance, if you look at the website Krop.com, the autocomplete displays a list even when the search query is blank. In this project, I would be happy with either static or dynamic data - just something.

3. Is there anyway to configure the autocomplete so that the search results actually push data on the rest of the page down - instead of overlapping it?

Help on any of these, again, would be great!

Thanks in advance!

2

From what you are describing, autocomplete is probably the wrong solution. Check into the observe_field/form method (one of the key elements to autocomplete). This should allow you to render your default list and watch for user keystrokes in a specified field/form with full control over how/where the results are rendered (so you can keep them in the form as you desire). The autocomplete stuff, yanked to a plugin in 2.x, was really intended for a different purpose.