# AutoCompleter without the AutoComplete

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autocompleter-without-the-autocomplete/180831>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [December 30, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autocompleter-without-the-autocomplete/180831 "2009-12-30T01:03:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ruby\_on\_RailsS\_Talk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Ruby\_on\_RailsS\_Talk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ruby_on_RailsS_Talk)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autocompleter-without-the-autocomplete/180831/1 "2009-12-30T01:03:06Z")

</div>

Hi

I’ve written a system which requires the entry of lots of customers.

Trusting this to an OAP (I know!!!) it appears that I now have lots  
of duplicate customers … which is going to cause issues.

I know I can use the validate clauses in the model when it saves, but  
want something a little bit better than this.

I would like it that when I type the first three letters of a forename  
into a text field, a DIV somewhere on the page updates with the  
records it retrieves from the Customers Database matching the names. A  
bit like the Ajax.Autocompleter but without the autocomplete thing. I  
just want it to query the database and list the results - but  
dynamically so the more letters I type, the more refined the list  
becomes.

I’ve tried playing around with various things, but nothing seems to be  
working.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks  
Darren

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ruby\_on\_RailsS\_Talk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@Ruby\_on\_RailsS\_Talk](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Ruby_on_RailsS_Talk)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/autocompleter-without-the-autocomplete/180831/2 "2009-12-30T02:40:20Z")

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I did that exact thing with the way that autocomplete works - except  
each key is a new get. The response was a set of li elements.

On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 5:01 PM, Ruby on Rails: Talk  
[removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> I would like it that when I type the first three letters of a forename  
> Any ideas would be appreciated.

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