# Search Ferret Index for Use With Autocomplete / Options List **URL:** \ **Category:** Ferret\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345 "2008-06-13T03:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/1 "2008-06-13T03:45:38Z")
I’ve got Ferret up and running for a Rails application and I’d like to be able to use autocomplete in my text search field so that as the user is typing each character of the search term, the index is queried for matching terms starting with those characters, and they are displayed in a list under the search box, like Google Suggest. I have searched the Ferret API but I can’t find a way to do for example: Show all words in index that start with ‘s’, then ‘sp’, then ‘spa’, etc. Thanks for any assistance. ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/2 "2008-06-16T13:08:00Z")
Gaudi Mi wrote: > I’ve got Ferret up and running for a Rails application and I’d like to > be able to use autocomplete in my text search field so that as the user > is typing each character of the search term, the index is queried for > matching terms starting with those characters, and they are displayed in > a list under the search box, like Google Suggest. > > I have searched the Ferret API but I can’t find a way to do for example: > > Show all words in index that start with ‘s’, then ‘sp’, then ‘spa’, etc. > > Thanks for any assistance. Is that what google does, though? I thought the autocomplete was being filled with previous matching searches. If that is the case then you might have to save all search queries to a db. Have you seen the jQuery autocomplete plugin? It’s pretty good: [http://www.pengoworks.com/workshop/jquery/autocomplete.htm](http://www.pengoworks.com/workshop/jquery/autocomplete.htm) ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/3 "2008-06-16T13:12:57Z")
> Is that what google does, though? > Yes it is. This problem is related to the problem I asked about the other day about levenshtein distance. Is this stuff exposed in Ferret? -Rob ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/4 "2008-06-16T14:13:07Z")
On 16.06.2008, at 13:08, Max W. wrote: > > I have searched the Ferret API but I can’t find a way to do for > > example: > > > > Show all words in index that start with ‘s’, then ‘sp’, then ‘spa’, > > etc. This might be accomplished by using a TermEnum ([http://ferret.davebalmain.com/api/classes/Ferret/Index/TermEnum.html](http://ferret.davebalmain.com/api/classes/Ferret/Index/TermEnum.html) ) which basically is a list of all terms present in the index in a given field. Using term\_enum.skip\_to(‘s’) should bring back the first term starting with letter ‘s’, then get all other terms with s by calling term\_enum.next as often as necessary. Never tried this, but it should work. However the ‘common’ way for autocomplete is indeed to base the completion on past searches, i.e. index user’s successful queries and suggest matching past queries while the user is typing. If that’s really not what you want, you could also build up a second index containing all the terms that occur in your data, each as a document on its own (like your own dictionary), and get suggestions from there, with fuzzy queries if you like. This can also be used for ‘did you mean’ stuff in case the user has a typo in his query and got no results because of that. Cheers, Jens – Jens Krämer Finkenlust 14, 06449 Aschersleben, Germany VAT Id DE251962952 [http://www.jkraemer.net/](http://www.jkraemer.net/) - Blog [http://www.omdb.org/](http://www.omdb.org/) - The new free film database ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/5 "2008-06-18T12:39:18Z")
Thanks! I will try this. I’m actually interested in the index entries, not past searches. ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/6 "2008-06-24T11:56:07Z")
Is it possible to search for fields that start with a word or phrase? Lets say I have the following fields: 1 mooning 2 moon landing 3 landing on the moon Then I would like to be able to only get The result I would like to get is: 1 and 2 if I search for moon only 2 if I search for moon landing or moon land only 3 if I search for landing Is it possible with ferret or would a simple SQL query do this better? Cheers Mattias ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/7 "2008-06-27T14:25:49Z")
Dens’t anyone have some thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/8 "2008-06-18T06:38:10Z")
On Jun 16, 2008, at 5:12 AM, Jens K. wrote: > This might be accomplished by using a TermEnum That’s how I would do it. However, you have to be careful with Analyzers: if the text is stemmed, the suggestions will be stemmed. The solution would be to have an unstemmed field dedicated to this purpose. Marvin H. Rectangular Research [http://www.rectangular.com/](http://www.rectangular.com/) ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/9 "2008-06-27T15:53:11Z")
Yes looked at that but the fields I have are often short. The constrain I’m looking for is that it has to start with the query. Like SELECT \* FROM table WHERE title LIKE “term%” mattias ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/10 "2008-06-27T15:47:54Z")
On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 02:23:39PM +0200, Mattias B. wrote: > Dens’t anyone have some thoughts on this? did you have a look at [http://ferret.davebalmain.com/api/classes/Ferret/Search/Spans/SpanNearQuery.html](http://ferret.davebalmain.com/api/classes/Ferret/Search/Spans/SpanNearQuery.html) ? Not sure but it might solve some if not all of your issues. cheers, Jens > > Then I would like to be able to only get > > > > The result I would like to get is: > > > > 1 and 2 if I search for moon > > only 2 if I search for moon landing or moon land > > only 3 if I search for landing – Jens Krämer webit! Gesellschaft für neue Medien mbH Schnorrstraße 76 | 01069 Dresden Telefon +49 351 46766-0 | Telefax +49 351 46766-66 removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid | [www.webit.de](http://www.webit.de) Amtsgericht Dresden | HRB 15422 GF Sven Haubold ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/11 "2008-06-28T00:49:24Z")
27 jun 2008 kl. 15.52 skrev Mattias B.: > Yes looked at that but the fields I have are often short. The > constrain I’m looking for is that it has to start with the query. > > Like SELECT \* FROM table WHERE title LIKE “term%” You want to use the WildQuery alternative. That way you can use term\*. Cheers, Henke ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 10:21am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/12 "2008-06-28T10:21:44Z")
But that doesn’t restrict the search to the start of the field. dog\* will match both “Wild dog” and “Dog bone” mattias ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/13 "2008-06-29T14:45:25Z")
Ahh true. Interesting situation. Need to research that a bit 🙂 //Henke 28 jun 2008 kl. 10.20 skrev Mattias B.: ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/14 "2008-06-30T10:53:01Z")
It’s the same. Will match any word in the field that starts with the query. Same as putting a \* after the query. I was looking at a solution where a have a special index that only contains the first word of the original field and then do the query like firstword:dog\* and theholefield:dog\* Should only match “dog bone” and not “wild dog”. Just feels a bit strange to have to fields here. mattias ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/15 "2008-06-29T14:53:37Z")
Found it! Ferret :: Search :: PrefixQuery 29 jun 2008 kl. 14.44 skrev Henrik: ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/16 "2008-06-30T14:33:03Z")
I think so. I have tried almost everything and the common missbehavior I get is that I keep getting hits where the query isn’t in the start of the field but somewhere in the middle or end. mattias ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/17 "2008-06-30T14:26:35Z")
Ahh so what you need is a whitespacestemmer? OR I’m I still missing something 🙂 //Henke 30 jun 2008 kl. 10.52 skrev Mattias B.: ---
**Author:** ![gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/87869e/32.png) [@gaudimila](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gaudimila)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/search-ferret-index-for-use-with-autocomplete-options-list/140345/18 "2008-07-02T11:44:20Z")
Hi! On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 02:32:27PM +0200, Mattias B. wrote: > I think so. I have tried almost everything and the common missbehavior I > get is that I keep getting hits where the query isn’t in the start of the > field but somewhere in the middle or end. I dont think any of Ferret’s default queries will solve your problem, but given that something like SpanFirstQuery exists it should also be possible to implement a SpanFirstTermQuery… cheers, Jens – Jens Krämer webit! Gesellschaft für neue Medien mbH Schnorrstraße 76 | 01069 Dresden Telefon +49 351 46766-0 | Telefax +49 351 46766-66 removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid | [www.webit.de](http://www.webit.de) Amtsgericht Dresden | HRB 15422 GF Sven Haubold