Reactive search for libraries on website

[richbowen]

When searching for a library from the search bar, filter results real-time in the same view, as the user types ( eg. If the user types the search term 'gpl' they see all 'gpl/lgpl' libraries, 'windows' => all windows compatible libraries etc.). Being that all package data is in JSON, manipulating it for this purpose should be very doable. Vue comes to mind for implementing the reactive search feature without any bells and whistles (Heres an example of 'reactive search' using vue).

Advantages:

• One less view to render as only the main view is being used to display search results (no Alt-Left arrow to go back to list of libraries page).
• Makes search fun, easier to use and more intuitive.
• Provides a custom search for Inqlude without having to rely on external services like Google Custom Search.

[cornelius]

This sounds like a good idea. Maybe somebody finds some time to implement it. The relevant code is in the view template for the two column layout.

[cornelius]

We currently use Google Site Search. This will be shut down by April 1 2018 so we need to find an alternative like the one mentioned above.

Another alternative might be https://github.com/cebe/js-search

[richbowen]

Cool. Not sure if you realized but js-search relies on PHP to generate the search index.

Here are a few libraries I've come across:

• fuzzysort. demo.
• Lunr.js. demo.
• Algolia - (Neither free nor open source but they do offer a search solution for open source projects and non-profits). example, example 2

I'll do some more research and update this accordingly.

[cornelius]

Using PHP to create the index might be ok as long as it's not required at runtime. I would like to keep the web site static HTML to avoid any trouble with server-side components, but for the toolchain to generate the site I would be open to use the tools which do the job best even if that means another dependency.

[cornelius]

Fuzzysort and Lunr look interesting. Thanks for looking into this. I would try to avoid a non free software solution if there is a decent alternative.