Need to recognize how many items a search returns

Question

I'm implementing a search before data entry, to make sure the user is not duplicating an existing entry, and I am having trouble identifying how to capture and use the number of search results to direct the user to the next step.

I am using rails 3 and the pg_search gem

models/request.rb

class Request < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :description, :title, :user_id, :who

  belongs_to :user
  has_many :comments

  include PgSearch
  pg_search_scope :search, against: [:title, :description, :who],
     using: {tsearch: {dictionary: "english"}},
       associated_against: {user: :name},
       ignoring: :accents

  def self.request_search(query)
    if query.present?
      search(query)
      where("title @@ :q or description @@ :q or who @@ :q", q: query)
    else
      scoped
    end
  end
end

requests_controller.rb

  def index
    @requests = Request.request_search(params[:search]).order(sort_column + " " +  sort_direction).paginate(:per_page => 4, :page => params[:page])
    @users = User.all
  end

-- begin edit (per Jesse's answer)

requests_controller.rb (cont.)

  private

  def sort_column
    Request.column_names.include?(params[:sort]) ? params[:sort] : "title"
  end

  def sort_direction
    %w[asc desc].include?(params[:direction]) ? params[:direction] : "asc"
  end

application_helper.rb

  def sortable(column, title = nil)
    title ||= column.titleize
    css_class = column == sort_column ? "current #{sort_direction}" : nil
    direction = column == sort_column && sort_direction == "asc" ? "desc" : "asc"
    link_to title, params.merge(:sort => column, :direction => direction, :page => nil), {:class => css_class}
  end

_requests.html.erb (partial)

<%= hidden_field_tag :direction, params[:direction] %>
<%= hidden_field_tag :sort, params[:sort] %>

<div class="row">
    <table class="table table-striped pretty">
       <thead>
          <tr>
            <th><%= sortable "title" %></th>
            <th><%= sortable "who", "Requested Pro" %></th>
            <th><%= sortable "created_at", "When" %></th>
            <th><%= sortable "request.user", "Requested by" %></th>
          </tr>
       </thead>
       <tbody>
       <% @requests.each do |request| %>
         <tr>
           <td><%= request.title %></td>
           <td><%= request.who %></td>
           <td><%= request.created_at %></td>
           <td><%= request.user.name %></td>
           <td><%= link_to 'Show', request, :class => 'btn btn-mini'%></td>
           <% if can? :update, @course %>
           <td><%= link_to 'Edit', edit_request_path(request) %></td>
               <td><%= link_to 'Destroy', request, 
                            confirm: 'Are you sure?', 
                            method: :delete, 
                            :class => 'btn btn-mini' %></td>
           <% end %>
         </tr>
      <% end %>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    <div class="pull-right"><%= will_paginate @requests %></div>    
</div>
<%= button_to 'New Request', new_request_path, :class => 'btn btn-large btn-primary mleft20 mtop20' %>

-- end edit

For example, there are two ways to arrive at the index page from other pages, after a search or through a link. If the user arrives at the index after a search, I would like to insert some text before the search results in the view that says: Your search yielded "x" items. If you don't see what you're looking for, enter a new request by clicking on the button.

Else, if the user just linked to the index, I want to be able to hide the text and just display the index as is.

I am thinking I can access the search attributes (if it is right to call them that) through request_search somehow, but I'm not sure how to implement it in the view (after several attempts).

Secondly, if I can add, I am looking to copy the search text into one of the entry fields if the user decides to create a new entry...

Please let me know if I have stated the question(s) clearly and if you can shed some light for me. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

  def index
    @requests = Request.request_search(params[:search]).order(sort_column + " " +  sort_direction).paginate(:per_page => 4, :page => params[:page])
    @users = User.all
    @search = params[:search] 
 end

in your view:

<% if @search.present? %> 
  <p>Your search yielded <%= pluralize(@requests.total_entries, "item") %>. If you don't see what you're looking for, enter a new request by clicking on the button.</p>
<% end %>

<%= form_tag, url: "/" do %>
  <%= label_tag :search, "Search for:"%>
  <%= text_field_tag :search, value: @search %>
  <%= submit_tag "Search" %>
<% end %>

Final note: Looks like you must have left out the code that gets "sort_column". As is, you'll have trouble running the above code since "sort_column" will be an unreferenced variable.