JQuery autocomplete with database values not working (Laravel 5)

Question

Goal: Show suggestions in a form's text box based on data from database

<script>
    $(function() {
        $( "#activitynamebox" ).autocomplete({
            source: '{{URL('getactivitydata')}}',
            minlength: 1, //search after 1 character
            select:function(event,ui){
                $('#response').val(ui.item.value);
            }

        });
    });
</script>

The problem

code 1: works as expected

public function suggestion() {

    $return_array = array('1' => 'Example1',
        '2' => 'Example2');

    echo json_encode($return_array);

}

code 2: with values from database, doesn't work:

public function suggestion() {

    $term = 'programming';
    $array = DB::table('activities')
        ->where('type', '=', 'Work')
        ->take(5)
        ->get();


    foreach($array as $element) {
        $return_array[$element->id] = $element->name;
    }

    echo json_encode($return_array);

}

Error: Internal Server Error 500

I decided to echo $return_array from code 2 in a separate controller and the ouput was the following:

{'1': 'Example1', '2': 'Example2' }

Which is the same thing (I think) that works hardcoded in code 1.

Why does code 1 work while code 2 doesn't? What's the difference? Thanks in advance

also, you can use where without the '=' operator in the middle. — ruifn
– ruifn, Commented Jul 23, 2015 at 23:44
@rufin Thanks for your suggestion, but unfortunately the result was the same — Mr. Phil
– Mr. Phil, Commented Jul 23, 2015 at 23:47
use a try { .. your code .. } catch (\Exception $e) { echo $e->getMessage() } to see the error. — ruifn
– ruifn, Commented Jul 24, 2015 at 0:00

Mr. Phil · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-24 11:33:14Z

2

Well unless you didn't post all of your code, your second example has several errors.

First of all, what's $return_array and where did you get it? You are doing this $return_array[$element->id] = $element->name; unless you have declared $return_array somewhere, this will be an empty variable and you can't treat an empty variable as an array.

Second your output it's not the same, your output is one javascript object, what you want is a array of objects. So your first example is outputting this:

[
   {'1': 'Example1'},
   {'2': 'Example2'}
]

And in your second example you are outputting this:

{
    '1': 'Example1',
    '2': 'Example2'
}

One single object.

So without knowing if you have any error besides the ones that are visible, this is how your suggestion function should be

public function suggestion() {

    $term = 'programmer';
    $array = DB::table('activities')
        ->where('type', '=', 'Work')
        ->take(5)
        ->get();

    $return_array = [];
    foreach($array as $element) {
        //notice that we are pushing an associative array into the $return_array
        $return_array[][$element->id] = $element->name;
    }

    echo json_encode($return_array);

}

edited Jul 24, 2015 at 11:33

Mr. Phil

1,1192 gold badges14 silver badges31 bronze badges

answered Jul 24, 2015 at 1:03

Fabio Antunes

22.9k17 gold badges83 silver badges96 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Mr. Phil Over a year ago

About the $return_array declaration I had already fixed it (someone commented that in my question), but the problem was as you said having a javascript object when I needed an array of objects. Thanks for taking your time to answer, your solution actually worked. I upvoted and accepted your answer, keep up the good work :)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

JQuery autocomplete with database values not working (Laravel 5)

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related