Video: creating custom ajax search

To show how to create more advanced features in Bildy, I created a video where I build a custom ajax search. In Twitter someone was asking if anyone knew solutions for searching cars, so I did this demo around cars (not exactly my subject).

The workflow goes roughly like this:

1. Create datamodel
2. Input all the data
3. Create template for searching and showing that data

In the template I...

1. Create search form using b:form. I send the data to the same url with .json extension, so I can create the result response in the same template.
2. I then use b:if and b:env.extension to sniff out if the page is loaded as ***.json. If not, the normal HTML page will be rendered
3. I get the car data with b:get and output it in a JSON format. To narrow down the cars according to the search results, I use little PHP to generate a where-clause. I store it in a b:value which I then use in the b:get where-attribute.
4. To display the results, I use the wonderful Mootools Javascript framework. Of course you could use what ever framework you prefer.

Snip snap and we get a nice Ajax search.

• See the live demo
• Download the code
• View the video at YouTube