Best way to search function in symfony 2 - php

Question

I have a search function on my website implemented with elasticsearch.
Now I have a little question about design.
I have a searchAction with route /search that takes a parameter in the query string. Like /search?terms=....
I would like to make the results list filterable, but I have some doubts about the right design to achieve this.
What is the best solution to make a list of filtered results?
If I pass the filter parameter I need to specify a form action with the current url and append the current query string like a link, right?
Example:
<form action="{{ current_pat }} ~ {{ query_string }}" method="post">
<input type="checkbox" name="filter_one">....
In this case the url will like: /search?terms=... and in $post I have the filter. Is this the right solution, or is a list of links better?
Example:
<ul>
<li><a href="{{current_path}} ~ {{ query_string }} ~ {{ this_filter }}">...
<li><a href="{{current_path}} ~ {{ query_string }} ~ {{ this_another_filter }}">
...
In this case the url will be like: /search?terms=...&this_filter=...
In the form case with the get parameter and post filter I need to take both type of parameters in the search action. Is this good?
Instead the link will now have all parameters in the $get request, but I don't like to build the url with query strings in the template.
What's the best way?

Answer 1

Use KNP paginator bundle with search action. On search form make the post action to your searchAction in Controller and after sorting data with matching criteria, re-render the page.
public function searchAction(Request $request,array $arguments = array())
{
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$paginator = $this->get('knp_paginator');
$parameter = $request->get('board_search');
$boardRepo = $this->getDoctrine()->getRepository('PNCMISDashboardBundle:ExaminationBoards')->loadBoardByName($parameter);
$boards = $paginator->paginate($boardRepo, $this->get('request')->query->get('page', 1), 10);
return $this->render('PNCMISDashboardBundle:ExaminationBoards/CRUD:index.html.twig', array(
'boards'=> $boards,
)
);
}
public function loadBoardByName($name)
{
$q = $this
->createQueryBuilder('boards')
->where('upper(boards.name) LIKE upper(:search)')
->setParameter('search', '%'.$name.'%')
->getQuery()
;
try {
// The Query::getSingleResult() method throws an exception
// if there is no record matching the criteria.
$user = $q->getResult();
} catch (NoResultException $e) {
throw new UsernameNotFoundException(sprintf('Unable to find an board identified by "%s".', $name), null, 0, $e);
}
return $user;
}

Answer 2

I prefer to have all the parameters in the query string which will allow the user to bookmark the url or send it in an email.

Answer 3

It depends.
1 If you don't need to index (SEO for instance - google bot) the filtered results page, in my opinion you should use AJAX to achieve this.
Routing:
search_result:
pattern: /search
defaults: { _controller: AcmeExampleBundle:Ajax:searchResult }
requirements:
_method: POST
JavaScript (pseudo Code)
filterResults() {
var queryString = $('input#toSearch').val();
var filters = new Object();
filters['someKey'] = someVal;
$.post('/search', {filters: filters, queryString: queryString}, function(data) {
$('#resultList').html(data);
});)
}
Of course, you should not harcode url '/search'.
Controller:
// src/Acme/ExampleBundle/Controller/AjaxController.php
// ...
public function searchResultAction()
{
$filters = $this->getRequest()->get('filters', array());
$searchObject = new searchObj();
// or smt like $this->get('service_name'); if you use search object as service
// you can also use entity manager
$searchObject->setQueryString($this->getRequest()->get('queryString'));
$searchObject->setFilters($filters);
return $this->render('AcmeExampleBundle:Ajax:searchResult.html.twig', array(
'records' => $searchObject->getResults()
));
}
Of course you can return json response, but in my opinion, return ready to inject part of template is simplest to manage
And View:
{% for record in records %}
<div class="record">{{ record.title }}</div>
{% endfor %}
2 If you wanna index filtred results page you should use user-friendly URLs instead AJAX methods
Routing:
search_result:
pattern: /search/{queryString}/{make}/{model}
defaults: { _controller: AcmeExampleBundle:Ajax:searchResult }
requirements:
_method: GET
Controller:
// src/Acme/ExampleBundle/Controller/AjaxController.php
// ...
public function searchResultAction($queryString, $make, $model)
{
$filters = array('make' => $make, 'model' => $model);
$searchObject = new searchObj();
// or smt like $this->get('service_name'); if you use search object as service
// you can also use entity manager
$searchObject->setQueryString($queryString);
$searchObject->setFilters($filters);
return $this->render('AcmeExampleBundle:Ajax:searchResult.html.twig', array(
'records' => $searchObject->getResults()
));
}