jQuery UI Autocomplete not working with codeigniter - php

Question

I'm trying to get a field on my view to autocomplete with values from a database but can't seem to figure out what is going wrong....
In my view I have the following script:
$(document).ready(function() {
$(function() {
$( "#searchQuestion" ).autocomplete({
source: function(request, response) {
$.ajax({ url: "<?php echo site_url('contentmanagement/suggestions'); ?>",
data: { term: $("#searchQuestion").val()},
dataType: "json",
type: "POST",
success: function(data){
response(data);
}
});
},
minLength: 2
});
});
});
Within my contentmanagement controller I have the "suggestions" function:
function suggestions() {
$this->load->model('onlinehelp');
$term = $this->input->post('term', TRUE);
if (strlen($term) < 2)
break;
$rows = $this->onlinehelp->GetAutocomplete($term);
$keywords = array();
foreach ($rows as $row)
array_push($keywords, $row->question);
echo json_encode($keywords);}
And Finally within my model I have the follow function -
function GetAutocomplete($term) {
$this->db->select('question');
$this->db->like('question',$term, 'both');
$query = $this->db->get('question');
return $query->result();
}
The query above is the equivalent to "SELECT question FROM question WHERE question LIKE %$term%.
Can anyone see where I am going wrong with this??

Answer 1

You might be getting a 500 Internal Server Error caused by CSRF protection being enabled. If so, every POST request must contain a CSRF value. You have a few options:
1. Include the CSRF value in your data using $this->input->cookie('your_csrf_name');
2. Perform GET request instead of POST.
Use $this->input->get('term', TRUE); in your controller. Remember to sanitize and validate the value.
3. Disable CSRF protection. Not recommended.

Answer 2

This works with the CSRF enabled:
Use the jquery cookie plugin
<script type='text/javascript' src='<?php echo base_url(); ?>/js/lib/jquery.cookie.js'></script>
Then on your autocomplete thing:
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
$(function() {
$("#searchQuestion").autocomplete({
source: function(request, response) {
$.ajax({ url: "<?php echo site_url('contentmanagement/suggestions'); ?>",
data: { term: $("#searchQuestion").val(), ci_csrf_token: $.cookie("ci_csrf_token") },
dataType: "json",
type: "POST",
success: function(data){
response(data);
}
});
},
minLength: 2,
focus: function( event, ui ) {
$("#searchQuestion").val(ui.item.term);
return false;
}
})
.data("autocomplete")._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
return $( "<li></li>" )
.data( "item.autocomplete", item )
.append( "<a>" + item.term + "</a>" )
.appendTo( ul );
};
});
});</script>