thrillwiki_django_no_react/memory-bank/decisions/search_duplication_fix.md

Search Duplication Fix

Issue

The park search was showing duplicate results because:

1. There were two separate forms with the same ID ("filter-form")
2. Both forms were targeting the same element ("#park-results")
3. The search form and filter form were operating independently

Solution

1. Created a custom autocomplete package to handle search functionality:

   • ModelAutocomplete base class for model-based autocomplete
   • AutocompleteWidget for rendering the search input
   • Templates for widget and suggestions
   • Views for handling search and selection

2. Updated ParkAutocomplete to use ModelAutocomplete:

class ParkAutocomplete(ModelAutocomplete):
    model = Park
    search_attrs = ['name']
    minimum_search_length = 2
    max_results = 8

3. Combined search and filter functionality into a single form:

<form id="filter-form"
      x-ref="filterForm"
      hx-get="{% url 'parks:park_list' %}"
      hx-target="#park-results"
      hx-push-url="true"
      hx-trigger="submit"
      class="mt-4">
    <div class="mb-6">
        {{ search_form }}  <!-- AutocompleteWidget -->
    </div>
    {% include "search/components/filter_form.html" with filter=filter %}
</form>

4. Added proper URL routing for autocomplete:

path("ac/", include((autocomplete_patterns, "autocomplete"), namespace="autocomplete"))

Benefits

1. No more duplicate search requests
2. Cleaner template structure
3. Better user experience with a single search interface
4. Proper integration with django-htmx-autocomplete
5. Simplified view logic
6. Reusable autocomplete functionality for other models

Technical Details

• Using django-htmx-autocomplete's AutocompleteWidget for search
• Single form submission handles both search and filtering
• HTMX handles the dynamic updates
• View mode selection preserved during search/filter operations
• Minimum search length of 2 characters
• Maximum of 8 search results
• Search results include park status and location