How to search for users in app? (the most cost efficient way) in Firebase

Question

I have made a small MVP test app with firebase. I have also made a ViewController that searches for users. But now i have to load up every user in the firebase project once the searchcontroller is clicked. And this is not very scalable. (the searchcontroller displays both the usernames of the users, and also the profile photo.

I have it so the user must type atleast two words before the searchcontroller starts showing content in the tableview. So maybe a solution is to only load the usernames upon clicked, and then only loading the profilepicture when the current user is displayed? If so , how can i achieve this?

class FollowUsersTableViewController: UIViewController{

@IBOutlet var tableView: UITableView!

private var viewIsHiddenObserver: NSKeyValueObservation?
let searchController = UISearchController(searchResultsController: nil)
var usersArray = [UserModel]()
var filteredUsers = [UserModel]()
var loggedInUser: User?
//
var databaseRef = Database.database().reference()
//usikker på den koden over

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    //large title
    self.title = "Discover"
    if #available(iOS 11.0, *) {
        self.navigationController?.navigationBar.prefersLargeTitles = true
    } else {
        // Fallback on earlier versions
    }

    self.tableView?.delegate = self
    self.tableView?.dataSource = self
    searchController.searchResultsUpdater = self
    searchController.dimsBackgroundDuringPresentation = false
    self.searchController.delegate = self;

    definesPresentationContext = true
    tableView.tableHeaderView = searchController.searchBar

    self.loadProfileData()
}

func loadProfileData() {
    databaseRef.child("profile").queryOrdered(byChild: "username").observe(.childAdded, with: { (snapshot) in
        print(snapshot)
        let userObj =  Mapper<UserModel>().map(JSONObject: snapshot.value!)
        userObj?.uid = snapshot.key

        guard snapshot.key != self.loggedInUser?.uid else { return }

        self.usersArray.append(userObj!)
    })
}

override func prepare(for segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) {
    let dest = segue.destination as! UserProfileViewController
    let obj = sender as! UserModel
    let dict = ["uid": obj.uid!, "username": obj.username!, "photoURL": obj.photoURL, "bio": obj.bio]
    dest.selectedUser = dict as [String : Any]
}

  }

   // MARK: - tableview methods
   extension FollowUsersTableViewController: UITableViewDataSource, 
  UITableViewDelegate {

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection 
 section: Int) -> Int {
    return searchController.searchBar.text!.count >= 2 ? 
 filteredUsers.count : 0
  }

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "Cell", for: indexPath) as! FollowTableViewCell

    let user = filteredUsers[indexPath.row]

    cell.title?.text = user.username
    if let url = URL(string: user.photoURL ?? "") {
        cell.userImage?.sd_setImage(with: url, placeholderImage: 
     #imageLiteral(resourceName: "user_male"), options: 
  .progressiveDownload, completed: nil)
        cell.userImage.sd_setIndicatorStyle(.gray)
        cell.userImage.sd_showActivityIndicatorView()
    }

    return cell
}

 func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForRowAt indexPath: 
   IndexPath) -> CGFloat {
    return 50
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAt indexPath: 
 IndexPath) {
    self.performSegue(withIdentifier: "user", sender: self.filteredUsers[indexPath.row])
}

 }

 // MARK: - search methods
 extension FollowUsersTableViewController:UISearchResultsUpdating, 
   UISearchControllerDelegate {

func updateSearchResults(for searchController: UISearchController) {
    searchController.searchResultsController?.view.isHidden = false
    filterContent(searchText: self.searchController.searchBar.text!)
    self.tableView.reloadData()
}

func filterContent(searchText:String){
    if searchText.count >= 2{
        self.filteredUsers = self.usersArray.filter{ user in
            return(user.username!.lowercased().contains(searchText.lowercased()))
        }
    }
   }
  }

Answer 1

You can use queryStartingAtValue :

func searchQueryUsers(text: String, completion: @escaping (_ userNames: [String]) -> Void) {

    var userNames: [String] = []

    databaseRef.child("profile").queryOrdered(byChild: "username").queryStarting(atValue: text).observeSingleEvent(of: .value, with: { snapshot in

        for item in snapshot.children {

            guard let item = item as? DataSnapshot else {
                break
            }

            //"name" is a key for name in FirebaseDatabese model
            if let dict = item.value as? [String: Any], let name = dict["name"] as? String {
                userNames.append(name)
            }
        }

        completion(userNames)
    })
}