Backbone.js filter on any value in a collection

Question

I have a search/filter field that I would like to be able to filter on any value of the collection. The data I have is as follows:

 exports.administrators = [
{
  id: 1,
  firstName: "User1",
  lastName: "Tester",
  phone: "781-000-0000",
  email: "user1.tester@email.com",
  privileges: "view-only"
}, {
  id: 2,
  firstName: "Mickey",
  lastName: "Mouse",
  phone: "781-123-4567",
  email: "mickey.mouse@disney.com",
  privileges: "all"
}, {
  id: 3,
  firstName: "Snow",
  lastName: "White",
  phone: "781-890-1234",
  email: "snow.white@disney.com",
  privileges: "all"
}, {
  id: 4,
  firstName: "Anakin",
  lastName: "Skywalker",
  phone: "888-874-9084",
  email: "anakin.skywalker@deathstar.com",
  privileges: "view-only"
}, {
  id: 5,
  firstName: "Obi-one",
  lastName: "Kenobi",
  phone: "908-765-5432",
  email: "obi.kenobi@jedi.com",
  privileges: "all"
}, {
  id: 6,
  firstName: "Master",
  lastName: "Yoda",
  phone: "876-654-2134",
  email: "yoda@jedi.com",
  privileges: "view-only"
}, {
  id: 7,
  firstName: "Han",
  lastName: "Solo",
  phone: "781-456-3209",
  email: "han.solo@gmail.com",
  privileges: "all"
}, {
  id: 8,
  firstName: "Neo",
  lastName: "TheOne",
  phone: "781-000-0000",
  email: "neo@matrix.com",
  privileges: "all"
}];

The View will fire an event based on the keyup event:

AdministratorView.prototype.events = {
  'click .sub-content th.sort, .sub-content th.sort-up, .sub-content th.sort-down': 'sortTable',
  'click .light-btn': 'showAdd',
  'keyup #filter-find': 'filterAdministrators'
};

I have also abstracted the function that I want to perform the filtering:

  App.Utils.filterCollection = function(collection, filterValue) {
if (filterValue !== "") {
  return _.filter(collection.models, function(data) {
    var values;
    values = _.values(data.attributes);
    _.each(values, function(value) {
      if (!isNaN(value)) {
        value = value.toString();
      }
      return value.indexOf(filterValue) > 0;
    });
  });
}

};

The problem I have is:

1. The filterCollection function is returning undefined
2. Is there a more elegant way of doing this?

Thanks for all the help in advance.

Cheers,

Kianosh

Updated function:

I have updated the function with some input from @dbaseman

  App.Utils.filterCollection = function(collection, filterValue) {
var filteredCollection;
if (filterValue === "") {
  [];
}
return filteredCollection = collection.filter(function(data) {
  return _.some(_.values(data.toJSON()), function(value) {
    value = !isNaN(value) ? value.toString() : value;
    return value.indexOf(filterValue) >= 0;
  });
});

};

However I am still getting an empty (or undefined) value from the function. I am stomped!!

Update #2 Found a partial solution. Here is the jsFiddle - http://jsfiddle.net/kianoshp/YWSSp/ . It filters correctly, however when I blank out the filter field I expect the original data set to be displayed. However now I get a blank table. Working on solution but any help/hint would be helpful.

Update #3 Final solution is here in the jsFiddle --> http://jsfiddle.net/kianoshp/YWSSp/77/ thanks to @dbaseman

Answer 1

I don't think there's a more elegant way, except for minor improvements:

1. Backbone collections proxy to Underscore.JS methods, so you can use collection.filter
2. Yould also use _.some to check if any value matches

As far as problems, there are two as far as I could tell:

1. You're calling _.values on a Backbone model (that's what filter returns when called on a Backbone collection). You have to call filter on the JSON representation, using model.toJSON() .
2. You're checking if the value is a number , but then calling indexOf on the value. I think you meant to check if it's a string (`typeof value == 'string').

Here's the modified function ( Demo ).

Backbone.Collection.prototype.filterValues = function(filterValue) {
    if (filterValue == "") return [];
    return this.filter(function(data) {
        return _.some(_.values(data.toJSON()), function(value) {
           if (_.isNumber(value)) value = value.toString();
           if (_.isString(value)) return value.indexOf(filterValue) != -1;
           return false;
        });
    });
}

Answer 2

I've taken the answer McGarnagle provided and added some improvements. The below code allows you to search inside Models that have properties consisting of objects.

Backbone.Collection.prototype.filterValues = function(filterValue) {
if (filterValue === ""){
    return this.models;
}

function collectionFilter(data) {
    if(data.toJSON){
        data = data.toJSON();
    }

    return _.some(_.values(data), function(value) {
        if(_.isObject(value)){
            return collectionFilter(value);
        }

        if (_.isNumber(value)){
            value = value.toString();
        }

        if (_.isString(value)){
            value = value.toLowerCase();

            return value.indexOf(filterValue) !== -1;
        }

        return false;
    });
}

return this.filter(collectionFilter);
};