Jquery:create a dictionary to autocomplete all inputs

Question

i want to add an smart autocomplete to my project in which when ever user is typing a word in any input its autocompleted from his own dictionary.

his owner dictionary is built by saving every word he ever submit to server something like (array_values($_POST))

my current JS

$('input.complete').live('keyup.autocomplete', function(){
        var hi=$(this).val().toUpperCase();
        var was=this;
        $(this).autocomplete({
//PROBLEM Should i consider to change source from ajax/mysql to different source ?
//since there gona be too many requests ??
            source: function(request, response) {
                    $.ajax({ url: '<?=base_url()?>ajax/ac',
//PROBLEM how can i set term=word currently being edited..(start=' ',end=pointerpos)
                    data: { 'term': this.term },
                    dataType: "json",
                    type: "POST",
                    success: function(data){
                        if(data.length){
                            //response(data);
          //Commented out cause i dont wana display dropdown.. just typeahead.
                              if(data[0]['value'].substr(0,hi.length).toUpperCase()==hi){
                                $(was).val(data[0]['value']);
//currently working with single word inputs..once i get how to select only current word will edit these..
                                was.selectionStart=hi.length;
                                was.selectionEnd=data[0]['value'].length;   
                            }
                        }
                    }
                });
            },
            select: function(event, ui){},
            minLength: 2,
            delay: 500
        });

As u can see i have 2 problems

Question

1. how can i select current word that user is typing ?
2. is this a good approach to reach my goal, or i should consider different plugin

Answer 1

You are using PHP language as well. So in my opinion you can use PHP to solve your problem more easily. Let's say you have php function get_word($excerpt) in get.php file. So,

<?php
     get_word($_POST['excerpt']);
     function get_word($excerpt) {
          // Find exact word from database or array using given $excerpt
          // and return complete word.
          return $complete_word;
     }
?>

And in your jquery (assuming input field as .input),

$(document).ready(function() {
     $('.input').live('keyup',function() {
          var excerpt = $(this).val();
          $.post("get.php", {excerpt:excerpt}, function(data) {
               // do anything with data.
               $('.input').val(data);
          });
     });
})

For more precise, you can get bunch of matching words from get.php file, and display list of words to be selected.