Using the Zend framework Lucene library - Part 2

More site search malarky

In a previous article I talked about using a library from the Zend framework to create a site search.  As you try out this functionality using the search box, above right.

I never finished the article, so I’ll explain here how I implemented this using CodeIgniter.  I’ll also detail how I built the ‘quick results’ tool (click in the search box).

Using the Zend framework Lucene library

Adding a site search function

I know, only a few articles in, so I don’t really need a site search function.  But you never know, I might actually keep writing (even if no-one is reading) and so I’ve been looking around for some solutions.

I’ve looked at a few, for example: Swish-e, and Sphider.  Nothing really float my boat, until I had a look at the Zend Framework.  It’s another MVC based PHP framework, though it looks a little heavier than CodeIgniter.  The documentation is not as good either, but it did have a Lucene library.

CodeIgniter and Ajax

Using jQuery to manipulate data returned by controller method

I’ve been asked to create a dashboard for many devices across our network.  To display real-time information on each component, I’m thinking of using Web services, and AJAX.  Like most aspects of coding, using a framework to do all the heavy lifting, rather than developing your own, is a sensible approach.

So today I took a look at jQuery, a JavaScript framework.  I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed.  It did not take me long to come up with some example code, that degrades well when JavaScript is disabled in the browser.