title: Search bar with jquery dropdown showing results
body: <p>When the user types something into the search bar I would like the results bellow to link to a page when you click it instead of filling the search bar with whatever you clicked. I'm very new to Jquery and I found this tutorial online but it isn't doing exactly what I wanted it to.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Index.php</strong> (Just showing some of the head and the body)</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;script&gt;
  $(document).ready(function(){
   $("#tag").autocomplete("autocomplete.php", {
          selectFirst: true
      });
  });
  &lt;/script&gt;
  &lt;/head&gt;
  
  &lt;body&gt;
      &lt;label&gt;Tag:&lt;/label&gt;
      &lt;input name="tag" type="text" id="tag" size="20" style="width:541px; height:23px; font-size:16px; text-indent:5px;" placeholder="Search foods, shopping lists, meal plans and recipes" /&gt;
  &lt;/body&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>autocomplete.php</strong> (Even with the  and  tags I was unable to achieve the linking to another page.)</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?php
  $q=$_GET['q'];
  $my_data=mysql_real_escape_string($q);
  include ("connect.php");
  $sql="SELECT id, name, description, foodgroup FROM foods WHERE name LIKE '%$my_data%' ORDER BY name";
  $result = mysql_query($sql);
  
  if($result) {
      while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
          print "&lt;a href='food.php?foodGroup=" . $row['foodgroup'] . "&amp;name=" . $row['name'] . "&amp;desc=" . $row['description'] . "&amp;foodID=" . $row['id'] . "'&gt;&lt;div id='resultContainerDiv'&gt;&lt;span id='resultText'&gt;" . $row['name'] . " - " . $row['description'] . "&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/a&gt;\n";
      }
  }
  ?&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>lastly, <strong>jquery.autocomplete.js</strong> </p>
  
  <pre><code>/*  * jQuery Autocomplete plugin 1.1  *  * Copyright (c) 2009 Jörn Zaefferer  *  * Dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses:  *   http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php  *   http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html  *  * Revision: $Id: jquery.autocomplete.js 15 2009-08-22 10:30:27Z joern.zaefferer $  */
  
  ;(function($) {      $.fn.extend({  autocomplete: function(urlOrData, options) {        var isUrl = typeof urlOrData == "string";       options = $.extend({}, $.Autocompleter.defaults, {          url: isUrl ? urlOrData : null,          data: isUrl ? null : urlOrData,             delay: isUrl ? $.Autocompleter.defaults.delay : 10,             max: options &amp;&amp; !options.scroll ? 10 : 150      }, options);
                  // if highlight is set to false, replace it with a do-nothing function      options.highlight = options.highlight || function(value) { return value; };
                  // if the formatMatch option is not specified, then use formatItem for backwards compatibility      options.formatMatch = options.formatMatch || options.formatItem;
                  return this.each(function() {           new $.Autocompleter(this, options);         });     },  result: function(handler) {         return this.bind("result", handler);    },  search: function(handler) {         return this.trigger("search", [handler]);   },  flushCache: function() {        return this.trigger("flushCache");  },  setOptions: function(options){      return this.trigger("setOptions", [options]);   },  unautocomplete: function() {        return this.trigger("unautocomplete");  } });
  
  $.Autocompleter = function(input, options) {
  
      var KEY = {         UP: 38,         DOWN: 40,       DEL: 46,        TAB: 9,         RETURN: 13,         ESC: 27,        COMMA: 188,         PAGEUP: 33,         PAGEDOWN: 34,       BACKSPACE: 8    };
  
      // Create $ object for input element    var $input = $(input).attr("autocomplete", "off").addClass(options.inputClass);
  
      var timeout;    var previousValue = "";     var cache = $.Autocompleter.Cache(options);     var hasFocus = 0;   var lastKeyPressCode;   var config = {      mouseDownOnSelect: false    };  var select = $.Autocompleter.Select(options, input, selectCurrent, config);         var blockSubmit;        // prevent form submit in opera when selecting with return key  $.browser.opera &amp;&amp; $(input.form).bind("submit.autocomplete", function() {       if (blockSubmit) {          blockSubmit = false;            return false;       }   });         // only opera doesn't trigger keydown multiple times while pressed, others don't work with keypress at all  $input.bind(($.browser.opera ? "keypress" : "keydown") + ".autocomplete", function(event) {         // a keypress means the input has focus         // avoids issue where input had focus before the autocomplete was applied       hasFocus = 1;       // track last key pressed       lastKeyPressCode = event.keyCode;       switch(event.keyCode) {
                      case KEY.UP:
                  event.preventDefault();
                  if ( select.visible() ) {
                      select.prev();
                  } else {
                      onChange(0, true);
                  }
                  break;
                              case KEY.DOWN:
                  event.preventDefault();
                  if ( select.visible() ) {
                      select.next();
                  } else {
                      onChange(0, true);
                  }
                  break;
                              case KEY.PAGEUP:
                  event.preventDefault();
                  if ( select.visible() ) {
                      select.pageUp();
                  } else {
                      onChange(0, true);
                  }
                  break;
                              case KEY.PAGEDOWN:
                  event.preventDefault();
                  if ( select.visible() ) {
                      select.pageDown();
                  } else {
                      onChange(0, true);
                  }
                  break;
                          // matches also semicolon           case options.multiple &amp;&amp; $.trim(options.multipleSeparator) == "," &amp;&amp; KEY.COMMA:             case KEY.TAB:           case KEY.RETURN:
                  if( selectCurrent() ) {
                      // stop default to prevent a form submit, Opera needs special handling
                      event.preventDefault();
                      blockSubmit = true;
                      return false;
                  }
                  break;
                              case KEY.ESC:
                  select.hide();
                  break;
                              default:
                  clearTimeout(timeout);
                  timeout = setTimeout(onChange, options.delay);
                  break;      }   }).focus(function(){        // track whether the field has focus, we shouldn't process any      // results if the field no longer has focus         hasFocus++;     }).blur(function() {        hasFocus = 0;       if (!config.mouseDownOnSelect) {            hideResults();      }   }).click(function() {       // show select when clicking in a focused field         if ( hasFocus++ &gt; 1 &amp;&amp; !select.visible() ) {            onChange(0, true);      }   }).bind("search", function() {      // TODO why not just specifying both arguments?         var fn = (arguments.length &gt; 1) ? arguments[1] : null;      function findValueCallback(q, data) {           var result;             if( data &amp;&amp; data.length ) {
                  for (var i=0; i &lt; data.length; i++) {
                      if( data[i].result.toLowerCase() == q.toLowerCase() ) {
                          result = data[i];
                          break;
                      }
                  }           }           if( typeof fn == "function" ) fn(result);           else $input.trigger("result", result &amp;&amp; [result.data, result.value]);       }       $.each(trimWords($input.val()), function(i, value) {            request(value, findValueCallback, findValueCallback);       });     }).bind("flushCache", function() {      cache.flush();  }).bind("setOptions", function() {      $.extend(options, arguments[1]);        // if we've updated the data, repopulate        if ( "data" in arguments[1] )           cache.populate();   }).bind("unautocomplete", function() {      select.unbind();        $input.unbind();        $(input.form).unbind(".autocomplete");  });
              function selectCurrent() {      var selected = select.selected();       if( !selected )             return false;
                  var v = selected.result;        previousValue = v;
                  if ( options.multiple ) {           var words = trimWords($input.val());            if ( words.length &gt; 1 ) {
                  var seperator = options.multipleSeparator.length;
                  var cursorAt = $(input).selection().start;
                  var wordAt, progress = 0;
                  $.each(words, function(i, word) {
                      progress += word.length;
                      if (cursorAt &lt;= progress) {
                          wordAt = i;
                          return false;
                      }
                      progress += seperator;
                  });
                  words[wordAt] = v;
                  // TODO this should set the cursor to the right position, but it gets overriden somewhere
                  //$.Autocompleter.Selection(input, progress + seperator, progress + seperator);
                  v = words.join( options.multipleSeparator );            }           v += options.multipleSeparator;         }
                  $input.val(v);      hideResultsNow();       $input.trigger("result", [selected.data, selected.value]);      return true;    }       function onChange(crap, skipPrevCheck) {        if( lastKeyPressCode == KEY.DEL ) {             select.hide();          return;         }
                  var currentValue = $input.val();
                  if ( !skipPrevCheck &amp;&amp; currentValue == previousValue )          return;
                  previousValue = currentValue;
                  currentValue = lastWord(currentValue);      if ( currentValue.length &gt;= options.minChars) {             $input.addClass(options.loadingClass);          if (!options.matchCase)
                  currentValue = currentValue.toLowerCase();          request(currentValue, receiveData, hideResultsNow);         } else {            stopLoading();          select.hide();      }   };      function trimWords(value) {         if (!value)             return [""];        if (!options.multiple)          return [$.trim(value)];         return $.map(value.split(options.multipleSeparator), function(word) {           return $.trim(value).length ? $.trim(word) : null;      });     }       function lastWord(value) {      if ( !options.multiple )            return value;       var words = trimWords(value);       if (words.length == 1)              return words[0];        var cursorAt = $(input).selection().start;      if (cursorAt == value.length) {             words = trimWords(value)        } else {            words = trimWords(value.replace(value.substring(cursorAt), ""));        }       return words[words.length - 1];     }       // fills in the input box w/the first match (assumed to be the best match)  // q: the term entered  // sValue: the first matching result    function autoFill(q, sValue){       // autofill in the complete box w/the first match as long as the user hasn't entered in more data       // if the last user key pressed was backspace, don't autofill       if( options.autoFill &amp;&amp; (lastWord($input.val()).toLowerCase() == q.toLowerCase()) &amp;&amp; lastKeyPressCode != KEY.BACKSPACE ) {          // fill in the value (keep the case the user has typed)             $input.val($input.val() + sValue.substring(lastWord(previousValue).length));            // select the portion of the value not typed by the user (so the next character will erase)             $(input).selection(previousValue.length, previousValue.length + sValue.length);         }   };
  
      function hideResults() {        clearTimeout(timeout);      timeout = setTimeout(hideResultsNow, 200);  };
  
      function hideResultsNow() {         var wasVisible = select.visible();      select.hide();      clearTimeout(timeout);      stopLoading();      if (options.mustMatch) {            // call search and run callback             $input.search(
                  function (result){
                      // if no value found, clear the input box
                      if( !result ) {
                          if (options.multiple) {
                              var words = trimWords($input.val()).slice(0, -1);
                              $input.val( words.join(options.multipleSeparator) + (words.length ? options.multipleSeparator : "") );
                          }
                          else {
                              $input.val( "" );
                              $input.trigger("result", null);
                          }
                      }
                  }           );      }   };
  
      function receiveData(q, data) {         if ( data &amp;&amp; data.length &amp;&amp; hasFocus ) {            stopLoading();          select.display(data, q);            autoFill(q, data[0].value);             select.show();      } else {            hideResultsNow();       }   };
  
      function request(term, success, failure) {      if (!options.matchCase)             term = term.toLowerCase();      var data = cache.load(term);        // recieve the cached data      if (data &amp;&amp; data.length) {          success(term, data);        // if an AJAX url has been supplied, try loading the data now       } else if( (typeof options.url == "string") &amp;&amp; (options.url.length &gt; 0) ){
                          var extraParams = {
                  timestamp: +new Date()          };          $.each(options.extraParams, function(key, param) {
                  extraParams[key] = typeof param == "function" ? param() : param;            });
                          $.ajax({
                  // try to leverage ajaxQueue plugin to abort previous requests
                  mode: "abort",
                  // limit abortion to this input
                  port: "autocomplete" + input.name,
                  dataType: options.dataType,
                  url: options.url,
                  data: $.extend({
                      q: lastWord(term),
                      limit: options.max
                  }, extraParams),
                  success: function(data) {
                      var parsed = options.parse &amp;&amp; options.parse(data) || parse(data);
                      cache.add(term, parsed);
                      success(term, parsed);
                  }           });         } else {            // if we have a failure, we need to empty the list -- this prevents the the [TAB] key from selecting the last successful match          select.emptyList();             failure(term);      }   };      function parse(data) {      var parsed = [];        var rows = data.split("\n");        for (var i=0; i &lt; rows.length; i++) {           var row = $.trim(rows[i]);          if (row) {
                  row = row.split("|");
                  parsed[parsed.length] = {
                      data: row,
                      value: row[0],
                      result: options.formatResult &amp;&amp; options.formatResult(row, row[0]) || row[0]
                  };          }       }       return parsed;  };
  
      function stopLoading() {        $input.removeClass(options.loadingClass);   };
  
  };
  
  $.Autocompleter.defaults = {    inputClass: "ac_input",     resultsClass: "ac_results",     loadingClass: "ac_loading",     minChars: 1,    delay: 400,     matchCase: false,   matchSubset: true,  matchContains: false,   cacheLength: 10,    max: 100,   mustMatch: false,   extraParams: {},    selectFirst: true,  formatItem: function(row) { return row[0]; },   formatMatch: null,  autoFill: false,    width: 0,   multiple: false,    multipleSeparator: ", ",    highlight: function(value, term) {      return value.replace(new RegExp("(?![^&amp;;]+;)(?!&lt;[^&lt;&gt;]*)(" + term.replace(/([\^\$\(\)\[\]\{\}\*\.\+\?\|\\])/gi, "\\$1") + ")(?![^&lt;&gt;]*&gt;)(?![^&amp;;]+;)", "gi"), "&lt;strong&gt;$1&lt;/strong&gt;");  },
      scroll: true,
      scrollHeight: 180 };
  
  $.Autocompleter.Cache = function(options) {
  
      var data = {};  var length = 0;         function matchSubset(s, sub) {      if (!options.matchCase)             s = s.toLowerCase();        var i = s.indexOf(sub);         if (options.matchContains == "word"){           i = s.toLowerCase().search("\\b" + sub.toLowerCase());      }       if (i == -1) return false;      return i == 0 || options.matchContains;     };      function add(q, value) {        if (length &gt; options.cacheLength){          flush();        }       if (!data[q]){              length++;       }       data[q] = value;    }       function populate(){        if( !options.data ) return false;       // track the matches        var stMatchSets = {},           nullData = 0;
  
          // no url was specified, we need to adjust the cache length to make sure it fits the local data store       if( !options.url ) options.cacheLength = 1;
                  // track all options for minChars = 0       stMatchSets[""] = [];
                  // loop through the array and create a lookup structure         for ( var i = 0, ol = options.data.length; i &lt; ol; i++ ) {          var rawValue = options.data[i];             // if rawValue is a string, make an array otherwise just reference the array            rawValue = (typeof rawValue == "string") ? [rawValue] : rawValue;
                          var value = options.formatMatch(rawValue, i+1, options.data.length);            if ( value === false )
                  continue;
                              var firstChar = value.charAt(0).toLowerCase();          // if no lookup array for this character exists, look it up now             if( !stMatchSets[firstChar] ) 
                  stMatchSets[firstChar] = [];
  
              // if the match is a string             var row = {
                  value: value,
                  data: rawValue,
                  result: options.formatResult &amp;&amp; options.formatResult(rawValue) || value             };
                          // push the current match into the set list             stMatchSets[firstChar].push(row);
  
              // keep track of minChars zero items            if ( nullData++ &lt; options.max ) {
                  stMatchSets[""].push(row);          }       };
  
          // add the data items to the cache      $.each(stMatchSets, function(i, value) {            // increase the cache size          options.cacheLength++;          // add to the cache             add(i, value);      });     }       // populate any existing data   setTimeout(populate, 25);       function flush(){       data = {};      length = 0;     }       return {        flush: flush,       add: add,       populate: populate,         load: function(q) {             if (!options.cacheLength || !length)
                  return null;            /* 
               * if dealing w/local data and matchContains than we must make sure
               * to loop through all the data collections looking for matches
               */             if( !options.url &amp;&amp; options.matchContains ){
                  // track all matches
                  var csub = [];
                  // loop through all the data grids for matches
                  for( var k in data ){
                      // don't search through the stMatchSets[""] (minChars: 0) cache
                      // this prevents duplicates
                      if( k.length &gt; 0 ){
                          var c = data[k];
                          $.each(c, function(i, x) {
                              // if we've got a match, add it to the array
                              if (matchSubset(x.value, q)) {
                                  csub.push(x);
                              }
                          });
                      }
                  }               
                  return csub;            } else              // if the exact item exists, use it             if (data[q]){
                  return data[q];             } else          if (options.matchSubset) {
                  for (var i = q.length - 1; i &gt;= options.minChars; i--) {
                      var c = data[q.substr(0, i)];
                      if (c) {
                          var csub = [];
                          $.each(c, function(i, x) {
                              if (matchSubset(x.value, q)) {
                                  csub[csub.length] = x;
                              }
                          });
                          return csub;
                      }
                  }           }           return null;        }   }; };
  
  $.Autocompleter.Select = function (options, input, select, config) {    var CLASSES = {         ACTIVE: "ac_over"   };      var listItems,      active =
  -1,         data,       term = "",      needsInit = true,       element,        list;       // Create results   function init() {       if (!needsInit)             return;         element = $("&lt;div/&gt;")       .hide()         .addClass(options.resultsClass)         .css("position", "absolute")        .appendTo(document.body);
              list = $("&lt;ul/&gt;").appendTo(element).mouseover( function(event) {            if(target(event).nodeName &amp;&amp; target(event).nodeName.toUpperCase()
  == 'LI') {
                  active = $("li", list).removeClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE).index(target(event));
                  $(target(event)).addClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);            
              }       }).click(function(event) {          $(target(event)).addClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);          select();           // TODO provide option to avoid setting focus again after selection? useful for cleanup-on-focus            input.focus();          return false;       }).mousedown(function() {           config.mouseDownOnSelect = true;        }).mouseup(function() {             config.mouseDownOnSelect = false;       });
                  if( options.width &gt; 0 )             element.css("width", options.width);
                      needsInit = false;  }       function target(event) {        var element = event.target;         while(element &amp;&amp; element.tagName != "LI")           element = element.parentNode;       // more fun with IE, sometimes event.target is empty, just ignore it then       if(!element)            return [];      return element;     }
  
      function moveSelect(step) {         listItems.slice(active, active + 1).removeClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);        movePosition(step);
          var activeItem = listItems.slice(active, active + 1).addClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);
          if(options.scroll) {
              var offset = 0;
              listItems.slice(0, active).each(function() {
                  offset += this.offsetHeight;            });
              if((offset + activeItem[0].offsetHeight - list.scrollTop()) &gt; list[0].clientHeight) {
                  list.scrollTop(offset + activeItem[0].offsetHeight - list.innerHeight());
              } else if(offset &lt; list.scrollTop()) {
                  list.scrollTop(offset);
              }
          }   };      function movePosition(step) {       active += step;         if (active &lt; 0) {           active = listItems.size() - 1;      } else if (active
  &gt;= listItems.size()) {          active = 0;         }   }       function limitNumberOfItems(available) {        return options.max &amp;&amp; options.max &lt; available           ? options.max           : available;    }       function fillList() {       list.empty();       var max = limitNumberOfItems(data.length);      for (var i=0; i &lt; max; i++) {           if (!data[i])
                  continue;           var formatted = options.formatItem(data[i].data, i+1, max, data[i].value, term);            if ( formatted === false )
                  continue;           var li = $("&lt;li/&gt;").html( options.highlight(formatted, term) ).addClass(i%2 == 0 ? "ac_even" : "ac_odd").appendTo(list)[0];             $.data(li, "ac_data", data[i]);         }       listItems = list.find("li");        if ( options.selectFirst ) {            listItems.slice(0, 1).addClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);             active = 0;         }       // apply bgiframe if available      if ( $.fn.bgiframe )            list.bgiframe();    }       return {        display: function(d, q) {           init();             data = d;           term = q;           fillList();         },      next: function() {          moveSelect(1);      },      prev: function() {          moveSelect(-1);         },      pageUp: function() {            if (active != 0 &amp;&amp; active - 8 &lt; 0) {
                  moveSelect( -active );          } else {
                  moveSelect(-8);             }       },      pageDown: function() {          if (active != listItems.size() - 1 &amp;&amp; active + 8 &gt; listItems.size()) {
                  moveSelect( listItems.size() - 1 - active );            } else {
                  moveSelect(8);          }       },      hide: function() {          element &amp;&amp; element.hide();          listItems &amp;&amp; listItems.removeClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);             active = -1;        },      visible : function() {          return element &amp;&amp; element.is(":visible");       },      current: function() {           return this.visible() &amp;&amp; (listItems.filter("." + CLASSES.ACTIVE)[0] || options.selectFirst &amp;&amp; listItems[0]);        },      show: function() {          var offset = $(input).offset();             element.css({
                  width: typeof options.width == "string" || options.width &gt; 0 ? options.width : $(input).width(),
                  top: offset.top + input.offsetHeight,
                  left: offset.left           }).show();
              if(options.scroll) {
                  list.scrollTop(0);
                  list.css({
                      maxHeight: options.scrollHeight,
                      overflow: 'auto'
                  });
  
                  if($.browser.msie &amp;&amp; typeof document.body.style.maxHeight === "undefined") {
                      var listHeight = 0;
                      listItems.each(function() {
                          listHeight += this.offsetHeight;
                      });
                      var scrollbarsVisible = listHeight &gt; options.scrollHeight;
                      list.css('height', scrollbarsVisible ? options.scrollHeight : listHeight );
                      if (!scrollbarsVisible) {
                          // IE doesn't recalculate width when scrollbar disappears
                          listItems.width( list.width() - parseInt(listItems.css("padding-left")) - parseInt(listItems.css("padding-right")) );
                      }
                  }
  
              }       },      selected: function() {          var selected = listItems &amp;&amp; listItems.filter("." + CLASSES.ACTIVE).removeClass(CLASSES.ACTIVE);             return selected &amp;&amp; selected.length &amp;&amp; $.data(selected[0], "ac_data");       },      emptyList: function (){             list &amp;&amp; list.empty();       },      unbind: function() {            element &amp;&amp; element.remove();        }   }; };
  
  $.fn.selection = function(start, end) {     if (start !== undefined) {      return this.each(function() {           if( this.createTextRange ){
                  var selRange = this.createTextRange();
                  if (end === undefined || start == end) {
                      selRange.move("character", start);
                      selRange.select();
                  } else {
                      selRange.collapse(true);
                      selRange.moveStart("character", start);
                      selRange.moveEnd("character", end);
                      selRange.select();
                  }           } else if( this.setSelectionRange ){
                  this.setSelectionRange(start, end);             } else if( this.selectionStart ){
                  this.selectionStart = start;
                  this.selectionEnd = end;            }       });     }   var field = this[0];    if ( field.createTextRange ) {      var range = document.selection.createRange(),           orig = field.value,             teststring
  = "&lt;-&gt;",            textLength = range.text.length;         range.text = teststring;        var caretAt = field.value.indexOf(teststring);      field.value = orig;         this.selection(caretAt, caretAt + textLength);      return {            start: caretAt,             end: caretAt + textLength       }   } else if( field.selectionStart !== undefined ){        return {            start: field.selectionStart,            end: field.selectionEnd         }   } };
  
  })(jQuery);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Thank you,</p>
  
  <p>Ryan</p>