312 lines
12 KiB
ReStructuredText
312 lines
12 KiB
ReStructuredText
Search View
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===========
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OpenERP Web 6.2 implements a unified facets-based search view instead
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of the previous form-like search view (composed of buttons and
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multiple fields). The goal for this change is twofold:
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* Avoid the common issue of users confusing the search view with a
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form view and trying to create their records through it (or entering
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all their data, hitting the ``Create`` button expecting their record
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to be created and losing everything).
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* Improve the looks and behaviors of the view, and the fit within
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OpenERP Web's new design.
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The faceted search is implemented through a monkey-patched
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`VisualSearch <http://documentcloud.github.com/visualsearch/>`_
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[#]_. VisualSearch is based on `Backbone
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<http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/>`_ and makes significant
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use of Backbone's models and views. As a result, understanding the
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implementation of the OpenERP Web 6.2 search view also requires a
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basic understanding of Backbone.
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.. note::
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This document may mention *fetching* data. This is a shortcut for
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"returning a deferred to [whatever is being fetched]". Unless
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further noted, the function or method may opt to return nothing by
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fetching ``null`` (which can easily be done by returning
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``$.when(null)``, which simply wraps the ``null`` in a Deferred).
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Interaction between the Search View and VisualSearch
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----------------------------------------------------
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The core data abstraction in VisualSearch is
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:js:class:`VS.model.SearchQuery`, a backbone Collection holding
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instances of the :js:class:`VS.model.SearchFacet` backbone Model.
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Backbone models can hold any number of informal properties interacted
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with through the :js:func:`~Backbone.Model.get` and
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:js:func:`~Backbone.Model.set` methods. VisualSearch reserves three
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such properties for its behavior, these properties *must* be correctly
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set on all search facets created programmatically:
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``app``
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a reference to the VisualSearch instance using this facet. In the
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search view, this instance is available as the
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:js:attr:`~openerp.web.SearchView.vs` attribute to the searchview
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instance.
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``category``
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the *name* of the facet, displayed in the first section of a facet
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view.
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``value``
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the *displayed value* of the facet, it is directly printed to the
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right of the category.
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The search view uses additional keys to store state and data it needs
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to associate with facet objects:
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``field``
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the search field instance which created the facet, used when the
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search view needs to serialize the facets.
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``json``
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the "logical" value of the facet, can be absent if the logical and
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"printable" values of the facet are the same (e.g. for a basic text
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field).
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This value may be a complex javascript object such as an array (the
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name stands for json-compatible value, it is not a JSON-encoded
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string).
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.. note::
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in order to simplify getting the logical value of a search facet
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model, :js:class:`VS.model.SearchFacet` has been extended with a
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:js:func:`~VS.model.SearchFacet.value` method
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Extensions and patches to VisualSearch
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.. js:function:: VS.model.SearchFacet.value()
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Bundles the logic of selecting between ``json`` and ``value`` in
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order to get the logical value of a facet.
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.. js:attribute:: VS.options.callbacks.make_facet
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Called by :js:class:`VS.ui.SearchBox` when it needs to create a
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new search facet *view*. By default this is not supported by
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VisualSearch, and requires monkey-patching
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:js:func:`VS.ui.SearchBox.renderFacet`.
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This patch should not alter any behavior if
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:js:attr:`~VS.options.callbacks.make_facet` is not used.
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.. js:attribute:: VS.options.callbacks.make_input
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Similar to :js:attr:`~VS.options.callbacks.make_facet`, but called
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when the :js:class:`~VS.ui.SearchBox` needs to create a search
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input view. It requires monkey-patching
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:js:func:`VS.ui.SearchBox.renderSearchInput`.
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Finally, :js:func:`VS.ui.SearchBox.searchEvent` is monkey-patched to
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get rid of its serialize/load round-tripping of facet data: the
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additional attributes needed by the search view don't round-trip (at
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all) so VisualSearch must not load any data from its (fairly
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simplistic) text-serialization format.
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.. note::
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a second issue is that — as of `commit 3fca87101d`_ — VisualSearch
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correctly serializes facet categories containing spaces but is
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unable to load them back in. It also does not handle facets with
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*empty* categories correctly.
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Loading Defaults
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----------------
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After loading the view data, the SearchView will call
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:js:func:`openerp.web.search.Input.facet_for_defaults` on each of its
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inputs with the ``defaults`` mapping of key:values (where each key
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corresponds to an input). This method should look into the
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``defaults`` mapping and fetch the field's default value as a
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:js:class:`~VS.models.SearchFacet` if applicable.
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The default implementation is to check if there is a default value for
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the current input's name (via
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:js:attr:`openerp.web.search.Input.attrs.name`) and if there is to
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convert this value to a :js:class:`~VS.models.SearchFacet` by calling
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:js:func:`openerp.web.search.Input.facet_for`.
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There is no built-in (default) implementation of
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:js:func:`openerp.web.search.Input.facet_for`. This method should
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fetch the :js:class:`~VS.models.SearchFacet` corresponding to the
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"raw" value passed as argument.
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Providing auto-completion
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-------------------------
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An important component of the unified search view is the faceted
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autocompletion pane. In order to provide good user and developer
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experiences, this pane is pluggable (value-wise): each and every
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control of the search view can check for (and provide) categorized
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auto-completions for a given value being typed by the user.
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This is done by implementing
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:js:func:`openerp.web.search.Input.complete`: the method is provided
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with a value to complete, and should fetch an ``Array`` of completion
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values. These completion values will then be provided to the global
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autocompletion list, implemented via `jquery-ui autocomplete
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<http://jqueryui.com/demos/autocomplete/>`_.
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Because the search view uses a custom renderer for its completion, it
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was possible to fix some incompatibilities between the attributes of
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completion items and VisualSearch's facet model:
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Actual completion items
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+++++++++++++++++++++++
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These are selectable items, and upon selection are turned into actual
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search facet objects. They should have all the properties of a search
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facet (as described above) and can have one more optional property:
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``label``.
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When rendering an item in the list, the renderer will first try to use
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the ``label`` property if it exists (``label`` can contain HTML and
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will be inserted as-is, so it can bold or emphasize some of its
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elements), if it does not the ``value`` property will be used.
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.. note:: the ``app`` key should not be specified on completion item,
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it will be set automatically when the search view creates
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the facet from the item.
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Section titles
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++++++++++++++
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A second kind of completion values is the section titles. Section
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titles are similar to completion items but only have a ``category``
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property. They will be rendered in a different style and can not be
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selected in the auto-completion (they will be skipped).
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.. note::
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Technically, section title items can have any property they want
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*as long as they do not have a value property*. A ``value``
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property set to ``false``, ``null`` or ``undefined`` is **not**
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equivalent to not having a ``value`` property.
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If an input *may* fetch more than one completion item, it *should*
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prepend a section title (using its own name) to the completion items.
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Converting from facet objects
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-----------------------------
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Ultimately, the point of the search view is to allow searching. In
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OpenERP this is done via :ref:`domains <openerpserver:domains>`. On
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the other hand, the OpenERP Web 6.2 search view's state is modelled
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after a collection of :js:class:`~VS.model.SearchFacet`, and each
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field of a search view may have special requirements when it comes to
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the domains it produces [#]_.
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So there needs to be some way of mapping
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:js:class:`~VS.model.SearchFacet` objects to OpenERP search data.
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This is done via an input's
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:js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Input.get_domain` and
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:js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Input.get_context`. Each takes a
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:js:class:`~VS.model.SearchFacet` and returns whatever it's supposed
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to generate (a domain or a context, respectively). Either can return
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``null`` if the current value does not map to a domain or context, and
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can throw an :js:class:`~openerp.web.search.Invalid` exception if the
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value is not valid at all for the field.
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Converting to facet objects
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---------------------------
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Changes
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-------
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.. todo:: merge in changelog instead
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The displaying of the search view was significantly altered from
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OpenERP Web 6.1 to OpenERP Web 6.2.
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As a result, while the external API used to interact with the search
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view does not change many internal details — including the interaction
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between the search view and its widgets — were significantly altered:
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Internal operations
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+++++++++++++++++++
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* :js:func:`openerp.web.SearchView.do_clear` has been removed
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* :js:func:`openerp.web.SearchView.do_toggle_filter` has been removed
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Widgets API
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+++++++++++
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* :js:func:`openerp.web.search.Widget.render` has been removed
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* :js:func:`openerp.web.search.Widget.make_id` has been removed
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* Search field objects are not openerp widgets anymore, their
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``start`` is not generally called
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* :js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Input.clear` has been removed since
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clearing the search view now simply consists of removing all search
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facets from VisualSearch
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* :js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Input.get_domain` and
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:js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Input.get_context` now take a
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:js:class:`~VS.model.SearchFacet` as parameter, from which it's
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their job to get whatever value they want
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* :js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Input.get_groupby` has been added. It returns
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an :js:class:`Array` of context-like constructs. By default, it does not do
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anything in :js:class:`~openerp.web.search.Field` and it returns the various
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contexts of its enabled filters in
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:js:class:`~openerp.web.search.FilterGroup`.
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Filters
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+++++++
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* :js:func:`openerp.web.search.Filter.is_enabled` has been removed
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* :js:class:`~openerp.web.search.FilterGroup` instances are still
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rendered (and started) in the "advanced search" drawer.
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Fields
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++++++
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* ``get_value`` now takes a :js:class:`~VS.model.SearchFacet` (instead
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of taking no argument).
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A default implementation is provided as
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:js:func:`openerp.web.search.Field.get_value` and simply calls
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:js:func:`VS.model.SearchFacet.value`.
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* The third argument to
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:js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Field.make_domain` is now the
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:js:class:`~VS.model.SearchFacet` received by
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:js:func:`~openerp.web.search.Field.get_domain`, so child classes
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have all the information they need to derive the "right" resulting
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domain.
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Custom filters
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++++++++++++++
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Instead of being an intrinsic part of the search view, custom filters
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are now a special case of filter groups. They are treated specially
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still, but much less so than they used to be.
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Many To One
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+++++++++++
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* Because the autocompletion service is now provided by the search
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view itself,
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:js:func:`openerp.web.search.ManyToOneField.setup_autocomplete` has
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been removed.
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.. [#] the library code is untouched, all patching is performed in the
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Search view's implementation module. Changes to the
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VisualSearch code should only update the library to new
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revisions or releases.
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.. [#] search view fields may also bundle context data to add to the
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search context
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.. _commit 3fca87101d:
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https://github.com/documentcloud/visualsearch/commit/3fca87101d
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