Can't search for substring from object in JavaScript

charmonder
February 19, 2024
257 views
0 votes
2 Answers

I’m creating a "Search File" page that lets users enter a string to find some local files (with NodeJS). I want it so the user can type a part of the string and still get results. For example, if they only typed "ha" then all files that contain the string "ha" should be displayed.

Here’s my current code:

app.post("/search", (req, res) => {
  //to read all the file names in the directory, returns ["file_01.txt", "file_02.txt"]
  const fileNames = fs.readdirSync(__dirname)
  
  const userInput = req.body.userInput;
  const subArr = fileNames.filter((str) => str.includes(userInput));
  console.log(subArr); //returns empty
  res.render("search.ejs");
});

However, if I declare it explicitly:

const abc = ["ab", "bc", "cd"];
const subArr = abc.filter((str) => str.includes(userInput));
console.log(subArr) //returns an array of words that contain the user input, just like I want it to

Why can’t I filter from fileNames but it works with abc? Please help, thank you!

Tags: javascript node.js

Answers

- jakubpodhaisky
- February 19, 2024 at 9:11 am
- 0 votes
0
It looks like the filtering is working fine considering that it works with abc…
In my past experience the issue with includes method is that it is case sensitive and i was trying to debug for so long
try to convert both strings to lowercase or uppercase:
```
const subArr = fileNames.filter((str) => 
str.toLowerCase().includes(userInput.toLowerCase()));
```
also make sure that everything works as expected some might not like it but console.log is my best friend:
```
app.post("/search", (req, res) => {
    const fileNames = fs.readdirSync(__dirname);
    console.log("Directory:", __dirname); // Debug
    console.log("Files in directory:", fileNames); // Debug

    const userInput = req.body.userInput;
    console.log("User Input:", userInput); // Debug

    // Case-insensitive filtering
    const subArr = fileNames.filter((str) => 
    str.toLowerCase().includes(userInput.toLowerCase()));

    console.log("Filtered Files:", subArr); // Debug

    res.render("search.ejs", { files: subArr }); // Ensure you're passing 
    the filtered list to your template
});
```
Check where the is not doing what it is supposed to do so you can pinpoint the issue
Make sure __dirname is the directory that you looking for
Make sure that fileNames contains files of the said directory and so on…
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- AmerAlMunajjed
- February 19, 2024 at 9:20 am
- 0 votes
0
- Make sure that req.body.userInput is populated correctly. If you are
  using a form to submit the search query, ensure that the form is
  configured to send the data properly.
- Case sensitivity: String.includes() is case-sensitive. If you want
  case-insensitive matching, you might want to convert both the file
  names and the user input to lowercase (or uppercase) before
app.post("/search", (req, res) => { const fileNames = fs.readdirSync(__dirname); const userInput = req.body.userInput.toLowerCase(); // Convert to lowercase for case-insensitive matching const subArr = fileNames.filter((str) => str.toLowerCase().includes(userInput)); console.log(subArr); res.render("search.ejs", { results: subArr, userInput: userInput }); });
req.body.userInput.toLowerCase()

ensures that the search is
case-insensitive.

str.toLowerCase().includes(userInput)

converts both the file names
and the user input to lowercase for consistent comparison

.
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