search function (query in Flask, SQLAlchemy)

Question

I'm new to programming and Flask and I am stuck on this problem.

I am trying to implement a search function in a web application that will take data from a form and compare it to a value in the database and list results.

This is what I have so far:

views.py

@app.route('/search', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def search():
    searchForm = searchForm()
    courses = models.Course.query.order_by(models.Course.name).all()
    if searchForm.validate_on_submit():
        for i in courses:
            if searchForm.courseName.data == i.name:
              searchResult = models.Course.filter(Course.name.like('%searchForm.courseName.data%'))
    return render_template('courselist.html', courses = courses, searchResult = searchResult)

form.py

class searchForm(Form):
    courseName = StringField('Search course', validators=[DataRequired(), Length(max=60)])

database models.py

class Course(db.Model):
    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    name = db.Column(db.String(40), unique=True)
    courseCode = db.Column(db.String(10), unique=True)
    duration = db.Column(db.Integer)
    maxStudents = db.Column(db.Integer)
    startDate = db.Column(db.DateTime)
    prerequisites = db.Column(db.String(500))
    trainerID = db.Column(db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('trainer.id'))
    venueID = db.Column(db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('venue.id'))

    sessions = db.relationship('Session', backref='course', lazy='dynamic')
    bookings = db.relationship('Booking', backref='course', lazy='dynamic')

html file

{% extends "index.html" %}
{% block content %}
<h3>Courses:</h3>
<ul>
    {% for course in courses %}
    <li>
    <h4><a href="/viewcourse?id={{course.id}}">{{course.name}}</a>
    <a class="btn btn-success" href="/editcourse?id={{course.id}}">Book</a>
    <a class="btn btn-info" href="/editcourse?id={{course.id}}">Edit</a>
    <a class="btn btn-danger" href="/deletecourse?id={{course.id}}">Delete</a></h4>
    </li>
    {% endfor %}
</ul>
{% endblock %}

I think the general logic is right but I need some help adjusting it.

Answer 1

Your logic in views.py seems a bit off. You're retrieving all Course objects from the database and looping through them. Then you check if the course name exactly matches the search input - and if so, try to find matching courses. I think it would be better constructed like this:

@app.route('/search', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def search():
    searchForm = searchForm()
    courses = models.Course.query

    if searchForm.validate_on_submit():
        courses = courses.filter(models.Course.name.like('%' + searchForm.courseName.data + '%'))

    courses = courses.order_by(models.Course.name).all()

    return render_template('courselist.html', courses = courses)

Answer 2

This is this is the simplest answer :

@app.route("/search", methods=['GET'])
def search():
    query = request.args.get("query") # here query will be the search inputs name
    allVideos = Videos.query.filter(Videos.title.like("%"+query+"%")).all()
    return render_template("search.html", query=query, allVideos=allVideos)