How to delay the .keyup() handler until the user stops typing?

Question

I’ve got a search field. Right now it searches for every keyup. So if someone types “Windows”, it will make a search with AJAX for every keyup: “W”, “Wi”, “Win”, “Wind”, “Wi

Answer 1

Combining CMS answer with Miguel's one yields a robust solution allowing concurrent delays.

var delay = (function(){
    var timers = {};
    return function (callback, ms, label) {
        label = label || 'defaultTimer';
        clearTimeout(timers[label] || 0);
        timers[label] = setTimeout(callback, ms);
    };
})();

When you need to delay different actions independently, use the third argument.

$('input.group1').keyup(function() {
    delay(function(){
        alert('Time elapsed!');
    }, 1000, 'firstAction');
});

$('input.group2').keyup(function() {
    delay(function(){
        alert('Time elapsed!');
    }, 1000, '2ndAction');
});