delaying actions between keypress in jQuery

Question

How can I delay actions between keypress in jQuery. For example;

I have something like this

 if($(this).val().length > 1){
   $.post(\"stuff.php\"         


        

Answer 1

I'd wrap it in a function like so:

  var needsDelay = false;

  function getSuggestions(var search)
  {
    if(!needsDelay)
    {
        needsDelay = true;
        setTimeout("needsDelay = false", 500);

        if($(this).val().length > 1){
            $.post("stuff.php", {nStr: "" + search + ""}, function(data){
                if(data.length > 0) {
                    $('#suggestions').show();
                    $('#autoSuggestionsList').html(data);
                }else{
                    $('#suggestions').hide();
                }
            });
        }
    }


  }

That way no matter how many times you ping this, you will never search more than every 500 milliseconds.