jQuery UI Autocomplete using a static json file as source

Question

I\'m using jquery-ui-autocomplete (actually, a catcomplete attached to a search box). It works vey well as long as I use a static-defined a

Answer 1

Try flipping it around, so on page-load you grab it once, then instantiate the autocomplete.

$(function() {
    $.ajax({
        url: "/path/to/cache.json",
        dataType: "json",
        data: {term: request.term},
        success: function(data) {
            var cat_data = $.map(data, function(item) {
                return {
                    label: item.label,
                    category: item.category,
                    desc: item.desc
                };
            });
            $("#searchfield").catcomplete({
                delay: 0,
                source: cat_data,
                minlength:0
            });
        }
    });
});