How to implement smart searching of contacts by name and number by T9 in iOS?

Question

I am working on a contacts app and I was wondering if it's possible to search contacts like T9 dealers do (letters associated with each number also filters results). So if I press 2 key, it should search for number '2' as well as 'ABC'.

Code I am trying :

let enteredChar = dialerTextField.text!

        var pattern = keysDictionary?[enteredChar.last]

        pattern = "[\(String(describing: pattern!.first)) - \(String(describing: pattern!.last))]"
        // pattern = "[m-o]" Regex
        do {

            let matches = items.filter({

                (item : String) -> Bool in

                let stringMatch = item.range(of: pattern!, options: .regularExpression, range: nil, locale: nil)

                return stringMatch != nil ? true : false

            })

            let predicate = CNContact.predicateForContacts(matchingName: pattern!)

            let keys = [CNContactGivenNameKey, CNContactFamilyNameKey, CNContactEmailAddressesKey, CNContactPhoneNumbersKey, CNContactImageDataKey, CNContactImageDataAvailableKey]

            var contacts = [CNContact]()
            var message: String!

            let contactsStore = CNContactStore()

            do {
                contacts = try contactsStore.unifiedContacts(matching: predicate, keysToFetch: keys as [CNKeyDescriptor])

                if contacts.count == 0 {
                    message = "No contacts were found matching the given name."
                }
            }
            catch {
                message = "Unable to fetch contacts."
            }


            print("matches : ", contacts)
        }
        catch {

        }

using above code I can search for contact name if I change pattern to say "Rob" but it does not work with Regex "[p-s]". I'd like to search with regex. How can this be done? Thank you.

Do it yourself, it's not that hard. In fact, I give a related question during interviews. — Kevin, Jul 18 '17 at 16:31
Should it be a custom keyboard or representing them as buttons is fair? — Ahmad F, Jul 21 '17 at 09:20
Would it be enough to show how the buttons should be implemented? searching the contacts is another story... — Ahmad F, Jul 21 '17 at 09:33
No. I have already done all UI part. I need contact search T9 algorithm. — NotABot, Jul 21 '17 at 09:35
Then I would suggest to make the question more clear :) you should mention exactly what's the issue. — Ahmad F, Jul 21 '17 at 09:36

Saranjith · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-25T02:57:05.440

5

There is no library avaialble that matches exactly what you need.

So

Go to your project and create a new Custom Keyboard Extension for your application.

This was somewhat matching to your T9 keyboard Tutorial From youtube

This youtube totorial here may help you further

Algorithm to use

Create a dictionary which maps each letter to digits

Like {"a":1,"b":1,"c":1,"d":2,.. "z":9}

And fetch all contacts and find out the pattern of numbers corresponding to contact names (use the above dictionary for that).

like {"anna":"2662","baby":"2229","denis":"33647","emila":"36452"}

Whenever the user starts typing on the keyboard, fetch all patters matching in the above dictionary Like if user types "2" Corresponding matches will be "anna" and "baby".

Eliminate the matches when getting more inputs from user.

edited Jul 25 '17 at 02:57

answered Jul 20 '17 at 06:44

Saranjith

11,242
5
69
122

This isn't something I am looking for, thanks for the help – NotABot Jul 21 '17 at 16:56
Thanks for the help, I've already implemented it using Regex :) – NotABot Jul 24 '17 at 06:35
what problem you're facing now – Saranjith Jul 24 '17 at 06:35
I am sure this is one of the ways to do it but I did it differently using Regex but I'll accept this as an answer – NotABot Jul 26 '17 at 08:37

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '17 at 03:51

0

to create a rudimentary T9 implementation is quite simple, all you need to do is parse the contacts into a dictionary. the key will be a number and the value will be a list of contacts.

for example if you had a list of contacts: John, Stan, Dad, Fae you'd parse it into a dictionary:

5666 - ["John"]
7826 - ["Stan"]
323 - ["Dad", "Fae"]

as a user types in numbers you'd simply query the dictionary and either display no results or the matching array of contacts.

answered Jul 22 '17 at 03:51

Casey

6,531
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Yeah I have an idea of this but I am trying to find a way to make this type of dictionary. This is where I need help with the algorithm – NotABot Jul 22 '17 at 10:37

How to implement smart searching of contacts by name and number by T9 in iOS?

2 Answers2

Algorithm to use