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

This function extends the function from Gaten's answer a bit in order to get the element back:

$.fn.delayKeyup = function(callback, ms){
    var timer = 0;
    var el = $(this);
    $(this).keyup(function(){                   
    clearTimeout (timer);
    timer = setTimeout(function(){
        callback(el)
        }, ms);
    });
    return $(this);
};

$('#input').delayKeyup(function(el){
    //alert(el.val());
    // Here I need the input element (value for ajax call) for further process
},1000);

http://jsfiddle.net/Us9bu/2/