submitPredictivetext.js

// inputEl is the search <input> element, 
//predictiveItemsEl is the container element for the predictive search list, 
//predictiveItemsListEl is the <ul> list itself.
//I use this inside an object created from the search element.
function submitPredictivetext(inputEl, predictiveItemsEl, predictiveItemsListEl) {
		var $this = jQuery(inputEl),
		thisValue = $this[0].value,
		thatValue="";

		var timer = $this.data('timeout') || 500,
		inputTimeOut;
		// window.clearTimeout(inputTimeOut);
		inputTimeOut = window.setTimeout(function(){
			thatValue = $this[0].value;

			console.log('fire service call with: ', thisValue, thatValue);
			if(thisValue == thatValue) {
			
				if ($this[0].selectionEnd > 2){

					if (!predictiveItemsEl.hasClass('active')){
						predictiveItemsEl.addClass('active');
					}
					
					// Clear and reset the list
					predictiveItemsListEl.find('li').remove('li');

					
					mkServices.predictiveSearchService({
					'searchQuery': this.value,
					'predictiveListElement': predictiveItemsListEl
					});

				} else if($this[0].selectionEnd <= 2 && predictiveItemsEl.hasClass('active')) {
					
					// Clear and reset the list
					predictiveItemsListEl.find('li').remove('li');
					predictiveItemsEl.removeClass('active');
				}
			}
		}, timer);
	}