We would like to provide our tables with generic search field that will filter entries where at least one of the columns contains the input text. We also think of providing auto-completion for this search field in some way or another. To make it clear, it is the kind which filter/auto-complete while (user is) typing.
My questions: is there a recommended minimum characters limit before the filtering mechanism gets into action?
Case there is no performance issue with searching a single character, should there be a minimum anyway? or that this practice became common due to performance issues.
Answer
It depends on the specific use case, but there is no agreed-upon minimum number of characters that is required before doing filtering. If too many results can get returned, limit the initial set, preferably to the most likely (if that can be determined), or some other metric like most recent. If you use Chrome, go ahead and try it. Enter a single character in your URL bar and you are going to get results. It makes sense there because it can come up with good suggestions even with a single character.
The rule of thumb I would use is that (absent of performance considerations) the optimal number depends on how many characters are needed for your algorithm to come up with suggestions that the user will find useful.
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