feat: enhanced multi-word search functionality (#1001)

Author: sambhavnoobcoder

README.md

@@ -296,6 +296,15 @@ const paginateConfig: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> {
    * Description: Prevent `select` query param from limiting selection further. Partial selection will depend upon `select` config option only
    */
   ignoreSelectInQueryParam: true,
+
+  /**
+   * Required: false
+   * Type: boolean
+   * Default: false
+   * Description: Enable multi-word search behavior. When true, each word in the search query
+   * will be treated as a separate search term, allowing for more flexible matching.
+   */
+  multiWordSearch: false,
 }
 ```
 

src/paginate.ts

@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ export interface PaginateConfig<T> {
     origin?: string
     ignoreSearchByInQueryParam?: boolean
     ignoreSelectInQueryParam?: boolean
+    multiWordSearch?: boolean
 }
 
 export enum PaginationLimit {
@@ -352,31 +353,75 @@ export async function paginate<T extends ObjectLiteral>(
     if (query.search && searchBy.length) {
         queryBuilder.andWhere(
             new Brackets((qb: SelectQueryBuilder<T>) => {
-                for (const column of searchBy) {
-                    const property = getPropertiesByColumnName(column)
-                    const { isVirtualProperty, query: virtualQuery } = extractVirtualProperty(qb, property)
-                    const isRelation = checkIsRelation(qb, property.propertyPath)
-                    const isEmbeded = checkIsEmbedded(qb, property.propertyPath)
-                    const alias = fixColumnAlias(
-                        property,
-                        qb.alias,
-                        isRelation,
-                        isVirtualProperty,
-                        isEmbeded,
-                        virtualQuery
-                    )
-
-                    const condition: WherePredicateOperator = {
-                        operator: 'ilike',
-                        parameters: [alias, `:${property.column}`],
+                // Explicitly handle the default case - multiWordSearch defaults to false
+                const useMultiWordSearch = config.multiWordSearch ?? false
+                if (!useMultiWordSearch) {
+                    // Strict search mode (default behavior)
+                    for (const column of searchBy) {
+                        const property = getPropertiesByColumnName(column)
+                        const { isVirtualProperty, query: virtualQuery } = extractVirtualProperty(qb, property)
+                        const isRelation = checkIsRelation(qb, property.propertyPath)
+                        const isEmbedded = checkIsEmbedded(qb, property.propertyPath)
+                        const alias = fixColumnAlias(
+                            property,
+                            qb.alias,
+                            isRelation,
+                            isVirtualProperty,
+                            isEmbedded,
+                            virtualQuery
+                        )
+
+                        const condition: WherePredicateOperator = {
+                            operator: 'ilike',
+                            parameters: [alias, `:${property.column}`],
+                        }
+
+                        if (['postgres', 'cockroachdb'].includes(queryBuilder.connection.options.type)) {
+                            condition.parameters[0] = `CAST(${condition.parameters[0]} AS text)`
+                        }
+
+                        qb.orWhere(qb['createWhereConditionExpression'](condition), {
+                            [property.column]: `%${query.search}%`,
+                        })
                     }
-
-                    if (['postgres', 'cockroachdb'].includes(queryBuilder.connection.options.type)) {
-                        condition.parameters[0] = `CAST(${condition.parameters[0]} AS text)`
-                    }
-
-                    qb.orWhere(qb['createWhereConditionExpression'](condition), {
-                        [property.column]: `%${query.search}%`,
+                } else {
+                    // Multi-word search mode
+                    const searchWords = query.search.split(' ').filter((word) => word.length > 0)
+                    searchWords.forEach((searchWord, index) => {
+                        qb.andWhere(
+                            new Brackets((subQb: SelectQueryBuilder<T>) => {
+                                for (const column of searchBy) {
+                                    const property = getPropertiesByColumnName(column)
+                                    const { isVirtualProperty, query: virtualQuery } = extractVirtualProperty(
+                                        subQb,
+                                        property
+                                    )
+                                    const isRelation = checkIsRelation(subQb, property.propertyPath)
+                                    const isEmbedded = checkIsEmbedded(subQb, property.propertyPath)
+                                    const alias = fixColumnAlias(
+                                        property,
+                                        subQb.alias,
+                                        isRelation,
+                                        isVirtualProperty,
+                                        isEmbedded,
+                                        virtualQuery
+                                    )
+
+                                    const condition: WherePredicateOperator = {
+                                        operator: 'ilike',
+                                        parameters: [alias, `:${property.column}_${index}`],
+                                    }
+
+                                    if (['postgres', 'cockroachdb'].includes(queryBuilder.connection.options.type)) {
+                                        condition.parameters[0] = `CAST(${condition.parameters[0]} AS text)`
+                                    }
+
+                                    subQb.orWhere(subQb['createWhereConditionExpression'](condition), {
+                                        [`${property.column}_${index}`]: `%${searchWord}%`,
+                                    })
+                                }
+                            })
+                        )
                     })
                 }
             })