delay in hinter

hinter.js

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
    Usage:
      Include hinter.css, hinter.js on your page. Then write:
-     var hint = new SimpleAutocomplete(input, dataLoader, multipleDelimiter, onChangeListener, maxHeight, emptyText, allowHTML);
+     var hint = new SimpleAutocomplete(input, dataLoader, params);
 
    Parameters:
      input
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
        'hint' parameter will be this autocompleter object, and the guess
        should be done based on 'value' parameter (string).
 
-   Optional parameters:
+   params attribute is an object with optional parameters:
      multipleDelimiter
        Pass a delimiter string (for example ',' or ';') to enable multiple selection.
        Item values cannot have leading or trailing whitespace. Input value will consist
@@ -36,27 +36,36 @@
        If emptyText === false, the hint will be hidden instead of showing text.
      allowHTML
        If true, HTML code will be allowed in option names.
+     delay
+       If this is set to a non-zero value, the autocompleter does no more than
+       1 request in each delay milliseconds.
 */
 
 // *** Constructor ***
 
-var SimpleAutocomplete = function(input, dataLoader, multipleDelimiter, onChangeListener, maxHeight, emptyText, allowHTML)
+var SimpleAutocomplete = function(input, dataLoader, params)
 {
     if (typeof(input) == 'string')
         input = document.getElementById(input);
     if (emptyText === undefined)
         emptyText = 'No items found';
+    if (!params)
+        params = {};
 
     // Parameters
     this.input = input;
-    this.multipleDelimiter = multipleDelimiter;
     this.dataLoader = dataLoader;
-    this.onChangeListener = onChangeListener;
-    this.maxHeight = maxHeight;
-    this.emptyText = emptyText;
-    this.allowHTML = allowHTML;
+    this.multipleDelimiter = params.multipleDelimiter;
+    this.onChangeListener = params.onChangeListener;
+    this.maxHeight = params.maxHeight;
+    this.emptyText = params.emptyText;
+    this.allowHTML = params.allowHTML;
+    this.delay = params.delay;
+    if (this.delay === undefined)
+        this.delay = 300;
 
     // Variables
+    this.timer = null;
     this.closure = [];
     this.items = [];
     this.skipHideCounter = 0;
@@ -378,7 +387,16 @@ SimpleAutocomplete.prototype.onChange = function()
     if (v != this.curValue)
     {
         this.curValue = v;
-        this.dataLoader(this, v);
+        if (!this.delay)
+            this.dataLoader(this, v);
+        else if (!this.timer)
+        {
+            var self = this;
+            this.timer = setTimeout(function() {
+                self.dataLoader(self, self.curValue);
+                self.timer = null;
+            }, this.delay);
+        }
     }
     return true;
 };