allow overriding search_fields property name

rest_framework/filters.py

@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ class DjangoFilterBackend(BaseFilterBackend):
 class SearchFilter(BaseFilterBackend):
     # The URL query parameter used for the search.
     search_param = api_settings.SEARCH_PARAM
+    search_fields_property = "search_fields"
     template = 'rest_framework/filters/search.html'
 
     def get_search_terms(self, request):
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ class SearchFilter(BaseFilterBackend):
             return "%s__icontains" % field_name
 
     def filter_queryset(self, request, queryset, view):
-        search_fields = getattr(view, 'search_fields', None)
+        search_fields = getattr(view, self.search_fields_property, None)
         search_terms = self.get_search_terms(request)
 
         if not search_fields or not search_terms:
@@ -180,7 +181,7 @@ class SearchFilter(BaseFilterBackend):
         return distinct(queryset, base)
 
     def to_html(self, request, queryset, view):
-        if not getattr(view, 'search_fields', None):
+        if not getattr(view, self.search_fields_property, None):
             return ''
 
         term = self.get_search_terms(request)

tests/test_filters.py

@@ -447,6 +447,28 @@ class SearchFilterTests(TestCase):
 
         reload_module(filters)
 
+    def test_override_search_fields(self):
+        class CustomSearchFilter(filters.SearchFilter):
+            search_fields_property = 'nonstandard_search_fields'
+
+
+        class SearchListView(generics.ListAPIView):
+            queryset = SearchFilterModel.objects.all()
+            serializer_class = SearchFilterSerializer
+            filter_backends = (CustomSearchFilter,)
+            nonstandard_search_fields = ('title', 'text')
+
+        view = SearchListView.as_view()
+        request = factory.get('/', {'search': 'b'})
+        response = view(request)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            response.data,
+            [
+                {'id': 1, 'title': 'z', 'text': 'abc'},
+                {'id': 2, 'title': 'zz', 'text': 'bcd'}
+            ]
+        )
+
 
 class AttributeModel(models.Model):
     label = models.CharField(max_length=32)