autoComplete.js

AutoComplete is a jQuery Mobile plugin which allows developers to add autoComplete search boxes to your project.

Based on the blog entry of Raymond Camden (@cfjedimaster).

Example

View a simple demo of autoComplete

Quick start

Clone the git repo - git clone https://github.com/commadelimited/autoComplete.js.git - or download it

Usage & Documentation

$("#searchField").autocomplete({
    method: 'GET', // allows POST as well
    icon: 'arrow-r', // option to specify icon
    target: $('#suggestions'), // the listview to receive results
    source: 'data.cfc?method=search&returnformat=json', // URL return JSON data
    callback: fn(){}, // optional callback function fires upon result selection
    link: 'target.html?term=', // link to be attached to each result
    minLength: 0 // minimum length of search string
    transition: 'fade',// page transition, default is fade
    matchFromStart: true, // search from start, or anywhere in the string
    loadingHtml : '<li data-icon="none"><a href="#">Searching...</a></li>', // HTML to display when searching remotely
    interval: 0, // The minimum delay in milliseconds between server calls when using a remote "source"
    builder : null, // optional callback to build HTML for autocomplete
    labelHTML: fn(){}, // optional callback function when formatting the display value of list items
    onNoResults: fn(), // optional callback function when no results were matched
    onLoading: fn(), // optional callback function called just prior to ajax call
    onLoadingFinished: fn(), // optional callback function called just after ajax call has completed
    dataHandler : fn(), // optional function to convert the received JSON data to the format described below
    klass: 'tinted', // optional class name for listview's <li> tag
    forceFirstChoiceOnEnterKey : true, // force the first choice in the list when Enter key is hit
    transformResponse: fn() //transform your data into useable data to create autoComplete items list, return json obect with
                // label and value attribute e.g. {label : "text to show", value: "hidden value"}
});

AutoComplete can access local arrays or remote data sources.

AutoComplete.js can read data in one of two ways: simple or complex. Simple data should be returned from the source in the following format:

[
    "Maine",
    "Maryland",
    "Massachusetts"
]

Causing the resulting code to look like this: <a href="target.html?term=Maine">Maine</a>

Complex data allows developers to specify which value goes where. This option requires data to be returned as an array of objects:

[
    {
        value: "22",
        label: "Maine"
    },
    {
        value: "23",
        label: "Maryland"
    },
    {
        value: "24",
        label: "Massachusetts"
    }
]

Causing the resulting code to look like this: <a href="target.html?term=22">Maine</a>

Data-autocomplete attribute

In 1.4.3 a new "data-autocomplete" property was added to the anchor tag contained with each list item. This attribute contains a serialized version of each item in the array. See "callback-plus.html" for usage.

Callback

When using the optional callback function autoComplete will only execute code found within the callback. The click event object is passed into the callback function for use in accessing the information contained in the selection. Here's one use case:

$("#searchField").autocomplete("update", {
    source: [ "foo", "bar", "baz" ],
    minLength: 3,
    callback: function(e) {
        var $a = $(e.currentTarget); // access the selected item
        $('#searchField').val($a.text()); // place the value of the selection into the search box
        $("#searchField").autocomplete('clear'); // clear the listview
    }
});

Utility Methods

update - takes an object containing AutoComplete settings to update

This method allows you to update AutoComplete settings for an element after the plugin has been initialized.

$("#searchField").autocomplete("update", {
    source: [ "foo", "bar", "baz" ],
    minLength: 3
});

clear

This method will clear the "target" listview. Useful if you need to empty the list in response to other events.

$("#searchField").autocomplete("clear");

destroy

This method will clean up any bound events or data stored on the element.

$("#searchField").autocomplete("destroy");

Events

targetUpdated.autocomplete

Event fired each time the target listview is updated. A potential use is to bind to this event and scroll to the top of the page so that the list of completions is not completely hidden behind the soft/virtual keyboard.

$("#searchField").autocomplete({
    target: $('#autocomplete'),
    source: autocompletes
}).bind("targetUpdated.autocomplete", function(e) {
    $.mobile.silentScroll($(e.currentTarget).offset().top);
});

targetCleared.autocomplete

Event fired when the target listview is emptied (no completions to display).

Contributing

You are invited to contribute code and suggestions to this project. The more the merrier.

Project Info

• Source: https://github.com/commadelimited/autoComplete.js
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/commadelimited
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/cfjedimaster

3rd party libraries required:

• jQuery: MIT/GPL license
• jQuery Mobile: MIT/GPL license

Custom bits:

MIT/GPL license