#Ajax AutoComplete for jQuery

Ajax Autocomplete for jQuery allows you to easily create autocomplete/autosuggest boxes for text input fields.

Has no dependencies other than jQuery.

The standard jquery.autocomplete.js file is around 2.7KB when minified via Closure Compiler and gzipped.

##API

• $(selector).autocomplete(options);
  • Sets up autocomplete for input field(s).
  • options: An object literal which defines the settings to use for the autocomplete plugin.
    • serviceUrl: Server side URL that provides results for suggestions. Optional if local lookup data is provided.
    • lookup: Lookup array for the suggestions. It may be array of strings or suggestion object literals.
      • suggestion: An object literal with the following format: { value: 'string', data: any }.
    • lookupFilter: function (suggestion, query, queryLowerCase) {} filter function for local lookups. By default it does partial string match (case insensitive).
    • onSelect: function (suggestion) {} Callback function invoked when user selects suggestion from the list. this inside callback refers to input HtmlElement.
    • minChars: Minimum number of characters required to trigger autosuggest. Default: 1.
    • maxHeight: Maximum height of the suggestions container in pixels. Default: 300.
    • deferRequestBy: Number of miliseconds to defer ajax request. Default: 0.
    • width: Suggestions container width in pixels, e.g.: 300. Default: auto, takes input field width.
    • params: Additional parameters to pass with the request, optional.
    • formatResult: function (suggestion, currentValue) {} custom function to format suggestion entry inside suggestions container, optional.
    • delimiter: String or RegExp, that splits input value and takes last part to as query for suggestions. Useful when for example you need to fill list of coma separated values.
    • zIndex: 'z-index' for suggestions container. Default: 9999.
    • type: Ajax request type to get suggestions. Default: GET.
    • noCache: Boolean value indicating whether to cache suggestion results. Default true.
    • onSearchStart: function (query) {} called before ajax request. this is bound to input element.
    • onSearchComplete: function (query) {} called after ajax response is processed. this is bound to input element.
    • tabDisabled: Default false. Set to true to leave the cursor in the input field after the user tabs to select a suggestion.
    • paramName: Default query. The name of the request parameter that contains the query.
    • transformResult: function(response) {} called after the result of the query is ready. Converts the result into response.suggestions format.
    • autoSelectFirst: if set to true, first item will be selected when showing suggestions. Default value false.
    • appendTo: container where suggestions will be appended. Default value body. Can be jQuery object, selector or html element. Make sure to set position: absolute or position: relative for that element.
  • dataType: type of data returned from server. Either 'text' (default) or 'jsonp', which will cause the autocomplete to use jsonp. You may return a json object in your callback when using jsonp.

##Usage

Html:

<input type="text" name="country" id="autocomplete"/>

Ajax lookup:

$('#autocomplete').autocomplete({
    serviceUrl: '/autocomplete/countries',
    onSelect: function (suggestion) {
        alert('You selected: ' + suggestion.value + ', ' + suggestion.data);
    }
});

Local lookup (no ajax):

var countries = [
   { value: 'Andorra', data: 'AD' },
   // ...
   { value: 'Zimbabwe', data: 'ZZ' }
];

$('#autocomplete').autocomplete({
    lookup: countries,
    onSelect: function (suggestion) {
        alert('You selected: ' + suggestion.value + ', ' + suggestion.data);
    }
});

##Styling

Generated HTML markup for suggestions is displayed bellow. You may style it any way you'd like.

<div class="autocomplete-suggestions">
    <div class="autocomplete-suggestion autocomplete-selected">...</div>
    <div class="autocomplete-suggestion">...</div>
    <div class="autocomplete-suggestion">...</div>
</div>

Style sample:

.autocomplete-suggestions { border: 1px solid #999; background: #FFF; overflow: auto; }
.autocomplete-suggestion { padding: 2px 5px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; }
.autocomplete-selected { background: #F0F0F0; }
.autocomplete-suggestions strong { font-weight: normal; color: #3399FF; }

##Response Format

Response from the server must be JSON formatted following JavaScript object:

{
    query: "Unit",
    suggestions: [
        { value: "United Arab Emirates", data: "AE" },
        { value: "United Kingdom",       data: "UK" },
        { value: "United States",        data: "US" }
    ]
}

Data can be any value or object. Data object is passed to formatResults function and onSelect callback. Alternatively, if there is no data you can supply just a string array for suggestions:

{
    query: "Unit",
    suggestions: ["United Arab Emirates", "United Kingdom", "United States"]
}

Non standard query/results

If your ajax service expects the query in a different format, and returns data in a different format than the standard response, you can supply the "paramName" and "transformResult" options:

$('#autocomplete').autocomplete({
    paramName: 'searchString',
    transformResult: function(response) {
        return $.map(response.myData, function(dataItem) {
            return {value: dataItem.valueField, data: dataItem.dataField};
        });
    }
})

Important: query value must match original value in the input field, otherwise suggestions will not be displayed.

##License

Ajax Autocomplete for jQuery is freely distributable under the terms of an MIT-style license.

Copyright notice and permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

##Authors

Tomas Kirda / @tkirda