jQuery autocomplete - need to initiate only when a special character is typed

Question

I'm sure you guys have seen this excellent plugin:

http://code.drewwilson.com/entry/autosuggest-jquery-plugin

I checked it out and could not find an option to initiate the autosuggest plugin only when a specific character is typed. In this case I need it to be the at sign '@'.

I see it has the option to set a minimum number of characters: minChars: number (1 by default)

However, I need for the dropdown to NOT show until the @ sign is typed.

FYI, here are the options in jquery.autoSuggest.js

        var defaults = { 
        asHtmlID: false,
        startText: "Enter Name Here",
        emptyText: "No Results Found",
        preFill: {},
        limitText: "No More Selections Are Allowed",
        selectedItemProp: "value", //name of object property
        selectedValuesProp: "value", //name of object property
        searchObjProps: "value", //comma separated list of object property names
        queryParam: "q",
        retrieveLimit: false, //number for 'limit' param on ajax request
        extraParams: "",
        matchCase: false,
        minChars: 1,
        keyDelay: 400,
        resultsHighlight: true,
        neverSubmit: false,
        selectionLimit: false,
        showResultList: true,
        start: function(){},
        selectionClick: function(elem){},
        selectionAdded: function(elem){},
        selectionRemoved: function(elem){ elem.remove(); },
        formatList: false, //callback function
        beforeRetrieve: function(string){ return string; },
        retrieveComplete: function(data){ return data; },
        resultClick: function(data){},
        resultsComplete: function(){}
    };  
    var opts = $

Thanks!

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 18 '11 at 19:25

I think you can play with beforeRetrieve:

beforeRetrieve: function(string){
 if (string.indexOf('@') == -1) return "";
 return string;
}

From the doc:

beforeRetrieve: callback function - Custom function that is run right before the AJAX request is made, or before the local objected is searched. This is used to modify the search string before it is processed. So if a user entered "jim" into the AutoSuggest box, you can call this function to prepend their query with "guy_". Making the final query = "guy_jim". The search query is passed into this function. Example: beforeRetrieve: function(string){ return string; }

Thanks for the response... However this created a weird behavior that highlighted all the spaces in between characters in the dropdown. — Mitch Moccia, Jan 18 '11 at 19:39

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '11 at 19:24

I have never used this control before, but it looks like you're going to want to look into the jquery.autoSuggest.js file (non minified). Check out this case statement. I think you'll need to change the default: case to case x: where x is the ascii code for the key you want to use to trigger the autocomplete.

                switch(e.keyCode) {
                    case 38: // up
                        e.preventDefault();
                        moveSelection("up");
                        break;
                    case 40: // down
                        e.preventDefault();
                        moveSelection("down");
                        break;
                    case 8:  // delete
                        if(input.val() == ""){                          
                            var last = values_input.val().split(",");
                            last = last[last.length - 2];
                            selections_holder.children().not(org_li.prev()).removeClass("selected");
                            if(org_li.prev().hasClass("selected")){
                                values_input.val(values_input.val().replace(","+last+",",","));
                                opts.selectionRemoved.call(this, org_li.prev());
                            } else {
                                opts.selectionClick.call(this, org_li.prev());
                                org_li.prev().addClass("selected");     
                            }
                        }
                        if(input.val().length == 1){
                            results_holder.hide();
                             prev = "";
                        }
                        if($(":visible",results_holder).length > 0){
                            if (timeout){ clearTimeout(timeout); }
                            timeout = setTimeout(function(){ keyChange(); }, opts.keyDelay);
                        }
                        break;
                    case 9: case 188:  // tab or comma
                        tab_press = true;
                        var i_input = input.val().replace(/(,)/g, "");
                        if(i_input != "" && values_input.val().search(","+i_input+",") < 0 && i_input.length >= opts.minChars){ 
                            e.preventDefault();
                            var n_data = {};
                            n_data[opts.selectedItemProp] = i_input;
                            n_data[opts.selectedValuesProp] = i_input;                                                                              
                            var lis = $("li", selections_holder).length;
                            add_selected_item(n_data, "00"+(lis+1));
                            input.val("");
                        }
                    case 13: // return
                        tab_press = false;
                        var active = $("li.active:first", results_holder);
                        if(active.length > 0){
                            active.click();
                            results_holder.hide();
                        }
                        if(opts.neverSubmit || active.length > 0){
                            e.preventDefault();
                        }
                        break;
                    default:
                        if(opts.showResultList){
                            if(opts.selectionLimit && $("li.as-selection-item", selections_holder).length >= opts.selectionLimit){
                                results_ul.html('<li class="as-message">'+opts.limitText+'</li>');
                                results_holder.show();
                            } else {
                                if (timeout){ clearTimeout(timeout); }
                                timeout = setTimeout(function(){ keyChange(); }, opts.keyDelay);
                            }
                        }
                        break;
                }

Could be more like this

                switch(e.keyCode) {
                    case 38: // up
                        e.preventDefault();
                        moveSelection("up");
                        break;
                    case 40: // down
                        e.preventDefault();
                        moveSelection("down");
                        break;
                    case 8:  // delete
                        if(input.val() == ""){                          
                            var last = values_input.val().split(",");
                            last = last[last.length - 2];
                            selections_holder.children().not(org_li.prev()).removeClass("selected");
                            if(org_li.prev().hasClass("selected")){
                                values_input.val(values_input.val().replace(","+last+",",","));
                                opts.selectionRemoved.call(this, org_li.prev());
                            } else {
                                opts.selectionClick.call(this, org_li.prev());
                                org_li.prev().addClass("selected");     
                            }
                        }
                        if(input.val().length == 1){
                            results_holder.hide();
                             prev = "";
                        }
                        if($(":visible",results_holder).length > 0){
                            if (timeout){ clearTimeout(timeout); }
                            timeout = setTimeout(function(){ keyChange(); }, opts.keyDelay);
                        }
                        break;
                    case 9: case 188:  // tab or comma
                        tab_press = true;
                        var i_input = input.val().replace(/(,)/g, "");
                        if(i_input != "" && values_input.val().search(","+i_input+",") < 0 && i_input.length >= opts.minChars){ 
                            e.preventDefault();
                            var n_data = {};
                            n_data[opts.selectedItemProp] = i_input;
                            n_data[opts.selectedValuesProp] = i_input;                                                                              
                            var lis = $("li", selections_holder).length;
                            add_selected_item(n_data, "00"+(lis+1));
                            input.val("");
                        }
                    case 13: // return
                        tab_press = false;
                        var active = $("li.active:first", results_holder);
                        if(active.length > 0){
                            active.click();
                            results_holder.hide();
                        }
                        if(opts.neverSubmit || active.length > 0){
                            e.preventDefault();
                        }
                        break;
                    case x:
                        if(opts.showResultList){
                            if(opts.selectionLimit && $("li.as-selection-item", selections_holder).length >= opts.selectionLimit){
                                results_ul.html('<li class="as-message">'+opts.limitText+'</li>');
                                results_holder.show();
                            } else {
                                if (timeout){ clearTimeout(timeout); }
                                timeout = setTimeout(function(){ keyChange(); }, opts.keyDelay);
                            }
                        }
                        break;
                    default:
                            //Do Nothing
                }

Thanks a lot for the response.... This code doesn't seem to initiate the dropdown now at all.... I just need it to activate when the at sign is typed. i.e. when someone types @, then it will be in an on state and would start autosuggesting when they type more text following the @. Any other ideas? — Mitch Moccia, Jan 18 '11 at 19:39
It should be case:64 I believe... So when I add that, it doesn't activate because it's trying to search to see if the @ sign is available in the data which it never will be.... When I add case:32 for spacebar, it does activate successfully because it actually finds spaces in the data.... I just need it to "activate" when the @ sign is typed. Thanks — Mitch Moccia, Jan 18 '11 at 20:10
Actually it's case:50... so that's working now... The issue is that it is searching for the @ sign in the data... I just need to find the string after the at sign. Thanks for any additional help — Mitch Moccia, Jan 18 '11 at 20:28
@mm-93 found the solution on finding the string after the sign @? — imin, Dec 24 '12 at 17:27

jQuery autocomplete - need to initiate only when a special character is typed

2 Answers2