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Extension that provides core autocomplete logic (but no UI implementation) for a text input field or textarea.

The AutoCompleteBase class provides events and attributes that abstract away core autocomplete logic and configuration, but does not provide a widget implementation or suggestion UI. For a prepackaged autocomplete widget, see AutoCompleteList.

This extension cannot be instantiated directly, since it doesn't provide an actual implementation. It's intended to be mixed into a Y.Base-based class or widget.

Y.Widget-based example:

YUI().use('autocomplete-base', 'widget', function (Y) {
                                var MyAC = Y.Base.create('myAC', Y.Widget, [Y.AutoCompleteBase], {
                                    // Custom prototype methods and properties.
                                }, {
                                    // Custom static methods and properties.
                                });
                            
                                // Custom implementation code.
                            });
                            

Y.Base-based example:

YUI().use('autocomplete-base', function (Y) {
                                var MyAC = Y.Base.create('myAC', Y.Base, [Y.AutoCompleteBase], {
                                    initializer: function () {
                                        this._bindUIACBase();
                                        this._syncUIACBase();
                                    },
                            
                                    // Custom prototype methods and properties.
                                }, {
                                    // Custom static methods and properties.
                                });
                            
                                // Custom implementation code.
                            });

Methods

_afterSourceTypeChange

(
  • e
)
protected

Updates the current source based on the new sourceType to ensure that the two attributes don't get out of sync when they're changed separately.

Parameters:

_afterValueChange

(
  • e
)
protected

Handles change events for the value attribute.

Parameters:

_beforeCreateObjectSource

(
  • source
)
protected

Runs before AutoCompleteBase's _createObjectSource() method and augments it to support additional object-based source types.

Parameters:

  • source String

_bindUIACBase

() protected

Attaches event listeners and behaviors.

_createArraySource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that simply returns the specified array as a response. See the source attribute for more details.

Parameters:

  • source Array

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createFunctionSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that passes the query to a custom-defined function, which is expected to call the provided callback with an array of results. See the source attribute for more details.

Parameters:

  • source Function

    Function that accepts a query and a callback as parameters, and calls the callback with an array of results.

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createIOSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that uses Y.io as a source. See the source attribute for more details.

Parameters:

  • source String

    URL.

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createJSONPSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that uses the specified JSONPRequest instance as a source. See the source attribute for more details.

Parameters:

  • source JSONPRequest | String

    URL string or JSONPRequest instance.

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createObjectSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that looks up queries as properties on the specified object, and returns the found value (if any) as a response. See the source attribute for more details.

Parameters:

  • source Object

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createSelectSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that uses the specified <select> node as a source.

Parameters:

  • source Node

    YUI Node instance wrapping a <select> node.

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createStringSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that calls the specified URL or executes the specified YQL query for results. If the string starts with "select ", "use ", or "set " (case-insensitive), it's assumed to be a YQL query; otherwise, it's assumed to be a URL (which may be absolute or relative). URLs containing a "{callback}" placeholder are assumed to be JSONP URLs; all others will use XHR. See the source attribute for more details.

Parameters:

  • source String

    URL or YQL query.

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_createYQLSource

(
  • source
)
Object protected

Creates a DataSource-like object that uses the specified YQL query string to create a YQL-based source. See the source attribute for details. If no resultListLocator is defined, this method will set a best-guess locator that might work for many typical YQL queries.

Parameters:

  • source String

    YQL query.

Returns:

Object:

DataSource-like object.

_defaultYQLLocator

(
  • response
)
Array protected

Default resultListLocator used when a string-based YQL source is set and the implementer hasn't already specified one.

Parameters:

  • response Object

    YQL response object.

Returns:

Array:

_defClearFn

() protected

Default clear event handler. Sets the results attribute to an empty array and query to null.

_defQueryFn

(
  • e
)
protected

Default query event handler. Sets the query attribute and sends a request to the source if one is configured.

Parameters:

_defResultsFn

(
  • e
)
protected

Default results event handler. Sets the results attribute to the latest results.

Parameters:

_functionValidator

(
  • value
)
protected

Returns true if value is either a function or null.

Parameters:

  • value Function | Null

    Value to validate.

_getObjectValue

(
  • obj
  • path
)
Any protected

Faster and safer alternative to Y.Object.getValue(). Doesn't bother casting the path to an array (since we already know it's an array) and doesn't throw an error if a value in the middle of the object hierarchy is neither undefined nor an object.

Parameters:

  • obj Object
  • path Array

Returns:

Any:

Located value, or undefined if the value was not found at the specified path.

_getXHRUrl

(
  • url
  • request
)
String protected

Returns a formatted XHR URL based on the specified base url, query, and the current requestTemplate if any.

Parameters:

  • url String

    Base URL.

  • request Object

    Request object containing query and request properties.

Returns:

String:

Formatted URL.

_jsonpFormatter

(
  • url
  • proxy
  • query
)
String protected

URL formatter passed to JSONPRequest instances.

Parameters:

  • url String
  • proxy String
  • query String

Returns:

String:

Formatted URL

_onInputBlur

(
  • e
)
protected

Handles blur events on the input node.

Parameters:

_onInputValueChange

(
  • e
)
protected

Handles valueChange events on the input node and fires a query event when the input value meets the configured criteria.

Parameters:

_onResponse

(
  • e
)
protected

Handles source responses and fires the results event.

Parameters:

_parseResponse

(
  • query
  • response
  • data
)
protected

Parses result responses, performs filtering and highlighting, and fires the results event.

Parameters:

  • query String

    Query that generated these results.

  • response Object

    Response containing results.

  • data Object

    Raw response data.

_parseValue

(
  • value
)
String | Null protected

Returns the query portion of the specified input value, or null if there is no suitable query within the input value.

If a query delimiter is defined, the query will be the last delimited part of of the string.

Parameters:

  • value String

    Input value from which to extract the query.

Returns:

String | Null:

query

_setEnableCache

(
  • value
)
protected

Defined in yui3/src/autocomplete/js/autocomplete-base.js:559

Available since 3.5.0

Setter for the enableCache attribute.

Parameters:

  • value Boolean

_setLocator

(
  • locator
)
Function | Null protected

Setter for locator attributes.

Parameters:

  • locator Function | String | Null

Returns:

Function | Null:

_setRequestTemplate

(
  • template
)
Function | Null protected

Setter for the requestTemplate attribute.

Parameters:

  • template Function | String | Null

Returns:

Function | Null:

_setResultFilters

(
  • filters
)
Function protected

Setter for the resultFilters attribute.

Parameters:

  • filters Array | Function | String | Null

    null, a filter function, an array of filter functions, or a string or array of strings representing the names of methods on Y.AutoCompleteFilters.

Returns:

Function:

Array of filter functions (empty if <i>filters</i> is null).

_setResultHighlighter

(
  • highlighter
)
Function | Null protected

Setter for the resultHighlighter attribute.

Parameters:

  • highlighter Function | String | Null

    null, a highlighter function, or a string representing the name of a method on Y.AutoCompleteHighlighters.

Returns:

Function | Null:

_setSource

(
  • source
)
DataSource | Object protected

Setter for the source attribute. Returns a DataSource or a DataSource-like object depending on the type of source and/or the value of the sourceType attribute.

Parameters:

  • source Any

    AutoComplete source. See the source attribute for details.

Returns:

DataSource | Object:

_sourceSuccess

(
  • data
  • request
)
protected

Shared success callback for non-DataSource sources.

Parameters:

  • data Any

    Response data.

  • request Object

    Request object.

_syncBrowserAutocomplete

() protected

Synchronizes the UI state of the allowBrowserAutocomplete attribute.

_syncUIACBase

() protected

Synchronizes the UI state of the inputNode.

_updateValue

(
  • newVal
)
protected

Updates the query portion of the value attribute.

If a query delimiter is defined, the last delimited portion of the input value will be replaced with the specified value.

Parameters:

  • newVal String

    New value.

clearCache

() chainable

Defined in yui3/src/autocomplete/js/autocomplete-base.js:177

Available since 3.5.0

Clears the result cache.

sendRequest

(
  • [query]
  • [requestTemplate]
)
chainable

Sends a request to the configured source. If no source is configured, this method won't do anything.

Usually there's no reason to call this method manually; it will be called automatically when user input causes a query event to be fired. The only time you'll need to call this method manually is if you want to force a request to be sent when no user input has occurred.

Parameters:

  • [query] String optional

    Query to send. If specified, the query attribute will be set to this query. If not specified, the current value of the query attribute will be used.

  • [requestTemplate] Function optional

    Request template function. If not specified, the current value of the requestTemplate attribute will be used.

Properties

_YQL_SOURCE_REGEX

RegExp protected

Regular expression used to determine whether a String source is a YQL query.

SOURCE_TYPES

Object static

Mapping of built-in source types to their setter functions. DataSource instances and DataSource-like objects are handled natively, so are not mapped here.

Attributes

allowBrowserAutocomplete

Boolean

Whether or not to enable the browser's built-in autocomplete functionality for input fields.

Default: false

allowTrailingDelimiter

Boolean

When a queryDelimiter is set, trailing delimiters will automatically be stripped from the input value by default when the input node loses focus. Set this to true to allow trailing delimiters.

Default: false

enableCache

Boolean

Defined in yui3/src/autocomplete/js/autocomplete-base.js:997

Available since 3.5.0

Whether or not to enable in-memory caching in result sources that support it.

Default: true

inputNode

Node | HTMLElement | String

Node to monitor for changes, which will generate query events when appropriate. May be either an <input> or a <textarea>.

maxResults

Number

Maximum number of results to return. A value of 0 or less will allow an unlimited number of results.

Default: 0

minQueryLength

Number

Minimum number of characters that must be entered before a query event will be fired. A value of 0 allows empty queries; a negative value will effectively disable all query events.

Default: 1

query

String | Null readonly

Current query, or null if there is no current query.

The query might not be the same as the current value of the input node, both for timing reasons (due to queryDelay) and because when one or more queryDelimiter separators are in use, only the last portion of the delimited input string will be used as the query value.

Default: null

queryDelay

Number

Number of milliseconds to delay after input before triggering a query event. If new input occurs before this delay is over, the previous input event will be ignored and a new delay will begin.

This can be useful both to throttle queries to a remote data source and to avoid distracting the user by showing them less relevant results before they've paused their typing.

Default: 100

queryDelimiter

String | Null

Query delimiter string. When a delimiter is configured, the input value will be split on the delimiter, and only the last portion will be used in autocomplete queries and updated when the query attribute is modified.

Default: null

requestTemplate

Function | String | Null

Source request template. This can be a function that accepts a query as a parameter and returns a request string, or it can be a string containing the placeholder "{query}", which will be replaced with the actual URI-encoded query. In either case, the resulting string will be appended to the request URL when the source attribute is set to a remote DataSource, JSONP URL, or XHR URL (it will not be appended to YQL URLs).

While requestTemplate may be set to either a function or a string, it will always be returned as a function that accepts a query argument and returns a string.

Default: null

resultFilters

Array

Array of local result filter functions. If provided, each filter will be called with two arguments when results are received: the query and an array of result objects. See the documentation for the results event for a list of the properties available on each result object.

Each filter is expected to return a filtered or modified version of the results array, which will then be passed on to subsequent filters, then the resultHighlighter function (if set), then the resultFormatter function (if set), and finally to subscribers to the results event.

If no source is set, result filters will not be called.

Prepackaged result filters provided by the autocomplete-filters and autocomplete-filters-accentfold modules can be used by specifying the filter name as a string, such as 'phraseMatch' (assuming the necessary filters module is loaded).

Default: []

resultFormatter

Function | Null

Function which will be used to format results. If provided, this function will be called with two arguments after results have been received and filtered: the query and an array of result objects. The formatter is expected to return an array of HTML strings or Node instances containing the desired HTML for each result.

See the documentation for the results event for a list of the properties available on each result object.

If no source is set, the formatter will not be called.

resultHighlighter

Function | Null

Function which will be used to highlight results. If provided, this function will be called with two arguments after results have been received and filtered: the query and an array of filtered result objects. The highlighter is expected to return an array of highlighted result text in the form of HTML strings.

See the documentation for the results event for a list of the properties available on each result object.

If no source is set, the highlighter will not be called.

resultListLocator

Function | String | Null

Locator that should be used to extract an array of results from a non-array response.

By default, no locator is applied, and all responses are assumed to be arrays by default. If all responses are already arrays, you don't need to define a locator.

The locator may be either a function (which will receive the raw response as an argument and must return an array) or a string representing an object path, such as "foo.bar.baz" (which would return the value of result.foo.bar.baz if the response is an object).

While resultListLocator may be set to either a function or a string, it will always be returned as a function that accepts a response argument and returns an array.

results

Array readonly

Current results, or an empty array if there are no results.

Default: []

resultTextLocator

Function | String | Null

Locator that should be used to extract a plain text string from a non-string result item. The resulting text value will typically be the value that ends up being inserted into an input field or textarea when the user of an autocomplete implementation selects a result.

By default, no locator is applied, and all results are assumed to be plain text strings. If all results are already plain text strings, you don't need to define a locator.

The locator may be either a function (which will receive the raw result as an argument and must return a string) or a string representing an object path, such as "foo.bar.baz" (which would return the value of result.foo.bar.baz if the result is an object).

While resultTextLocator may be set to either a function or a string, it will always be returned as a function that accepts a result argument and returns a string.

source

Array | DataSource | Function | Node | Object | String | Null

Source for autocomplete results. The following source types are supported:

<dl> <dt>Array</dt> <dd> <p> The full array will be provided to any configured filters for each query. This is an easy way to create a fully client-side autocomplete implementation. </p>

<p>
                                                Example: ['first result', 'second result', 'etc']
                                                </p>
                                                

</dd>

<dt>DataSource</dt> <dd> A DataSource instance or other object that provides a DataSource-like sendRequest method. See the DataSource documentation for details. </dd>

<dt>Function</dt> <dd> <p> A function source will be called with the current query and a callback function as parameters, and should either return an array of results (for synchronous operation) or return nothing and pass an array of results to the provided callback (for asynchronous operation). </p>

<p>
                                                Example (synchronous):
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <pre>
                                                function (query) {
                                                    return ['foo', 'bar'];
                                                }
                                                </pre>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                Example (async):
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <pre>
                                                function (query, callback) {
                                                    callback(['foo', 'bar']);
                                                }
                                                </pre>
                                                

</dd>

<dt>Object</dt> <dd> <p> An object will be treated as a query hashmap. If a property on the object matches the current query, the value of that property will be used as the response. </p>

<p>
                                                The response is assumed to be an array of results by default. If the
                                                response is not an array, provide a resultListLocator to
                                                process the response and return an array.
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                Example: {foo: ['foo result 1', 'foo result 2'], bar: ['bar result']}
                                                </p>
                                                

</dd> </dl>

If the optional autocomplete-sources module is loaded, then the following additional source types will be supported as well:

<dl> <dt><select> Node</dt> <dd> You may provide a YUI Node instance wrapping a <select> element, and the options in the list will be used as results. You will also need to specify a resultTextLocator of 'text' or 'value', depending on what you want to use as the text of the result.

Each result will be an object with the following properties:
                                                
                                                <dl>
                                                  <dt>html (String)</dt>
                                                  <dd>
                                                    <p>HTML content of the &lt;option&gt; element.</p>
                                                  </dd>
                                                
                                                  <dt>index (Number)</dt>
                                                  <dd>
                                                    <p>Index of the &lt;option&gt; element in the list.</p>
                                                  </dd>
                                                
                                                  <dt>node (Y.Node)</dt>
                                                  <dd>
                                                    <p>Node instance referring to the original &lt;option&gt; element.</p>
                                                  </dd>
                                                
                                                  <dt>selected (Boolean)</dt>
                                                  <dd>
                                                    <p>Whether or not this item is currently selected in the
                                                    &lt;select&gt; list.</p>
                                                  </dd>
                                                
                                                  <dt>text (String)</dt>
                                                  <dd>
                                                    <p>Text content of the &lt;option&gt; element.</p>
                                                  </dd>
                                                
                                                  <dt>value (String)</dt>
                                                  <dd>
                                                    <p>Value of the &lt;option&gt; element.</p>
                                                  </dd>
                                                </dl>
                                                

</dd>

<dt>String (JSONP URL)</dt> <dd> <p> If a URL with a {callback} placeholder is provided, it will be used to make a JSONP request. The {query} placeholder will be replaced with the current query, and the {callback} placeholder will be replaced with an internally-generated JSONP callback name. Both placeholders must appear in the URL, or the request will fail. An optional {maxResults} placeholder may also be provided, and will be replaced with the value of the maxResults attribute (or 1000 if the maxResults attribute is 0 or less). </p>

<p>
                                                The response is assumed to be an array of results by default. If the
                                                response is not an array, provide a resultListLocator to process the
                                                response and return an array.
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                <strong>The jsonp module must be loaded in order for
                                                JSONP URL sources to work.</strong> If the jsonp module
                                                is not already loaded, it will be loaded on demand if possible.
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                Example: 'http://example.com/search?q={query}&amp;callback={callback}'
                                                </p>
                                                

</dd>

<dt>String (XHR URL)</dt> <dd> <p> If a URL without a {callback} placeholder is provided, it will be used to make a same-origin XHR request. The {query} placeholder will be replaced with the current query. An optional {maxResults} placeholder may also be provided, and will be replaced with the value of the maxResults attribute (or 1000 if the maxResults attribute is 0 or less). </p>

<p>
                                                The response is assumed to be a JSON array of results by default. If the
                                                response is a JSON object and not an array, provide a
                                                resultListLocator to process the response and return an array. If the
                                                response is in some form other than JSON, you will need to use a custom
                                                DataSource instance as the source.
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                <strong>The io-base and json-parse modules
                                                must be loaded in order for XHR URL sources to work.</strong> If
                                                these modules are not already loaded, they will be loaded on demand
                                                if possible.
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                Example: 'http://example.com/search?q={query}'
                                                </p>
                                                

</dd>

<dt>String (YQL query)</dt> <dd> <p> If a YQL query is provided, it will be used to make a YQL request. The {query} placeholder will be replaced with the current autocomplete query. This placeholder must appear in the YQL query, or the request will fail. An optional {maxResults} placeholder may also be provided, and will be replaced with the value of the maxResults attribute (or 1000 if the maxResults attribute is 0 or less). </p>

<p>
                                                <strong>The yql module must be loaded in order for YQL
                                                sources to work.</strong> If the yql module is not
                                                already loaded, it will be loaded on demand if possible.
                                                </p>
                                                
                                                <p>
                                                Example: 'select * from search.suggest where query=&quot;{query}&quot;'
                                                </p>
                                                

</dd> </dl>

As an alternative to providing a source, you could simply listen for query events and handle them any way you see fit. Providing a source is optional, but will usually be simpler.

sourceType

String

May be used to force a specific source type, overriding the automatic source type detection. It should almost never be necessary to do this, but as they taught us in the Boy Scouts, one should always be prepared, so it's here if you need it. Be warned that if you set this attribute and something breaks, it's your own fault.

Supported sourceType values are: 'array', 'datasource', 'function', and 'object'.

If the autocomplete-sources module is loaded, the following additional source types are supported: 'io', 'jsonp', 'select', 'string', 'yql'

tokenInput

Plugin.TokenInput readonly

If the inputNode specified at instantiation time has a node-tokeninput plugin attached to it, this attribute will be a reference to the Y.Plugin.TokenInput instance.

value

String

Current value of the input node.

Default: ''

yqlEnv

String

YQL environment file URL to load when the source is set to a YQL query. Set this to null to use the default Open Data Tables environment file (http://datatables.org/alltables.env).

Default: null

yqlProtocol

String

URL protocol to use when the source is set to a YQL query.

Default: 'http'

Events

clear

Fires after the query has been completely cleared or no longer meets the minimum query length requirement.

Event Payload:

  • prevVal String

    Value of the query before it was cleared.

  • src String

    Source of the event.

query

Fires when the contents of the input field have changed and the input value meets the criteria necessary to generate an autocomplete query.

Event Payload:

  • inputValue String

    Full contents of the text input field or textarea that generated the query.

  • query String

    AutoComplete query. This is the string that will be used to request completion results. It may or may not be the same as inputValue.

  • src String

    Source of the event.

results

Fires after query results are received from the source. If no source has been set, this event will not fire.

Event Payload:

  • data Array | Object

    Raw, unfiltered result data (if available).

  • query String

    Query that generated these results.

  • results Object

    Array of filtered, formatted, and highlighted results. Each item in the array is an object with the following properties:

    • display Node | HTMLElement | String

      Formatted result HTML suitable for display to the user. If no custom formatter is set, this will be an HTML-escaped version of the string in the text property.

    • [highlighted] String optional

      Highlighted (but not formatted) result text. This property will only be set if a highlighter is in use.

    • raw Any

      Raw, unformatted result in whatever form it was provided by the source.

    • text String

      Plain text version of the result, suitable for being inserted into the value of a text input field or textarea when the result is selected by a user. This value is not HTML-escaped and should not be inserted into the page using innerHTML or Node#setContent().