vue-simple-suggest

Simple yet feature-rich autocomplete component for Vue.js

Install

npm install --save vue-simple-suggest

See installation guide for more options.

What is it

This is a simple yet feature-rich suggestion/autocomplete component for Vue.js.

Actually, it's so feature rich, that it's possible to do crazy stuff with it, like

Imitating drop-downs and drop-down menus
Turn suggestions list into an actual suggestions table
Work with ANY type of custom input passed (like type=button, radio and etc.)
... And many more things

And, as a bonus, it is very light.

Features

v-model support.
Automatic accessibility attributes (WAI-ARIA complete)
Switching v-model type (select/input).
Custom input element through default slot.
Custom list items through named scoped slots.
All HTML5-valid props for default input element are provided (type, tabindex and etc...).
Customizable keyboard controls.
Rich and simple API.
CSS classes for quick and easy restyling.
Many build variants to choose from.
Flexible and customizable component design.
Optional polyfills for IE importable from the lib.

All of the props, events and slots are OPTIONAL for this component, so it can be used without any configuration at all.

New features?

If you feel that something important is missing (or found a bug) - feel free to create an issue. :)

Simple example

To use the component just install via NPM:

npm install --save vue-simple-suggest

Then, in your Vue.js component/page:

<!-- Some component.vue -->
<template>
  <vue-simple-suggest
    v-model="chosen"
    :list="simpleSuggestionList"
    :filter-by-query="true">
<!-- Filter by input text to only show the matching results -->
  </vue-simple-suggest>

  <br>

  <p>Chosen element: {{ chosen }}</p>
</template>

<script>
  import VueSimpleSuggest from 'vue-simple-suggest'
  import 'vue-simple-suggest/dist/styles.css' // Optional CSS

  export default {
    components: {
      VueSimpleSuggest
    },
    data() {
      return {
        chosen: ''
      }
    },
    methods: {
      simpleSuggestionList() {
        return [
          'Vue.js',
          'React.js',
          'Angular.js'
        ]
      }
    }
  }
</script>

Installation

NPM

npm install --save vue-simple-suggest
# or
yarn add vue-simple-suggest

Unpkg

If including via this method - the component will automatically install itself.

<!-- UMD Component, async/await polyfills through promises -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://unpkg.com/vue-simple-suggest"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://unpkg.com/vue-simple-suggest@1.5.1"></script>
                                                              <!-- Specific version -->

<!-- CSS -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/vue-simple-suggest/dist/styles.css">

<!-- If you need polyfills, use IIFE verision below -->
<!-- IIFE build includes ALL polyfills: Object.assign, Promises, Generators, Async/Await! -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://unpkg.com/vue-simple-suggest/dist/iife.js"></script>

Importing

/// ESNext (original code, no pollyfills, single-file .vue component, css included)
import VueSimpleSuggest from 'vue-simple-suggest/lib'
///

/// ES6 (async polyfills)
import VueSimpleSuggest from 'vue-simple-suggest'
// or, if you have problems importing:
import VueSimpleSuggest from 'vue-simple-suggest/dist/es6'
///

/// ES7 and above (no polyfills)
import VueSimpleSuggest from 'vue-simple-suggest/dist/es7'
///

/// CommonJS (async, arrow-functions and promises are polyfilled)
const VueSimpleSuggest = require('vue-simple-suggest')
// or, if you have problems importing:
const VueSimpleSuggest = require('vue-simple-suggest/dist/cjs')
///

// Optional - import css separately with css loaders:
import 'vue-simple-suggest/dist/styles.css'

Polyfills

New in v1.8.3

vue-simple-suggest comes with minimal optional polyfills for IE11+ - Object.assign, Element.prototype.closest and Element.prototype.matches. You can import them like this:

import 'vue-simple-suggest/lib/polyfills';
// or
require('vue-simple-suggest/lib/polyfills');

Usage

Globaly:

// You don't need to do it, if including via <script> (umd, iife)
Vue.component('vue-simple-suggest', VueSimpleSuggest)

In single-file .vue components:

<script>
  import VueSimpleSuggest from 'vue-simple-suggest'
  import 'vue-simple-suggest/dist/styles.css' // Using a css-loader

  export default {
    components: {
      VueSimpleSuggest
    }
  }
</script>

Build Setup

# clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/KazanExpress/vue-simple-suggest.git
cd ./vue-simple-suggest

# install dependencies
npm install

# serve example with hot reload at localhost
npm run dev

# build example & readme for static serving
npm run docs

Default Controls

New in v1.2.0

These are default keyboard shortcuts.

Can be customized with the controls prop. All fields in this controls object are optional.

Default scheme:

Key (key code)	Description
`Escape` (27)	If the suggestions list is shown - hide it. Defined by `hideList` property.
`ArrowDown` (40)	If the suggestions list is hidden - show it. Defined by `selectionDown` property.
`ArrowUp` (38) / `ArrowDown` (40)	Cycle (hover) through suggestions. Defined by `selectionUp`/`selectionDown` properties respectfully.
`Enter` (13)	If the list is shown - chooses the highlighted element, if the list is hidden - refills the suggestions based on current input text. Defined by `select` property.
`(Ctrl/Shift) + Space` (32)	Select the first element in the list. Defined by `autocomplete` property. Works with `Ctrl` modifier key or `Shift` modifier key.
`(Ctrl/Shift) + Enter` (13)	Same as previous, but also hides the suggestions list.

JS object:

{
  selectionUp: [38],
  selectionDown: [40],
  select: [13],
  hideList: [27],
  autocomplete: [32, 13]
}

Component API

TLDR

Click to expand

<!-- Ref to access the API, v-model for efficient query binding -->
<vue-simple-suggest ref="vueSimpleSuggest" v-model="model"
  value-attribute="id"
  display-attribute="title"
  mode="input"
  :placeholder="placeholder!!!"
  :list="getListFunction"
  :max-suggestions="10"
  :min-length="3"
  :debounce="100"
  :destyled="false"
  :remove-list="false"
  :filter-by-query="false"
  :prevent-submit="true"
  :filter="customFilterFunction"
  :value="defaultValue"
  :controls="{
    selectionUp: [38, 33],
    selectionDown: [40, 34],
    select: [13, 36],
    hideList: [27, 35],
    autocomplete: [32, 13],
  }"
  @input="onInputEvent"
  @select="onSuggestSelect"
  @hover="onSuggestHover"
  @focus="onFocus"
  @blur="onBlur"
  @request-start="onRequestStart"
  @request-done="onRequestDone"
  @request-failed="onRequestFailed"
  @show-list="onShowList"
  @hide-list="onHideList"
>
  <!-- v-model on input itself is useless -->
  <input class="optional-custom-input">

  <!-- Appears o top of the list -->
  <template slot="misc-item-above" slot-scope="{ suggestions, query }">
    <div class="misc-item">
      <span>You're searching for {{ query }}.</span>
    </div>
    <div class="misc-item">
      <span>{{ suggestions.length }} suggestions are shown...</span>
    </div>
    <hr>
  </template>

  <div slot="suggestion-item" slot-scope="{ suggestion }" class="custom">{{ suggestion.title }}</div>

  <!-- Appears below the list -->
  <div class="misc-item" slot="misc-item-below" slot-scope="{ suggestions }" v-if="loading">
    <span>Loading...</span>
  </div>
</vue-simple-suggest>

CSS class structure

If there's a need to customize the appearance of the component, here's the internal class-structure:

// .designed is applied only if `destyled` prop is false.
.vue-simple-suggest.designed.focus // .focus is applied whenever the component is focused.
  .input-wrapper
    .default-input // Replaced with your custom input if default slot is provided.
  .suggestions // Also has transition classes, see below.
    .suggest-item

If you wish to use your existing classes, or frameworks like Bootstrap you can inject your own classes using the 'styles' prop:

<!-- Some component.vue -->
<template>
  <vue-simple-suggest
    v-model="chosen"
    :list="simpleSuggestionList"
    :styles="autoCompleteStyle"
    :destyled=true
    :filter-by-query="true">
  </vue-simple-suggest>
</template>

<script>
  ...
  export default {
    ...
    data() {
      return {
        autoCompleteStyle : {
          vueSimpleSuggest: "position-relative",
          inputWrapper: "",
          defaultInput : "form-control",
          suggestions: "position-absolute list-group z-1000",
          suggestItem: "list-group-item"
        }
      }
    },
    ...
  }
</script>`

<style lang="scss">
.z-1000 {
  z-index: 1000;
}
.hover {
  background-color: #007bff;
  color: #fff;
}
</style>

Transitions

New in v1.8.0

You can also define custom list transitions by defining css rules for the transition named vue-simple-suggest on the .suggestions div:

.suggestions {
  /* It's improtant to have a cpecific pivot point for transition:*/
  opacity: 1;
}

.vue-simple-suggest-enter-active.suggestions,
.vue-simple-suggest-leave-active.suggestions {
  /* Transition length here:*/
  transition: opacity .2s;
}

.vue-simple-suggest-enter.suggestions,
.vue-simple-suggest-leave-to.suggestions {
  /* Transition rule for "disengaged" element:*/
  opacity: 0;
}

API definitions

Props

Name	Type	Default	Description
`controls` ^v1.2.0	Object	See default controls	Determines the keyboard shortcuts in key-codes (for browser-compatibility purposes). Arrays provide the ability to assign multiple keys to one action. Consists of 5 array fields: `selectionUp`, `selectionDown`, `select`, `hideList` and `autocomplete`, all of which are optional.
`max-suggestions`	Number	`10`	The maximum amount of suggestions to display. Set to 0 for infinite suggestions.
`min-length`	Number	`3`	The minimum amount of symbols in input to trigger suggestion list. `vue-simple-suggest` starts behaving as a dropdown menu, if the value is 0.
`display-attribute`	String	`'title'`	The property in a suggestion object to display in a list. Supports dotted paths.
`value-attribute`	String	`'id'`	The property in a suggestion object to use as a unique key. Supports dotted paths.
`list`	Funciton or Array	`() => []`	The array provider function, must accept a query as its only argument. Can return an array or a promise. Can be async. The component behaves as a simple input without this function.
`debounce`	Number	`0`	Determines the `list` debounce (a time between the input event and a function execution).
`destyled`	Boolean	`false`	Whether to cancel the default styling of input and suggestions list.
`styles` ^v1.8.0	Object	`{}`	CSS classes to attach with current component style.
`remove-list`	Boolean	`false`	If true - the suggestion list will be always hidden.
`filter-by-query`	Boolean	`false`	Whether to filter the resulting suggestions by input's text query (make it a search component).
`filter`	Function	-	A custom function for filtering the suggestion results that accepts a single item and a query to filter by as its 2 arguments. Used only if `filter-by-query` is set to `true`.
`mode` ^v1.4.0	String	`'input'`	The `v-model` event. Determines the event, that triggers `v-model`. Can be one of `'input'` (`v-model` binds a displayed property) or `'select'` (`v-model` binds a selected item).
`type`, `value`, `pattern`, etc...			All of the HTML5 input attributes with their respected default values.
`prevent-submit` ^v1.8.1	Boolean	`true`	Whether to prevent form submitting when `Enter` key is pressed.
`nullable-select` ^v1.9.0	Boolean	`false`	Whether the `select` should accept `null` or not.

mode

New in v1.4.0

Determines the event, that triggers v-model. Can be one of 'input' (default) or 'select'.

For example, if 'input' is chosen - then v-model will update the value each time an input event is fired, setting the input's string.

Same is for 'select' - v-model changes only when something is selected from the list, setting the selected value (string, object or whatever) to its argument.

A proper use-case for it being when one wants to use the component only for selection binding and custom input for text binding:

<vue-simple-suggest v-model="selected" mode="select">
  <input v-model="text">
</vue-simple-suggest>

Emitted Events

Name	Arguments	Description
`input`	HTML input event	An outward projection of the current input's event.
`focus`	HTML focus event	An outward projection of the current input's event.
`blur`	HTML focus event	An outward projection of the current input's event.
`select`	Selected suggestion	Fires on suggestion selection (via a mouse click or enter keypress).
`hover`	Hovered suggestion, target element	Fires each time a new suggestion is highlighted (via a cursor movement or keyboard arrows).
`suggestion-click`	Selected suggestion, HTML click event	Fires on suggestion element click.
`show-list`	-	Fires each time the suggestion list is toggled to be shown.
`hide-list`	-	Fires each time the suggestion list is being hidden.
`request-start`	Current input value (query)	Fires each time a `list` function starts executing.
`request-done`	Resulting suggestions list	Fires when a `list` function successfully returns a result and forwards that result as an argument.
`request-failed`	The interrrupting exception	Fires if an exception occurs during the execution of a `list` funciton.

Ref Methods

accessed via $refs.*your ref name here*

Name	Arguments	Description
`showList`	-	Shows the suggestion list. Emits the respected event.
`hideList`	-	Hides the suggestion list. Emits the respected event.
`getSuggestions`	`query`: string	Gets and processes suggestions from the `list` prop. Returns a promise. Emits the `requestStart`, `requestDone` and `requestFailed` events.
`research`	-	Debounced `getSuggestions` on the current input value.
`clearSuggestions`	-	Clears the `suggestions` array.
`select`	suggestion	Selects the passed suggestion. Emits the respected event.
`hover`	suggestion	Hovers over the passed suggestion. Emits the respected event.
`displayProperty`	suggestion	Returns the displayed property of a suggestion.
`valueProperty`	suggestion	Returns the value property of a suggestion.
`setText` ^v1.9.0	text	Reliably sets custom text to the input field.

Ref Event Handlers

accessed via $refs.*your ref name here*

You can use these to imitate some of the component's behaviours.

Name	Arguments	Description
`showSuggestions`	Alias for `onInputClick`. Will replace it in the future releases
`onInput`	HTML input event	Fires whenever the input text is changed. Emits the `input` event.
`onFocus`	HTML focus event	Fires whenever the input comes into focus, emits the `focus` event.
`onBlur`	HTML focus event	Antonym to `onFocus`.
`onAutocomplete`	-	Fires when the autocomplete keyboard shortcut is pressed. Selects the first suggestion.
`onListKeyUp`	HTML keyup event	Fires on component keyup. Internally used for hiding the list.
`moveSelection`	Alias for `onArrowKeyDown`. Will replace it in the future releases.

Ref Data

accessed via $refs.*your ref name here*

Name	Default	Description
`selected`	`null`	Currently selected element.
`hovered`	`null`	Currently hovered element.
`suggestions`	`[]`	Current suggestions list.
`listShown`	`false`	Is suggestion list shown.
`inputElement`	`null`	Currently used HTMLInputElement.
`canSend`	`true`	Whether the assigned getListFuncion can be executed.
`timeoutInstance`	`null`	The timeout until next getListFunction execution.
`text`	`$props.value`	Current input text.
`slotIsComponent`	`false`	Whether this current custom input is a vue-component.
`listIsRequest`	-	Whether the list prop is a function.
`input`	-	A ref to the current input (component or vanilla).
`hoveredIndex`	-	The current hovered element index.
`controlScheme`	Default Controls	The current controls scheme.
`isPlainSuggestion`	`false`	Whether the current suggestions list consists of plain strings (not objects).
`isClicking`	`false`	`true` if the user currently clicks.
`isOverList`	`false`	`true` if the user currently hovers over suggestions list.
`isInFocus`	`false`	`true` if the component is currently in focus.
`isTabbed`	`false`	`true` if the user pressed tab, while the component is in focus.
`isSelectedUpToDate`	`false`	`true` if the user hasn't done any inputs since the last selection, so the selection is still relevant.

Slots

Custom input

default slot (optional)

Supports nesting. Input props can be passed to a custom input to avoid their processing by vue-simple-suggest. Defaults to a simple input with props passed to vue-simple-suggest.

Warning: v-model on a custom input IS NOT the same as v-model on vue-simple-suggest!

<!--  Default HTMLInputElement example:  -->
<vue-simple-suggest v-model="model" placeholder="Text here" type="search" pattern="[a-z]+"/>

<!--  Vanilla HTMLInputElement example 1:  -->
<vue-simple-suggest>
  <input pattern="[a-z]+">
</vue-simple-suggest>

<!--  Vanilla HTMLInputElement example 2:  -->
<vue-simple-suggest v-model="model" placeholder="Text here" type="search">
</vue-simple-suggest>

<!--  Vanilla HTMLInputElement example 3 (fully equivalent to the second example):  -->
<vue-simple-suggest v-model="model">
  <input placeholder="Text here" type="search">
</vue-simple-suggest>

<!--  Vanilla HTMLInputElement example 4 (nested):  -->
<vue-simple-suggest v-model="model">
  <div>
    <section>
      <input type="email">
    </section>
  </div>
</vue-simple-suggest>

<!--  Vue component example (also supports nesting):  -->
<vue-simple-suggest v-model="vModelGoesHere">
  <my-custom-input-somponent :value="initialInputValueGoesHere"></my-custom-input-somponent>
</vue-simple-suggest>

Custom input component caveats:

To work with the vue-simple-suggest your custom input component has to follow certain standard behaviours.

Custom input component must (in order to work properly):

Emit an input event.
Emit focus and blur events.
Have a value prop.

Custom input component should (in order to avoid usage limitations):

Not stop any event propagations from internal input HTML element.
Forward an original event argument with focus and blur events.

If vue-simple-suggest with your custom component doesn't seem to react to outside variable changes - bind both components' v-model to the same variable, like so:

<vue-simple-suggest v-model="model">
  <my-custom-input-somponent v-model="model"></my-custom-input-somponent>
</vue-simple-suggest>

Accessibility on custom input

New in v1.9.0

vue-simple-suggest automatically injects 3 necessary ARIA attributes for the default <input> element and any custom input, as long as your custom input component contains an html <input> element.

These attributes ensure that the autocomplete can be used by users who rely on Screen Readers.

Name	Value	Description
aria-autocomplete	`"list"`	Indicates that the autocomplete behavior of the text input is to suggest a list of possible values in a popup.
aria-controls	IDREF of `suggestions` list	IDREF of the popup element that lists suggested values.
aria-activedescendant	IDREF of hovered option	Enables assistive technologies to know which element the application regards as focused while DOM focus remains on the input element.

Custom suggestion item

suggestion-item slot (optional)

Description

Allows custom html-definitons of the suggestion items in a list. Defaults to <span>{{ displayAttribute(suggestion) }}</span>

Accepts the suggestion object and a query text as a slot-scope attribute values.

<!-- Example: -->
<vue-simple-suggest>
  <div slot="suggestion-item" slot-scope="{ suggestion, query }">
    <div>{{ suggestion.title }} by {{ suggestion.author }}</div>
  </div>
</vue-simple-suggest>

Custom buttons inside of suggestion items

If you want to add some action buttons to the suggetion items, just use the .stop directive modifier to prevent the default suggestion-click:

<!-- Example: -->
<vue-simple-suggest>
  <div slot="suggestion-item" slot-scope="{ suggestion, query }">
    <span>{{ suggestion.title }} by {{ suggestion.author }}</span>
    <button @click.stop="remove(suggestion)">remove from list</button>
    <button @click.stop="like(suggestion)">add to favorites</button>
  </div>
</vue-simple-suggest>

In this case, the buttons will ONLY execute the bound method and will not select the suggested item.

Manual autocomplete

If there's a need to autocomplete the suggestion in the input instead of selecting it, you can use the autocomplete() function in the slot's scope:

<!-- Example: -->
<vue-simple-suggest>
  <div slot="suggestion-item" slot-scope="{ suggestion, autocomplete }">
    <span>{{ suggestion.title }} by {{ suggestion.author }}</span>
    <button @click.stop="autocomplete()">Complete input</button>
  </div>
</vue-simple-suggest>

Ref Data

In cooperation with ref fields this slot can be used to drastically transform the suggestion list behaviour.

One of the simplest examples - highlighting the query text in the results:

<div slot="suggestion-item" slot-scope="scope">
  <span v-html="boldenSuggestion(scope)"></span>
</div>

boldenSuggestion(scope) {
  if (!scope) return scope;

  const { suggestion, query } = scope;

  let result = this.$refs.suggestComponent.displayProperty(suggestion);

  if (!query) return result;

  const texts = query.split(/[\s-_/\\|\.]/gm).filter(t => !!t) || [''];
  return result.replace(new RegExp('(.*?)(' + texts.join('|') + ')(.*?)','gi'), '$1<b>$2</b>$3');
}

Result via Google Books search API:

Custom miscellanious item slots

misc-item-above and misc-item-below slots (optional)

Allow custom elements to be shown in suggestion list. These elements never dissapear from the list, niether can they be selected nor hovered on.

These can be used for decoration, loaders, error messages and etc.

Do not have defaults, so are not shown until defined.

Accept the suggestions array and a query text as a slot-scope attribute values.

<!-- Examples: -->
<vue-simple-suggest>
  <template slot="misc-item-above" slot-scope="{ suggestions, query }">
    <div class="misc-item">
      <span>You're searching for {{ query }}.</span>
    </div>
    <div class="misc-item">
      <span>{{ suggestions.length }} suggestions are shown...</span>
    </div>
  </template>

  <div slot="misc-item-below" slot-scope="{ suggestions }" v-if="isLoading" class="misc-item">
    <span>Loading...</span>
  </div>
</vue-simple-suggest>

These slots can also be used to handle empty results, like this:

<!-- Main slot template -->
<template slot="misc-item-above" slot-scope="{ suggestions, query }">
  <div class="misc-item">
    <span>You're searching for '{{ query }}'.</span>
  </div>

  <!-- Sub-template if have any suggestions -->
  <template v-if="suggestions.length > 0">
    <div class="misc-item">
      <span>{{ suggestions.length }} suggestions are shown...</span>
    </div>
    <hr>
  </template>

  <!-- Show "No result" otherwise, if not loading new ones -->
  <div class="misc-item" v-else-if="!loading">
    <span>No results</span>
  </div>
</template>

Contributors

Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):

_Alexey 😇	_Karen 😐	_{Simeon Kerkola} 💻 📖 🤔	_{Roberson Costa} 💻 📖 🤔	_{Rosdi Kasim} 📖	_{antoinematyja} 🤔	_{Matthias Martin} 🐛
_{Rob Brain} 🐛 🐛	_MrWook 🐛	_nattam 🤔	_Petr 🐛	_RMFogarty 💬	_{Brian Monsales} 💬	_Mila76 🐛
_{Andriy Löfberg} 💬 🤔 💻	_{Bruno Monteiro} 🤔	_{hannesaasamets} 🐛	_Jimmy 🐛	_{Will Plaehn} 💻 🤔 📖	_lauri911 🐛	_{Alex Hyriavets} 🐛

This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind are welcome!

Provide feedback

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README.md

README.md

vue-simple-suggest

Install

Table of contents

What is it

Features

New features?

Simple example

Installation

NPM

Unpkg

Importing

Polyfills

Usage

Build Setup

Default Controls

Component API

TLDR

CSS class structure

Transitions

API definitions

Props

mode

Emitted Events

Ref Methods

Ref Event Handlers

Ref Data

Slots

Custom input

Accessibility on custom input

Custom suggestion item

Custom miscellanious item slots

Contributors

Files

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

vue-simple-suggest

Install

Table of contents

What is it

Features

New features?

Simple example

Installation

NPM

Unpkg

Importing

Polyfills

Usage

Build Setup

Default Controls

Component API

TLDR

CSS class structure

Transitions

API definitions

Props

mode

Emitted Events

Ref Methods

Ref Event Handlers

Ref Data

Slots

Custom input

Accessibility on custom input

Custom suggestion item

Custom miscellanious item slots

Contributors