Autocomplete
Autocomplete, also known as type-ahead, uses predictive text to help select options as a user types.
import { ... } from '@ag.ds-next/react/autocomplete';
Autocomplete helps users by making forms or tasks faster and easier to complete. It is also a feature used in Comboboxes and search tools and bars.
Autocomplete
is a controlled component which means consumers of this component need to manage the state of this component by using the value
and onChange
props.
() => { const [value, setValue] = React.useState(null); return ( <Autocomplete label="Find your country" hint="Start typing to see results" value={value} onChange={setValue} loadOptions={async function loadOptions(inputValue) { // Simulate a slow network call await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1500)); return COUNTRY_OPTIONS; }} /> ); };
Do
- use to help people complete input from an API
- use for address or personal input
- use where spelling or data entry might be challenging
- use to order results in a meaningful way
- indicate whether input is optional
- ensure users can easily filter a list of options
- provide hint text for instruction
- consider using Radio buttons if you need a user to read each option or there are less than 5 items
- deliver suggestions in real-time for low latency.
Don’t
- show more than 10 results at a time.
Loading options
Use the loadOptions
prop to load options from a remote source as the user types.
This is a function that returns a promise, which is the set of options to be used once the promise resolves.
Block
Use the block
prop to expand the component to fill the available space.
() => { const [value, setValue] = React.useState(null); return ( <Autocomplete label="Find your country" hint="Start typing to see results" block value={value} onChange={setValue} loadOptions={async function loadOptions(inputValue) { // Simulate a slow network call await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1500)); return COUNTRY_OPTIONS; }} /> ); };
Required
The required
prop can be used to indicate that user input is required on the field before a form can be submitted.
Using the required
prop, this component will automatically append ‘(optional)’ to the label as well as using aria-required to indicate to screen reader users that the field is required.
Hide optional label
The hideOptionalLabel
prop can be used in situations where you want to indicate to screen reader users that a field is optional but don’t want to show the ‘(optional)’ label.
The usage of hideOptionalLabel
should be reserved for inputs that filter data in a table or chart, and should never be used in standard forms for submitting information.
() => { const [value, setValue] = React.useState(null); return ( <Autocomplete label="Find your country" hint="Start typing to see results" required value={value} onChange={setValue} loadOptions={async function loadOptions(inputValue) { // Simulate a slow network call await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1500)); return COUNTRY_OPTIONS; }} /> ); };
Invalid
Use the invalid
prop to indicate if the user input is invalid. An example where this shoud be applied is when ‘All fields are required unless marked optional’.
() => { const [value, setValue] = React.useState(null); const invalid = !value; return ( <Autocomplete label="Find your country" hint="Start typing to see results" required invalid={invalid} message={invalid ? 'State is required' : undefined} value={value} onChange={setValue} loadOptions={async function loadOptions(inputValue) { // Simulate a slow network call await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1500)); return COUNTRY_OPTIONS; }} /> ); };
Disabled
Disabled input elements are unusable and can not be clicked. This prevents a user from interacting with the input element until another action is complete.
() => { const [value, setValue] = React.useState(null); return ( <Autocomplete label="Find your country" hint="Start typing to see results" disabled value={value} onChange={setValue} loadOptions={async function loadOptions(inputValue) { // Simulate a slow network call await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1500)); return COUNTRY_OPTIONS; }} /> ); };
Custom rendering
Use the renderItem
prop to customise how each option in the dropdown list is rendered. Inside this function, you can make use of the AutocompleteRenderItem
component to style extra information.
Note: When you are using this prop, you still need to assign a label
and value
to every option.
() => { const [value, onChange] = React.useState(null); return ( <Autocomplete label="Search users" value={value} onChange={onChange} loadOptions={async function loadOptions() { // Simulate a slow network connection await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)); return NAME_OPTIONS; }} renderItem={(item) => ( <AutocompleteRenderItem itemLabel={item.label} secondaryText={`Role: ${item.jobTitle}`} tertiaryText={`Job: ${item.status}`} beforeElement={ <Avatar name={item.fullName} size="sm" tone="action" /> } endElement={ item.unreadMessageCount > 0 ? ( <NotificationBadge value={item.unreadMessageCount} tone="action" /> ) : null } /> )} /> ); };
Related components
- Combobox – This component allows users to select from a list of options. It’s especially useful when there are many options to choose from.
- Text input – This component allows users to enter free-form text.