vue-simple-suggest

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.

Table of contents

• What is it?
• Simple example
• Installation
• Build
• Controls
• Component API
  • TLDR
  • CSS class structure & Transitions
  • API Definitions
    • Props
    • Emitted Events
    • Ref Methods
    • Ref Event Handlers
    • Ref Data
  • Slots
    • Custom input
    • Custom suggestion item
    • Custom miscellanious item slots

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.
• 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.

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, Object.assign 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'

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	Boolean	true	Whether to prevent form submitting when Enter key is pressed.

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	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.

---

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.

---

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>

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>