Restricting selection from an autocomplete (combobox)
I think I brought this up years ago, but I can't quite find it.
There's an odd split in UI components between autocomplete (which allows you free-form typing) and dropdown (which ensures you select a listed value).
Well, why not have the best of the both worlds?
While it's not standardized in jQueryUI, here's a nice demo of the sort of ComboBox I'm looking for: https://jqueryui.com/autocomplete/#combobox
I haven't seen this in Pega through v7.1.7.
I'd like to see more of is the UI we're familiar with in Outlook/Jive/Facebook where, if you type a name (e.g., Baruch Sachs), it's obvious to the user that the name is linked -- or, otherwise, force a listed value to be sent.
In our current world, I have on one hand an application using dropdowns in a table, where an autocomplete would be more efficient -- and, on the other hand, an v7 application using a "pick operator" autocomplete, which doesn't get validated. Both of these should be using a combobox.
Are there ways to enable this today? Is this in the pipeline for the future?
***Updated by moderator: Marissa to close post***
I think I brought this up years ago, but I can't quite find it.
There's an odd split in UI components between autocomplete (which allows you free-form typing) and dropdown (which ensures you select a listed value).
Well, why not have the best of the both worlds?
While it's not standardized in jQueryUI, here's a nice demo of the sort of ComboBox I'm looking for: https://jqueryui.com/autocomplete/#combobox
I haven't seen this in Pega through v7.1.7.
I'd like to see more of is the UI we're familiar with in Outlook/Jive/Facebook where, if you type a name (e.g., Baruch Sachs), it's obvious to the user that the name is linked -- or, otherwise, force a listed value to be sent.
In our current world, I have on one hand an application using dropdowns in a table, where an autocomplete would be more efficient -- and, on the other hand, an v7 application using a "pick operator" autocomplete, which doesn't get validated. Both of these should be using a combobox.
Are there ways to enable this today? Is this in the pipeline for the future?
***Updated by moderator: Marissa to close post***
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Pegasystems Inc.
GB
Validating the input against the source list seems like a great feature to me. I had a quick check and there is a recent enhancement request logged for this FDBK-11828.
It would be nice to see this make it into a future release.
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Until there is a component like you describe, one option that works for a subset of use cases is to bind the auto-complete to a property with class key validation defined on the property. It is less than ideal, but it works for a small set of use cases where the referenced class has a single part key and is actually something you are OK showing on your form (pick operator comes to mind as an example where showing the operator ID might be OK).
Pegasystems Inc.
JP
I don't think auto complete control should always validate input against the candidate list like dropdown control does.
there are cases a user should be allowed to input a value that is not in the candidate list.
tagging is a good example, you can either select from the list or input new one.
But, I think it is good to let auto complete control have a configurable option to control whether input should be validated against the candidate list or not.