how to convert to an editable select box?

Question

i have an angular 5 project with bootstrap. in one of my component html i have a select box. when i click on it a list of drop down items are displayed and i can choose one . however i want the user to type for some string so that the drop down items can be narrowed down. here is my current code snippet any idea how can i convert the select box to an editable one .

   <select formControlName="contactList" [compareWith]="compareResource">
      <option value="" disabled>{{ 'PLACEHOLDERS.CONTACT_LIST' | translate }}</option>
      <option *ngFor="let contactList of contactLists" [ngValue]="contactList">{{ contactList.name }}</option>
    </select>

i want to convert the existing select box code to editable select box. please share your thoughts on this . i am very much new to UI programming. thank you

Answer 1

This can be achieved by using ng-select

Install ng-select

npm install --save @ng-select/ng-select

app.module.ts

Import it to the module

import { CommonModule } from '@angular/common';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { FormsModule } from '@angular/forms';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgSelectModule } from '@ng-select/ng-select';

import { AppComponent } from './app.component';

@NgModule({
  declarations: [
    AppComponent,
  ],
  imports: [
    BrowserModule,
    FormsModule,
    CommonModule,
    NgSelectModule,
  ],
  providers: [],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent]
})
export class AppModule { }

style.css

import the ng-select default styling

@import "~@ng-select/ng-select/themes/default.theme.css";

app.component.html

Create the ng-select dropdown by binding nameList as the items array for the dropdown and search function

<div style="text-align:center">
  Editable Dropdown
</div>

<div style="width:300px; height:200px">
  <ng-select class="autocomplete" dropdownPosition="bottom" [searchFn]="searchName" [items]="nameList"
    [(ngModel)]="selectedName" [dropdownPosition]="'auto'">
    <ng-template ng-header-tmp>
      <div class="container-fluid">
        <div class="row">
          <div class="col-md-6">Username</div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </ng-template>
    <ng-template ng-label-tmp let-item="item">
      <span>{{item}}</span>
    </ng-template>
    <ng-template ng-option-tmp let-item="item" let-index="index">
      <div class="container-fluid">
        <div class="row">
          <div class="col-md-4">{{item}}</div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </ng-template>
  </ng-select>
</div>

app.component.ts

Initialize the nameList and define the search function. Here I will return names which contain the value entered from the dropdown

import { Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  templateUrl: './app.component.html',
  styleUrls: ['./app.component.css'],
})
export class AppComponent implements OnInit {
  selectedName: string;
  nameList: string[];

  constructor() { }

  ngOnInit() {
    this.nameList = this.getNameList();
  }

  getNameList(): string[] {
    return [
      'Adam',
      'Alex',
      'Bob',
      'Bennt',
      'Cathrina',
      'Dug',
      'Suzzy',
      'Amy',
      'Milan'
    ];
  }

  searchName(filter: string, item: string) {
    filter = filter.toLocaleLowerCase();
    return (item.toLocaleLowerCase().indexOf(filter) > -1);
  }
}

Answer 2

You can use Angular Material Auto-complete Filter to achieve your desired result. - https://material.angular.io/components/autocomplete/overview#adding-a-custom-filter