ASP.NET MVC AutoComplete Overview

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The AutoComplete is part of Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC, a professional grade UI library with 110+ components for building modern and feature-rich applications. To try it out sign up for a free 30-day trial.

The Telerik UI AutoComplete HtmlHelper for ASP.NET MVC is a server-side wrapper for the Kendo UI AutoComplete widget.

The AutoComplete provides suggestions depending on the typed text and allows multiple value entries.

Initializing the AutoComplete

The following example demonstrates how to define the AutoComplete.

    @(Html.Kendo().AutoComplete()
        .Name("autocomplete")
        .DataTextField("ProductName")
        .Filter("contains")
        .DataSource(source =>
        {
            source.Read(read =>
            {
                read.Action("Products_Read", "AutoComplete")
                    .Data("onAdditionalData");
            })
            .ServerFiltering(true);
        })
    )

    <script type="text/javascript">
        function onAdditionalData() {
            return {
                text: $("#autocomplete").val()
            };
        }
    </script>

    public class AutoCompleteController : Controller
    {
        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }

        public JsonResult Products_Read(string text)
        {
            var result = GetProducts();

            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
            {
                result = result.Where(p => p.ProductName.Contains(text)).ToList();
            }

            return Json(result);
        }

        private static IEnumerable<ProductViewModel> GetProducts()
        {
            var result = Enumerable.Range(0, 50).Select(i => new ProductViewModel
            {
                ProductID = "" + i,
                ProductName = "Product " + i
            });

            return result;
        }
    }

Basic Configuration

The following example demonstrates the basic configuration of the AutoComplete.

    @(Html.Kendo().AutoComplete()
        .Name("autocomplete")
        .DataTextField("ProductName")
        .Placeholder("Type a product name")
        .Template("#= ProductID # | For: #= ProductName #")
        .HeaderTemplate("<div class=\"dropdown-header k-widget k-header\">" +
                            "<span>Products</span>" +
                        "</div>")
        .FooterTemplate("Total <strong>#: instance.dataSource.total() #</strong> items found")
        .Filter("contains")
        .MinLength(3)
        .HtmlAttributes(new { style = "width:100%" })
        .Height(520)
        .DataSource(source =>
        {
            source.Read(read =>
            {
                read.Action("Products_Read", "Home")
                    .Data("onAdditionalData");
            })
            .ServerFiltering(true);
        })
    )

    <script type="text/javascript">
        function onAdditionalData() {
            return {
                text: $("#autocomplete").val()
            };
        }
    </script>

Functionality and Features

  • Data binding—The AutoComplete supports multiple data binding approaches: server, model, custom, and ajax binding.
  • Grouping—You can group the data that is displayed in the AutoComplete.
  • Templates—To take full control over the rendering of the AutoComplete items, popup header, and popup footer, you can use the available templates.
  • Virtualization—The built-in virtualization allows you to display large datasets.
  • Accessibility—The AutoComplete is accessible by screen readers and provides WAI-ARIA, Section 508, WCAG 2.2, and keyboard support.

Next Steps

See Also

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