JavaScript/jQuery Autocomplete - Customize Item Appearance

For a minor customization of Autocomplete items, you can define specific fields in item data objects. For example, the following code generates three items: the first is not customized, the second is disabled and the third is hidden.

jQuery
JavaScript
$(function() {
    $("#autocompleteContainer").dxAutocomplete({
        valueExpr: "text",
        dataSource: [
            { text: "James" },
            { text: "John", disabled: true },
            { text: "Joseph", visible: false }
        ],
        placeholder: "Type first name..."
    });
});
Angular
TypeScript
HTML
import { DxAutocompleteModule } from "devextreme-angular";
// ...
export class AppComponent {
    autocompleteData = [
        { text: "James" },
        { text: "John", disabled: true },
        { text: "Joseph", visible: false }
    ]
}
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        // ...
        DxAutocompleteModule
    ],
    // ...
})
<dx-autocomplete
    [dataSource]="autocompleteData"
    valueExpr="text"
    placeholder="Type first name...">
</dx-autocomplete>
Vue
<template>
    <DxAutocomplete
        :data-source="dataSource"
        value-expr="text"
        placeholder="Type first name..."
    />
</template>

<script>
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';

import { DxAutocomplete } from 'devextreme-vue/autocomplete';

export default {
    components: {
        DxAutocomplete
    },
    data() {
        return {
            dataSource: [
                { text: 'James' },
                { text: 'John', disabled: true },
                { text: 'Joseph', visible: false }
            ]
        };
    }
}
</script>
React
import React from 'react';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';

import { Autocomplete } from 'devextreme-react/autocomplete';

const dataSource = [
    { text: 'James' },
    { text: 'John', disabled: true },
    { text: 'Joseph', visible: false }
];

class App extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <Autocomplete
                dataSource={dataSource}
                valueExpr="text"
                placeholder="Type first name..."
            />
        );
    }
}

export default App;

If you need a more flexible solution, define an itemTemplate. In Angular and Vue, you can declare it in the markup. In React, you can use a rendering function (shown in the code below) or component:

Angular
HTML
TypeScript
<dx-autocomplete
    [dataSource]="autocompleteData"
    valueExpr="country"
    placeholder="Type country name..."
    itemTemplate="full">
    <div *dxTemplate="let itemObj of 'full'">
        <p>Country: <b>{{itemObj.country}}</b></p>
        <p style="color:grey;">Capital: <b>{{itemObj.capital}}</b></p>
    </div>
</dx-autocomplete>
import { DxAutocompleteModule } from "devextreme-angular";
// ...
export class AppComponent {
    autocompleteData = [
        { country: "Afghanistan", capital: "Kabul" },
        { country: "Albania", capital: "Tirana" },
        // ...
    ]
}
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        // ...
        DxAutocompleteModule
    ],
    // ...
})
Vue
<template>
    <DxAutocomplete
        :data-source="autocompleteData"
        value-expr="country"
        placeholder="Type country name..."
        item-template="full">
        <template #full="{ data }">
            <div>
                <p>Country: <b>{{data.country}}</b></p>
                <p style="color:grey;">Capital: <b>{{data.capital}}</b></p>
            </div>
        </template>
    </DxAutocomplete>
</template>

<script>
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';

import { DxAutocomplete } from 'devextreme-vue/autocomplete';

export default {
    components: {
        DxAutocomplete
    },
    data() {
        return {
            autocompleteData: [
                { country: "Afghanistan", capital: "Kabul" },
                { country: "Albania", capital: "Tirana" },
                // ...
            ]
        };
    }
}
</script>
React
import React from 'react';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css';
import 'devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css';

import { Autocomplete } from 'devextreme-react/autocomplete';

const autocompleteData = [
    { country: "Afghanistan", capital: "Kabul" },
    { country: "Albania", capital: "Tirana" },
    // ...
];

const renderAutocompleteItem = (itemData) => {
    return (
        <div>
            <p>Country: <b>{itemData.country}</b></p>
            <p style={{color: "grey"}}>Capital: <b>{itemData.capital}</b></p>
        </div>
    );
};

class App extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <Autocomplete
                dataSource={autocompleteData}
                valueExpr="country"
                placeholder="Type country name..."
                itemRender={renderAutocompleteItem}
            />
        );
    }
}

export default App;

If you use jQuery alone, use DOM manipulation methods to combine the HTML markup for items. To apply this markup, use the itemTemplate callback function as shown in the following code.

JavaScript
const autocompleteData = [
    { country: "Afghanistan", capital: "Kabul" },
    { country: "Albania", capital: "Tirana" },
    // ...
];

$(function() {
    $("#autocompleteContainer").dxAutocomplete({
        dataSource: autocompleteData,
        valueExpr: 'country',
        placeholder: 'Type country name...',
        itemTemplate: function (itemData, itemIndex, itemElement) {
            itemElement.append("<p>Country: <b>" + itemData.country + "</b></p>");
            itemElement.append("<p style='color:grey;'>Capital: <b>" + itemData.capital + "</b></p>");
        }
    });
});

You can also customize an individual Autocomplete item. For this purpose, declare a template for this item as a script and pass its id to the template field.

HTML
JavaScript
<script id="individualTemplate" type="text/html">
    <!-- ... -->
</script>
const autocompleteData = [
    { text: "James"},
    { text: "Joseph", template: $("#individualTemplate") },
    // ...
];

In addition, you can use a 3rd-party template engine to customize UI component appearance. For more information, see the 3rd-Party Template Engines article.

See Also