ASP.NET Core AutoComplete Overview

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The AutoComplete is part of Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, 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 TagHelper and HtmlHelper for ASP.NET Core are server-side wrappers 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>
    <kendo-autocomplete name="products" filter="FilterType.StartsWith"></kendo-autocomplete>

    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("products2")
          .DataTextField("ProductName")
          .Filter("contains")
          .MinLength(3)
          .HtmlAttributes(new { style = "width:100%" })
          .DataSource(source =>
          {
              source
                  .Read(read =>
                  {
                      read.Action("GetProducts", "Home")
                      .Data("onAdditionalData");
                  })
                  .ServerFiltering(true);
          })
    )

    <script>
        function onAdditionalData() {
            return {
                text: $("#products").val() // sends the typed value from the AutoComplete to the server
            };
        }
    </script>

    <kendo-autocomplete name="products" filter="FilterType.Contains"
                        datatextfield="ProductName"
                        min-length="3" style="width: 100%;">
        <datasource type="DataSourceTagHelperType.Custom" server-filtering="true">
            <transport>
                <read url="@Url.Action("GetProducts", "Home")" data="onAdditionalData" />
            </transport>
        </datasource>
    </kendo-autocomplete>

    <script>
        function onAdditionalData() {
            return {
                text: $("#products").val() // sends the typed value from the AutoComplete to the server
            };
        }
    </script>
    public JsonResult GetProducts(string text)
    {
        // filter the data based on the text value
        // return an IEnumerable collection to the view     
        return Json(products.ToList());
    }

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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