Custom Binding

You can use a custom DataSource and bind the AutoComplete to a ToDataSourceResult instance.

Setting Up the Project

1. Make sure you followed all the steps from the introductory article on Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC.

2. Create an action method which renders the view.

   Razor

    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }

3. Create a new action method and pass the Products table as JSON result.

   Razor

    public JsonResult GetProducts([DataSourceRequest] DataSourceRequest request)
    {
        NorthwindDataContext northwind = new NorthwindDataContext();
   
        return Json(northwind.Products.ToDataSourceResult(request));
    }

4. Add an Ajax-bound AutoComplete.

Razor

    @(Html.Kendo().AutoComplete()
        .Name("productAutoComplete")
        .DataTextField("ProductName") // Specify which property of the Product to be used by the autocomplete as a text.
        .DataSource(source =>
        {
            source.Custom()
                    .ServerFiltering(true)
                    .Type("aspnetmvc-ajax") // Set this type if you want to use DataSourceRequest and ToDataSourceResult instances.
                    .Transport(transport =>
                    {
                        transport.Read("GetProducts", "Home");
                    })
                    .Schema(schema =>
                    {
                        schema.Data("Data") // Define the [data](https://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/javascript/data/datasource#configuration-schema.data) option.
                            .Total("Total"); // Define the [total](https://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/javascript/data/datasource#configuration-schema.total) option.
                    });
        })
    )

Sending Parameters to the Server

The following example demonstrates how to configure the AutoComplete to send parameters to the server.

Razor

    @(Html.Kendo().AutoComplete()
        .Name("productAutoComplete")
        .DataTextField("ProductName") // Specify which property of the Product will be used by the AutoComplete.
        .DataSource(source =>
        {
            source.Read(read =>
            {
                read.Action("GetProducts", "Home")
                    .Data("onAdditionalData");
            });
        })
    )

Html

    <script>
        function onAdditionalData() {
            return {
                text: $("#productAutoComplete").val()
            };
        }
    </script>

The following example demonstrates how the GetProducts method is used.

Razor

public JsonResult GetProducts(string text)
{
    var northwind = new SampleEntities();

    var products = northwind.Products.Select(product => new ProductViewModel
            {
            ProductID = product.ProductID,
            ProductName = product.ProductName,
            UnitPrice = product.UnitPrice ?? 0,
            UnitsInStock = product.UnitsInStock ?? 0,
            UnitsOnOrder = product.UnitsOnOrder ?? 0,
            Discontinued = product.Discontinued
            });

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

    return Json(products, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}

See Also

• Custom Binding by the AutoComplete HtmlHelper for ASP.NET MVC (Demo)
• Server-Side API