How to patch *just one* instance of Autocomplete on a page?

Question

This answer -- jQueryUI: how can I custom-format the Autocomplete plug-in results? -- describes how to monkeypatch the jqueryUI autocomplete widget, so that it displays things in a particular way. The approach it uses is to replace a function on the $.ui.autocomplete.prototype.

This means that all autocomplete widgets will get this patch.

Is there a way to patch the autocomplete widget for just one input element? What is it?

When I examine $('$input').autocomplete , I don't see any of the autocomplete fns there (_renderItem, _renderMenu, _search, etc).

Skeen

Answer 1

Check out the custom data and display demo. This demo is not modifying the prototype object of the autocomplete widget, meaning that only that instance of the widget is effected:

$("selector").autocomplete({ ... }).data( "autocomplete" )._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
    return $( "<li></li>" )
        .data( "item.autocomplete", item )
        .append( "<a>" + item.label + "<br>" + item.desc + "</a>" )
        .appendTo( ul );
};

Here's a working demo: http://jsfiddle.net/vJSwq/

Dying

That doesn't seem to work in IE, the error is always is "data(...) is null or not an object." Is data actually unsupported in this case? Examples from api.jquery.com/data work properly, and the only warning on that page is that IE doesn't allow fiddling with XML in this way. – Sarraceniaceous

Try using .data('uiAutocomplete') instead. This was changed in recent versions of jQueryUI. – Dying

If you are getting a "Attempted to assign to readonly property." in webkit. Try using .data('ui-autocomplete'). – Delgado

At this time, the last example on this page suggests using .data('ui-autocomplete'). – Wintry

@AndrewWhitaker i am facing a problem when i hover the data the data disappear. i am using autocomplete jquery ui – Arela

@HassaanKhan: It would be best to open a new question – Dying

Answer 2

The code from Andrew Whitaker just work for one autocomplete input. If you select more than one input-element, the second autocomplete widget dosn't show any entrys. You have to add a foreach to handel all selected input elements like mentioned here

$("selector")
.autocomplete({ ... })
.each(function () {
    $(this).data("autocomplete")._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
        return $("<li></li>")
            .data("item.autocomplete", item)
            .append("<a>" + item.label + "<br>" + item.desc + "</a>")
            .appendTo(ul);
    };
);

Brainwash

I just ran into this today, with multiple instances. Thank you! – Delgado

Answer 3

For recent versions of jQuery(1.8+) / jQuery UI (1.10+), you should use:

$("selector").autocomplete({ ... }).data('uiAutocomplete')._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
    return $( "<li></li>" )
        .data( "item.autocomplete", item )
        .append( "<a>" + item.label + "<br>" + item.desc + "</a>" )
    .appendTo( ul );
};

Lancelot