Autocomplete

The autocomplete component implements the Accessible autocomplete pattern to enhance a fixed list of options provided by a <select> element.

This component may be useful if you want users to pick from a number of options. Unlike an autosuggest component, this component will only allow users to choose from a predetermined list of options.

Example usage

{{ xGovukAutocomplete({
  id: "country",
  name: "country",
  allowEmpty: false,
  label: {
    classes: "govuk-label--l",
    isPageHeading: true,
    text: "Pick a country"
  },
  items: [
    { text: "Austria" },
    { text: "Belgium" },
    { text: "Bulgaria" },
    { text: "Croatia" },
    { text: "Republic of Cyprus" },
    { text: "Czech Republic" },
    { text: "Denmark" },
    { text: "Estonia" },
    { text: "Finland" },
    { text: "France" },
    { text: "Germany" },
    { text: "Greece" },
    { text: "Hungary" },
    { text: "Ireland" },
    { text: "Italy" },
    { text: "Latvia" },
    { text: "Lithuania" },
    { text: "Luxembourg" },
    { text: "Malta" },
    { text: "Netherlands" },
    { text: "Poland" },
    { text: "Portugal" },
    { text: "Romania" },
    { text: "Slovakia" },
    { text: "Slovenia" },
    { text: "Spain" },
    { text: "Sweden" }
  ]
}) }}

Component options

Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.

Some options are required for the macro to work; these are marked as “Required” in the option description.

If you’re using Nunjucks macros in production with html options, or ones ending with html, you must sanitise the HTML to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

Name	Type	Description
id	string	Required. ID for each autocomplete.
name	string	Required. Name property for the autocomplete.
items	array	Required. Array of option items for the autocomplete. See items.
allowEmpty	boolean	Whether to allow no answer to be given. Default is false.
autoselect	boolean	Whether to highlight the first option when the user types in something and receives results. Pressing enter will select it. Default is false.
displayMenu	string	Specify the way the menu should appear, whether inline or as an overlay. Default is inline.
minLength	number	The minimum number of characters that should be entered before the autocomplete will attempt to suggest options. When the query length is under this, the aria status region will also provide helpful text to the user informing them they should type in more. Default is 0.
showAllValues	boolean	Whether all values are shown when the user clicks the input. This is similar to a default select menu, so the autocomplete is rendered with a dropdown arrow to convey this behaviour. Default is false.
showNoOptionsFound	boolean	Whether to display a ‘No results found’ message when there are no results. Default is true.
describedBy	string	One or more element IDs to add to the aria-describedby attribute, used to provide additional descriptive information for screenreader users.
label	object	Label text or HTML by specifying value for either text or html keys. See label.
hint	object	Options for the hint component. See hint.
errorMessage	object	Options for the error message component. The error message component will not display if you use a falsy value for errorMessage, for example false or null. See errorMessage.
formGroup	object	Options for the form-group wrapper. See formGroup.
classes	string	Classes to add to the autocomplete.
attributes	object	HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the select.

Options for items

Name	Type	Description
value	string	Value for the option item. Defaults to an empty string.
text	string	Required. Text for the option item.
selected	boolean	Sets the option as the selected.
disabled	boolean	Sets the option item as disabled.
attributes	object	HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the option.

Options for formGroup

Name	Type	Description
classes	string	Classes to add to the form group (for example to show error state for the whole group).

Options for label

Name	Type	Description
text	string	Required. If html is set, this is not required. Text to use within the label. If html is provided, the text argument will be ignored.
html	string	Required. If text is set, this is not required. HTML to use within the label. If html is provided, the text argument will be ignored.
for	string	The value of the for attribute, the ID of the input the label is associated with.
isPageHeading	boolean	Whether the label also acts as the heading for the page.
classes	string	Classes to add to the label tag.
attributes	object	HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the label tag.

Options for hint

Name	Type	Description
text	string	Required. If html is set, this is not required. Text to use within the hint. If html is provided, the text argument will be ignored.
html	string	Required. If text is set, this is not required. HTML to use within the hint. If html is provided, the text argument will be ignored.
id	string	Optional ID attribute to add to the hint span tag.
classes	string	Classes to add to the hint span tag.
attributes	object	HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the hint span tag.