How do I use an HTML source with jQuery Autocomplete?

Question

I'm dealing with a really nasty ajax call to an HTMl source that I have to use. I need to take the html response and make it so that it can be listed in the jQuery autcomplete list.

The Autocomplete Function with Ajax

  $("#From, #To, #FromVacations, #ToVacations").autocomplete({
      source: function(request, response) {
          $.ajax({
            url: '/list.html',
            data: {
                prefix: request.term,
                type: 'F',
                ver: '1.0'
            },
            dataType: 'html',
            success: function(data) {
                response(data);
            }
          })
      }
  });

An example response

<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<div id="listautocomp" style="background:white">
    <ul id="ulSuggest">
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="WAS|0|0***&lt;b&gt;WAS&lt;/b&gt; - &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington All Airports, District of Columbia, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:hidden;;"></span><b>WAS</b>
                - <b>Was</b>hington All Airports, District of Columbia, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="SEA|1|0***SEA - Seattle/Tacoma, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>SEA
                - Seattle/Tacoma, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="SEA|0|0***SEA - Seattle All Airports, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:hidden;;"></span>SEA
                - Seattle All Airports, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="IAD|1|0***IAD - &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington Dulles, District of Columbia, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>IAD
                - <b>Was</b>hington Dulles, District of Columbia, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="DCA|1|0***DCA - &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington National, District of Columbia, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>DCA
                - <b>Was</b>hington National, District of Columbia, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="GEG|1|0***GEG - Spokane, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>GEG
                - Spokane, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="GEG|0|0***GEG - Spokane All Airports, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:hidden;;"></span>GEG
                - Spokane All Airports, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="PSC|1|0***PSC - Pasco, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>PSC
                - Pasco, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="BLI|1|0***BLI - Bellingham, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)">
                <span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>BLI
                - Bellingham, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="YKM|1|0***YKM - Yakima Air Terminal, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>YKM
                - Yakima Air Terminal, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="YKM|0|0***YKM - Yakima All Airports, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:hidden;;"></span>YKM
                - Yakima All Airports, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="LKE|0|0***LKE - Seattle LKE Union, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:hidden;;"></span>LKE
                - Seattle LKE Union, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="EAT|1|0***EAT - Wenatchee, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>EAT
                - Wenatchee, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="PUW|1|0***PUW - Pullman, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>PUW
                - Pullman, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="ALW|1|0***ALW - Walla Walla, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>ALW
                - Walla Walla, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="MWH|1|0***MWH - Moses Lake, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>MWH
                - Moses Lake, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="MWH|0|0***MWH - Moses Lake All Airports, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:hidden;;"></span>MWH
                - Moses Lake All Airports, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="CLM|1|0***CLM - Port Angeles, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>CLM
                - Port Angeles, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="OLM|1|0***OLM - Olympia, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>OLM
                - Olympia, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
        <li style="padding:0px;">
            <div id="PAE|1|0***PAE - Everett, &lt;b&gt;Was&lt;/b&gt;hington, United States"
                 onclick="SetLocationStrings(this.id)" onmouseover="SuggestMouseOver(this)"><span class="airporticon"
                                                                                                  style="visibility:visible;;"></span>PAE
                - Everett, <b>Was</b>hington, United States
            </div>
        </li>
    </ul>
</div>
</body>
</html>

So the question is this: How do I show ONLY the 'li's in the autocomplete dropdown? I also would like to preserve the bold tags in the dropdown Thanks!

Why must you use HTML? Can't you parse the HTML with a server side language and then feed the autocomplete JSON? — user1477388
– user1477388, Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 12:35
Because i'm restricted by the server I am using. That's what it's endpoint is. So I would like to parse the html when the ajax request is made. — CarbonDry
– CarbonDry, Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 12:41

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:11:07Z

1

You can try something like

// ...
success: function(data) {
  var tags = [];
  $('li div',data).each( function() {
    var tag = $(this).html();
    tag = $.trim(tag);
    tag = tag.replace(/\s{2,}/g, ' ');
    tags.push(tag);
  });
  $('#edit').autocomplete( { source: tags } );
}
// ...

According to this answer, you can try such a construct to support html tags:

// ...
$('#edit').autocomplete({ 
    source: tags,
    select: function(event, ui) {
        var text = ui.item.value;
        text = text.replace(/<\/?[^>]+>/gi, '');
        ui.item.value = text;
    }
}).data("ui-autocomplete")._renderItem = function(ul, item) {
    return $( "<li>" )
        .append( $( "<a>" ).html( item.label ) )
        .appendTo( ul ); 
};

// ...

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:11

CommunityBot

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answered Sep 1, 2013 at 12:44

mas.morozov

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5 Comments

mas.morozov Over a year ago

But not sure about html tags in autocomlete items.

CarbonDry Over a year ago

Thanks for your help. Your solution works to populate the list, but it does not format the html in the list, so my question isn't answered fully yet.

CarbonDry Over a year ago

I figured it out, I need to use ._renderItem to do this. See this link: stackoverflow.com/questions/3488016/… I will accept your answer

mas.morozov Over a year ago

Yes, already found it too ) Here is my first try to get it working for our case

CarbonDry Over a year ago

There's a slight problem when clicking the entry in the list. It appends to the input the full html string.

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