AutoComplete jQuery Using JSON data

Question

Imagine a json file with the following data:

[
    {
        color: "red",
        value: "#f00"
    },
    {
        color: "green",
        value: "#0f0"
    },
    {
        color: "blue",
        value: "#00f"
    },
    {
        color: "cyan",
        value: "#0ff"
    }
]

Using jQuery's autocomplete method, I want it to be able to display the color as options to select and insert value on a input.

<input type="text" name="selector" id="selector" />

<input type="text" name="color" id="color" />
<input type="text" name="value" id="value" />

The above doesn't need introductions. Selector for the search on the colors, input.color with color value and input.value with value value.

EDIT: I have this JSON data:

[{
    "label": "Sec\u00e7\u00e3o 1",
    "value": "1"
}, {
    "label": "Sec\u00e7\u00e3o 2",
    "value": "2"
}, {
    "label": "Sec\u00e7\u00e3o 3",
    "value": "3"
}, {
    "label": "Sec\u00e7\u00e3o 4",
    "value": "4"
}]

and this HTML:

<input type="text" id="name" />
<input type="text" id="value" />

and this jQuery:

$(document).ready(function(){
    $("#name").autocomplete({
        source: "json.php",
        select: function (event, ui) {
            $("#name").val(ui.label);
            $("#value").val(ui.value);
        }
    });
});

I followed Andrew's answer and it prompts me to select the data, but if I alert ui.labeland ui.value variables, it says 'undefined'. What am I missing?

Edit2: Let's say I have this HTML:

<input type="text" class="name" />
<input type="text" class="value" />

<input type="text" class="name" />
<input type="text" class="value" />

Is it possible to handle multiple selectors with the same .autocomplete() method? Like, select the label I want using the input.name and only update the input.value next to it?

[input.name] [input.value]
^ I select       ^ updates the
  a label           value next to it
[input.name] [input.value]
^ this stays intact ^

Answer 1

Using a remote data source:

$("#selector").autocomplete({
    source: function (request, response) {
         $.ajax({
             url: "my_server_side_resource.php",
             type: "GET",
             data: request,
             success: function (data) {
                 response($.map(data, function (el) {
                     return {
                         label: el.color,
                         value: el.value
                     };
                 }));
             }
         });
    },
    select: function (event, ui) {
        // Prevent value from being put in the input:
        this.value = ui.item.label;
        // Set the next input's value to the "value" of the item.
        $(this).next("input").val(ui.item.value);
        event.preventDefault();
    }
});

Tweak the $.ajax call as needed. This example will generate requests to your PHP resource that look like this:

my_server_side_resource.php?term=xyz

If you have control over your server-side code, you could change the data that's returned to look like this:

[
    {
        label: "red",
        value: "#f00"
    }, /* etc */
]

You can simply use a string, the name of your server-side resource as the source:

$("#selector").autocomplete({
     source: "my_server_side_resource.php",
     select: /* same as above */
});

Check out the remote with JSONP example for a full example using a server-side resource.

Edit: See this example for a working demo using local data: http://jsfiddle.net/SMxY6/

Answer 2

You need to change your JSON object to use the "label" property. From the docs:

An Array of Objects with label and value properties: [ { label: "Choice1", value: "value1" }, ... ]

The label property is displayed in the suggestion menu. The value will be inserted into the input element after the user selected something from the menu. If just one property is specified, it will be used for both, eg. if you provide only value-properties, the value will also be used as the label.

Then, you need to set the values of the other text fields when the "change" or "select" events are fired.