HTML combo box with option to type an entry

Question

I was under the impression you could type into a combo box besides selecting any values already in the list. However, I can't seem to find info on how to do this. Is there a property I need to add to it to allow typing of text?

Answer 1

Before datalist (see note below), you would supply an additional input element for people to type in their own option.

<select name="example">
  <option value="A">A</option>
  <option value="B">B</option>
  <option value="-">Other</option>
</select>

<input type="text" name="other">

This mechanism works in all browsers and requires no JavaScript.

You could use a little JavaScript to be clever about only showing the input if the "Other" option was selected.

datalist Element

The datalist element is intended to provide a better mechanism for this concept. In some browsers, e.g. iOS Safari < 12.2, this was not supported or the implementation had issues. Check the Can I Use page to see current datalist support.

<input type="text" name="example" list="exampleList">
<datalist id="exampleList">
  <option value="A">  
  <option value="B">
</datalist>

Answer 2

in HTML, you do this backwards: You define a text input:

<input type="text" list="browsers" />

and attach a datalist to it. (note the list attribute of the input).

<datalist id="browsers">
  <option value="Internet Explorer">
  <option value="Firefox">
  <option value="Chrome">
  <option value="Opera">
  <option value="Safari">
</datalist> 

Answer 3

This link can help you: http://www.scriptol.com/html5/combobox.php

You have two examples. One in html4 and other in html5

HTML5

<input type="text" list="browsers"/>
 <datalist id="browsers">
    <option>Google</option>
    <option>IE9</option>
 </datalist>

HTML4

 <input type="text" id="theinput" name="theinput" />
 <select name="thelist" onChange="combo(this, 'theinput')">
   <option>one</option>
   <option>two</option>
   <option>three</option>
 </select>

 function combo(thelist, theinput) {
     theinput = document.getElementById(theinput);
     var idx = thelist.selectedIndex;
     var content = thelist.options[idx].innerHTML;
     theinput.value = content;
 }