jquery select and unselect multiple input without ctrl click

Question

Here's the scenario:

<select id="id_user" name="user" multiple="multiple">
    <option value="1">User 1</option>
    <option value="2">User 2</option>
    <option value="3">User 3</option>
    <option value="4">User 4</option>
</select>

<span id="select1">Select 1 user</span> <span id="remove1">Remove 1 select</span>
<span id="select2">Select 2 user</span> <span id="remove2">Remove 2 select</span>
<span id="select3">Select 3 user</span> <span id="remove3">Remove 3 select</span>
<span id="select4">Select 4 user</span> <span id="remove4">Remove 4 select</span>

<script type="text/javascript">
    $("#select1").click(function(){ $("#id_user").val("1").prop("selected", true);

    ???

    });
    $("#remove1").click(function(){ $("#id_user").val("1").prop("selected", false);

    ???

    });
</script>

I want to let user for example to click on Select 1 span, then click on Select 2 span and both options will be selected in multiple select. Then if user click Remove 1 select span, only Select 1 will be removed. I don't have an idea how to complete that task. When I create other click functions with #select2, #select3 (...), clicking on one select, removes option selected with last click. Same problem is with remove option. How to create Ctrl-click effect ?

Answer 1

You can generate your controls dynamically... (see live demo) :

<div id="selectControls"></div>

<script type="text/javascript">
$(function() {
    $('#id_user > option').each(function() {
        var $this = $(this);
        $('#selectControls').append($('<span></span>')
            .text("Select " + $this.val() + " user")
            .click(function() { $this.attr('selected', true); $('#id_user').focus(); })
        ).append('&nbsp;').append($('<span></span>')
            .text("Deselect " + $this.val() + " user")
            .click(function() { $this.removeAttr('selected'); $('#id_user').focus(); })
        ).append('<br />');
    });
});
</script>

Generating your own controls is not only a better solution, it avoids maintenance if you add/remove OPTION element in the list... and keep HTML shorter to download from the server if your selection grows.