Problems with jQuery autocomplete + AngularJS

Question

i'm using AjgularJS on my page and want to add a field to use autocomplete from jqueryui and the autocomplete does not fires the ajax call.

i've tested the script on a page without angular (ng-app and ng-controller) and it works well, but when i put the script on a page with angularjs it stops working.

any idea?

jquery script:

$(function () {

    $('#txtProduct').autocomplete({
        source: function (request, response) {

            alert(request.term);

        },
        minLength: 3,
        select: function (event, ui) {

        }
    });

});

• interesting note: when i call the script on Chrome inspector the autocomplete starts working!!!
• Versions: AngularJS: 1.0.2 - JqueryUI: 1.9.0

CONCLUSION: The autocomplete widget from jQueryUI must be initializes from inside a custom directive of AngularJS as the example:

Markup

<div ng-app="TestApp">
    <h2>index</h2>
    <div ng-controller="TestCtrl">

        <input type="text" auto-complete>ddd</input>

    </div>
</div>

Angular script

<script type="text/javascript">

    var app = angular.module('TestApp', []);

    function TestCtrl($scope) { }

    app.directive('autoComplete', function () {
        return function postLink(scope, iElement, iAttrs) {

            $(function () {
                $(iElement).autocomplete({
                    source: function (req, resp) {
                        alert(req.term);
                    }
                });
            });

        }
    });

</script>

Answer 1

Perhaps you just need to do it in an "angular way"... that is, to use a directive to set up your DOM elements and do event bindings, use a service to get your data, and use a controller to do your business logic... all while leveraging the dependency injection goodness that is Angular...

A service to get your autocomplete data...

app.factory('autoCompleteDataService', [function() {
    return {
        getSource: function() {
            //this is where you'd set up your source... could be an external source, I suppose. 'something.php'
            return ['apples', 'oranges', 'bananas'];
        }
    }
}]);

a directive to do the work of setting up the autocomplete plugin.

app.directive('autoComplete', function(autoCompleteDataService) {
    return {
        restrict: 'A',
        link: function(scope, elem, attr, ctrl) {
                    // elem is a jquery lite object if jquery is not present,
                    // but with jquery and jquery ui, it will be a full jquery object.
            elem.autocomplete({
                source: autoCompleteDataService.getSource(), //from your service
                minLength: 2
            });
        }
    };
});

And using it in your markup... notice the ng-model to set a value on the $scope with what you select.

<div ng-controller="Ctrl1">
    <input type="text" ng-model="foo" auto-complete/>
    Foo = {{foo}}
</div>

That's just the basics, but hopefully that helps.

Answer 2

I had to do a bit more work to get this working using an $http service.

The service:

app.factory("AutoCompleteService", ["$http", function ($http) {
    return {
        search: function (term) {
            return $http.get("http://YourServiceUrl.com/" + term).then(function (response) {
                return response.data;
            });
        }
    };
}]);

The directive:

app.directive("autocomplete", ["AutoCompleteService", function (AutoCompleteService) {
    return {
        restrict: "A",
        link: function (scope, elem, attr, ctrl) {
            elem.autocomplete({
                source: function (searchTerm, response) {
                    AutoCompleteService.search(searchTerm.term).then(function (autocompleteResults) {
                        response($.map(autocompleteResults, function (autocompleteResult) {
                            return {
                                label: autocompleteResult.YourDisplayProperty,
                                value: autocompleteResult 
                            }
                        }))
                    });
                },
                minLength: 3,
                select: function (event, selectedItem) {
                    // Do something with the selected item, e.g. 
                    scope.yourObject= selectedItem.item.value;
                    scope.$apply();
                    event.preventDefault();
                }
            });
        }
    };
}]);

The html:

<input ng-model="YourObject" autocomplete />