HTML -- input/datalist events for executing search

Question

I have created a typeAhead component which is an input field with a datalist bound to it in a React app. I listen for the "onChange" event on the input field which fetches the matching typeAhead results and this works fine.

So now I am trying to add some listeners for executing the search which should happen when an option is selected from the dropdown or when "enter" key is pressed. I tried listening for the "onSelect" event but it never seems to get fired. And I'm not sure how to listen for the "enter" key event either.

render() {
        return(
            <div>
                <input  type="text" id="searchfld" list="data" placeholder="Search..." onChange={getTypeAheadResults} />

                <datalist id="data" onChange= {executesearch} onSelect={executeSearch}></datalist>
            </div>
        );
}


const getTypeAheadResults= () => {
  //fires
}

const executesearch = () => {
  //does not fire
}

any help helps, thanks!

EDIT: Tharaka Wijebandara's answer solves the "enter" key issue. still trying to figure out how to listen for datalist selection.

just to reiterate -- when the user types something in the search field, I fetch the query results and add them to the datalist. This is working fine.

What I am trying to accomplish now is to call my executeSearch function when an option is selected from the datalist.

What does datalist component is returning? It's hard to debug without knowing — vijayscode
– vijayscode, Commented May 26, 2017 at 14:11

Joao · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-26 14:27:50Z

2

You can listen to keyboard events: https://facebook.github.io/react/docs/events.html#keyboard-events

handleKeyPress = (e) => {
  if(e.key == 'Enter'){
    //do something here
  }
}
<input type="text" onKeyPress={this.handleKeyPress} />

But if the keypress isn't on an input, you could find a way to attach it to the body, or use react-keydown: https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-keydown which will create a global listener when your component is mounted.

edited May 26, 2017 at 14:27

answered May 26, 2017 at 14:19

Joao

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2 Comments

Tharaka Wijebandara Over a year ago

datalist is not a custom component. w3schools.com/tags/tag_datalist.asp

Joao Over a year ago

Oh *facepalm :)

Tharaka Wijebandara · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-26 14:18:38Z

1

Use html form element instead of a div and use onSubmit event for listening "enter" key.

function render() {
  return (
    <form onSubmit={onSumbit}>
      <input
        type="text"
        id="searchfld"
        list="data"
        placeholder="Search..."
      />
      <datalist id="data"/>
    </form>
  );
}

const onSubmit = () => {
  //....
}

edited May 26, 2017 at 14:18

answered May 26, 2017 at 14:11

Tharaka Wijebandara

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