Accessing the AutoCompleteBoxItemData attributes client side

[Courtenay]

Hi there,

Ive bound successfully to my web service and am returning the required data using the following:

foreach (Site site in sites)
 {
                AutoCompleteBoxItemData childNode = new AutoCompleteBoxItemData();
                childNode.Text = site.PublicName;
                childNode.Value = site.SiteId.ToString();
                childNode.Attributes.Add("PublicUrl", site.PublicUrl);
                childNode.Attributes.Add("Description", site.Description);
                result.Add(childNode);
}

How do I access though attributes (PublicUrl etc) client side in my OnClientEntryAdded method:

function onEntryCalendarAdded(sender, eventArgs)
 {
                debugger;
                var controlEntry = eventArgs.get_entry();
                // gain access to public url etc here
}

[Mike]

Hello,

Did you have any luck with this? I'm trying to do something similar binding a ClientDropDownItemTemplate and using an attribute and haven't had any luck...

Thanks,

Mike

[Nencho]

Hello,

The attributes collection of entries is accessible at client-side. However, I am glad to inform you that we plan to introduce this functionality with our upcoming Service Pack.

All the best,
Nencho
the Telerik team

[Diana]

How can we access them client-side? I've tried every possible thing and nothing works. How can I get the attributes of a certain entry using JavaScript?

[Nencho]

Hello,

The attributes collection of entries is Not accessible at client-side. Therefor we plan to introduce this functionality with the upcoming Service Pack. Please excuse me for my mistake.

Regards,
Nencho
the Telerik team

[Albert Shenker]

I am interested in the client-side attributes collection of the autocomplete box as a whole, not necessarily in individual entries... however I assume they go hand in hand. Any idea when we will be able to access the attributes client-side? Given that most of your controls have an attributes collection which is accessible client-side, I am surprised you would release a new control without this functionality.

[Nencho]

Hello Albert,

The desired functionality is already logged as an improvement for the RadAutoCompleteBox. But, I am afraid that I cannot provide you with an exact timeframe for the release of this feature.

Kind regards,
Nencho
the Telerik team

[Albert Shenker]

I have to say that is quite troubling, Nencho. Since your post on March 12, where you said that this sort of functionality will be included in the next service pack there have been two service packs. And now you are saying you don't know when it will be included. In the past this sort of response from Telerik has typically meant it would be at least a year if not quite a bit longer for something to be done. If there's some sort of technical reason for a large delay, then I think we'd all appreciate an explanation. If not, then there really is no excuse. This functionality is not an "Improvement", its a complete oversight. As I mentioned previously, it should have been part of the initial release of the control, since it is native to the way just about every other Telerik control works.

[Nencho]

Hello Albert,

The fix didn't make it to the first ServicePack we didn't have sufficient time and resources to implement it. The second ServicePack included only some Validation fixes, that were crucial for our users, and didn't contain any other control fixes of features.

Also, at the time of writing of the previous post it didn't seem feasible that we would have enough time to fit this fix into our schedule, and that's why we couldn't commit on the release date being the next major Q.

However since then we have re-examined the issue and we managed to resolve it, so it would be available in the 2013 Q2 release, which comes out in mid June.

Kind regards,
Nencho
the Telerik team

[Albert Shenker]

ok. thanks for the update.

[Duncan]

So did this make it into the 2013 Q2 release?  If it did, how do we access the attributes client-side?  

Thanks!

[Bozhidar]

Hello Duncan,

The feature did make it to the 2013 Q2 release, as stated in the release notes here:
http://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/whats-new/release-history/q2-2013-version-2013-2-611.aspx

I've also attached a small sample page demonstrating how you can access the attributes on the client.
 
Regards,
Bozhidar
Telerik

[Glen]

Is there a way to access the attributes when the input type is set to "Text" because I am getting an error when trying to retrieve an attribute using the sample code "alert(args.get_entry().get_attributes().getAttribute("attr"));"

I am getting a  JavaScript runtime error: Object doesn't support property or method 'get_entry' .... any thoughts would truly be appreciated.


Glen

[Bozhidar]

Hello,

The OnClientTextChanged event event args contain only the get_text() function, as explained in our online documentation:
http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/autocompletebox-onclienttextchanged.html

This is because in text mode the AutoCompleteBox works in terms of pure text, rather than entries, which is why in text mode attributes are not supported.

Regards,
Bozhidar
Telerik

 

 

[EJ]

I am unable to get the attributes using a web method to generate the data.  We want to use the attributes to populate other controls when the user selects an item from the drop down.  Is there anyway to get this data?

[Peter Milchev]

Hello EJ,

Attached you can find a sample project where the attributes can be accessed properly when the AutoCompleteBox is bound to a web method.

<telerik:RadScriptManager ID="RadScriptManager1" EnablePageMethods="true" runat="server">
    <Scripts>
        <asp:ScriptReference Assembly="Telerik.Web.UI" Name="Telerik.Web.UI.Common.Core.js" />
        <asp:ScriptReference Assembly="Telerik.Web.UI" Name="Telerik.Web.UI.Common.jQuery.js" />
        <asp:ScriptReference Assembly="Telerik.Web.UI" Name="Telerik.Web.UI.Common.jQueryInclude.js" />
    </Scripts>
</telerik:RadScriptManager>

<asp:Label Text="Label1" ID="Label1" runat="server" />

<telerik:RadAutoCompleteBox RenderMode="Lightweight" ID="RadAutoCompleteBox3" runat="server" Width="400" DropDownHeight="150" OnEntryAdded="RadAutoCompleteBox3_EntryAdded"
    EmptyMessage="Select Company Names">
    <WebServiceSettings Method="GetCompanyNames" Path="default.aspx" />
</telerik:RadAutoCompleteBox>

<telerik:RadButton RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" Text="Select" ID="Button3" OnClick="Button3_Click" />

protected void Button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    var attr = RadAutoCompleteBox3.Entries[0].Attributes["CustomAttribute"].ToString();
    Label1.Text = "Button click: " + attr;
}

protected void RadAutoCompleteBox3_EntryAdded(object sender, AutoCompleteEntryEventArgs e)
{
    var attr = e.Entry.Attributes["CustomAttribute"].ToString();
    Label1.Text = "EntryAdded: " + attr;
}

[WebMethod]
public static AutoCompleteBoxData GetCompanyNames(object context)
{
    string searchString = ((Dictionary<string, object>)context)["Text"].ToString();
    DataTable data = GetChildNodes(searchString);
    List<AutoCompleteBoxItemData> result = new List<AutoCompleteBoxItemData>();

    foreach (DataRow row in data.Rows)
    {
        AutoCompleteBoxItemData childNode = new AutoCompleteBoxItemData();
        childNode.Text = row["ProductName"].ToString();
        childNode.Value = row["ProductID"].ToString();
        childNode.Attributes.Add("CustomAttribute", "custom value#" + childNode.Value);
        result.Add(childNode);
    }

    AutoCompleteBoxData res = new AutoCompleteBoxData();
    res.Items = result.ToArray();

    return res;
}

private static DataTable GetChildNodes(string searchString)
{
    SqlCommand selectCommand = new SqlCommand(@"SELECT * FROM [Products] WHERE ProductName LIKE @ProductName + '%'");
    selectCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("ProductName", searchString.Replace("%", "[%]").Replace("_", "[_]"));
    return GetData(selectCommand);
}

private static DataTable GetData(SqlCommand selectCommand)
{
    selectCommand.Connection = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["NorthwindConnectionString"].ConnectionString);
    SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter(selectCommand);

    DataTable data = new DataTable();
    adapter.Fill(data);

    return data;
}

Regards,
Peter Milchev
Progress Telerik