README.md

Tokenfield

Input field with tagging/token/chip capabilities written in raw JavaScript. Tokens in OS X or Chips in Android -
small UI elements which are inserted into various input fields that often combine with autocomplete functionality.

Tokens allow designers to display extra information about input. For example, in email applications when typing an
email address of the recipient, input field could display full name of the owner of a given email and a his/her picture.

This Tokenfield implementation is written in raw JavaScript without any extra dependencies like jQuery. it has one
somewhat opinionated behavior - Tokenfield intended use case is work with structured data. More specifically, it expects
autocomplete data to be JSOn formatted array of objects where each object contains token ID and token Name. More on that
below.

Examples

View live examples here.

Usage

Via JavaScript

Tokenfield could be applied to any visible <input /> element that allows users
to input text or number.

// Given that we have following HTML element: <input class="my-input" />
var tf = new Tokenfield({
  el: document.querySelector('.my-input')
});

This action would create Tokenfield wrapped around given input element. Without additional options, this Tokenfield
would allow users to add multiple token items without any specific restrictions. Only unique items are allowed, though,
so it is not possible to add multiple items such as: "foo", "bar", "foo". Only first "foo" would be added and the last
one discarded.

Data

As it was mentioned above - Tokenfield is intended to be used with structured data - array of objects. With default
options it expects that data returned by the autocomplete or filtered from a given set of items would look like that:

[{id: 1, name: 'Red'}, {id: 2, name: 'Blue'}, {id: 3, name: 'Greed'}, ... ]

You can see that each object has two properties - id and a name. With this format when you submit form where
Tokenfield is located, server would receive not an array of string, but an array of IDs.

However, that is a case only with tokens that are added via autocomplete. If Tokenfield accepts new tokens, then form
would send an additional array which would contain an array of strings.

Options

Name	Type	Default	Description
el	string or DOM node	null	DOM element or string with selector pointing at an element you want to turn into tokenfield.
form	bool, string or DOM node	true	Listens to reset event on the specified form. If set to true listens to immediate parent form.
items	array	[]	Array of objects amongst which autocomplete will try to find a match. Default format might look like this: [{id: 1, name: 'foo'}, {id: 2, name: 'bar'}]
setItems	array	[]	Array of objects which would be displayed as selected after Tokenfield has been created.
newItems	bool	true	Option to allow user to add custom tokens instead of using preset list of tokens or tokens retrieved from the server.
multiple	bool	true	Option to allow multiple tokens in the field.
maxItems	integer	0	Option to limit number of items. Set to 0 to remove the limit.
matchRegex	string	'{value}'	Regex string that would be used for matching - when regex is compiled {value} would be replaced with escaped user input.
matchFlags	string	'i'	Regex flags used in matching. Default is i - case insensitive matching.
matchStart	bool	false	Option to do matching only from the beginning of the string - it compiles match regex to basicall this format: /^{value}/i.
matchEnd	bool	false	Option to do matching only from the end of the string - it compiles match regex to basicall this format: /{value}$/i.
remote	object		Details on that - below in Autocomplete section.
addItemOnBlur	bool	false	If set to true, will add new item to the tokenfield on input blur. Either sets new item or first match from suggested list.
delimiters	array	[]	Option to specify certain characters/sets of characters to be used as delimiters during tokenization or input events on tokenfield.
addItemsOnPaste	bool	false	If set to true, will add new item to the tokenfield on paste. Tokenization happens using delimiters options listed above.
placeholder	null or string	null	Set a placeholder that will be shown in the input. If set to null, will try to use placeholder attribute from the original element set in el
inputType	string	'text'	Specifies HTML type attribute for the input element.
minChars	integer	2	Specifies how many characters user has to input before autocomplete suggester is shown.
maxSuggest	integer	10	Specifies how many suggestions should be shown.
filterSetItems	bool	true	Specifies whether already set items should not be shown in suggested list.
filterMatchCase	bool	false	Used to match set items and new item by case-sensitivity. By default is set to false and does not take case of item value into the account.
itemLabel	string	'name'	Property of an item object which is used to display text in tokens.
itemName	string	'items'	Each token item will have its own hidden input which will contain an ID of a given item and a name attribute in an array format. This option sets a name. By default it is set to "items" which means that when user will submit a form server would receive an array of IDs under the name "items".
newItemName	string	'items_new'	Same as the above except it is only related to new items which were not added via autocomplete.
itemValue	string	'id'	Specifies which property from the autocomplete data to use as a primary identifying value.
itemData	string	'name'	Which property should be used when you do autocomplete on a given array of items.
validateNewItem	closure	null	If set, closure will run on every attempt to add new non-existing item to validate it. Return true to allow an item, return any falsy value and it will prevent new item from being added.

Remote Options

Below you will find list of options which are related to remote autocomplete requests. Options are set as properties
of an object assigned to remote property of the parent options object:

new Tokenfield({
  remote: {
    url: "http://example.com",
    ...
  }
});

Name	Type	Default	Description
type	string	'GET'	Sets AJAX request type. Usually GET or POST
url	string	null	Specifies which URL will be used to retrieve autocomplete data. If set to null - remote autocomplete won't be performed.
queryParam	string	'q'	Sets name of the parameter which would contain value that user typed in the input field.
delay	integer	300	Sets delay in milliseconds after which remote request is performed.
timestampParam	string	't'	Sets parameter for the timestamp when remote call was requested.
params	object	{}	Sets any additional AJAX params
headers	object	{}	Sets AJAX headers. Could be simple key:value items, or key:function items if you want to add headers dynamically

Events

Tokenfield uses standard node.js EventEmitter and therefore supports such event as: 'on', 'once', 'removeAllListeners', 'removeListener'.

For more details on EventEmitter, please check official documentation page.

Available events are:

Event Type	Description
change	Fired after any change in tokens list - after adding or removing tokens, setting multiple tokens manually etc.
showSuggestions	Fired before Tokenfield would show suggestions box.
shownSuggestions	Fired after Tokenfield has shown suggestions box.
hideSuggestions	Fired before Tokenfield would hide suggestions box.
hiddenSuggestions	Fired after Tokenfield has hidden suggestions box.
addToken	Fired before token has been added to the tokenfield. Second argument contains token data.
addedToken	Fired after token has been added to internal token list.
removeToken	Fired before token has been removed from the tokenfield. Second argument contains token data.
removedToken	Fired after token has been removed from the tokenfield. Second argument contains removed token data.

Helper Methods

Tokenfield has several overridable methods which allow user to remap given token data or change how some elements are
rendered.

Available methods are:

Method name	Description
remapData	Fired on every data request. Override it if you want to change structure of an available data - change props names, sanitize property values, remove props. Just make sure to return array of objects which would be consumed by the tokenfield instance.
renderSetItemLabel	Fired on token item render. Override this method in order to change how label for each token is rendered
onInput	Fired when you type something in the input field. Accepts value of the input field and event object.
showSuggestions	Shows list of suggested items if there are any.
hideSuggestions	Temporarily hides list of suggested items.
getItems	Returns an array containing objects for currently set tokens.
setItems	Override current set tokens with your own array of tokens. Input could be array or a single object and must conform to the format described at the beginning of the readme.
addItems	Add tokens. Input could be an array or a single object. Object or array of objects must conform to the correct format described at the beinning of readme.
sortItems	Updates internal state of the set tokens based on the HTML state of the tokens - useful when you apply a "sortable" or "draggable" library on tokenfield items.
removeItem(value)	Remove an item based on the given input. Input could be an item object, item name for new item or item id for existing item.
emptyItems	Remove all currently set token items.
getSuggestedItems	Returns an array of suggested items.
focus	Focus the tokenfield.
blur	Remove focus from the tokenfield.
remove	Destroy tokenfield and display original element it was attached to.