What is the common name or design pattern for a UI element which is like a combobox but has the added facility of typing to refine the options returned in the drop down.
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what are the options listed in the drop down ?– ragsJun 19, 2013 at 11:57
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3Are you asking if combobox has a name? :\– rk.Jun 19, 2013 at 12:15
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No. what kind of data does the dropdown hold ?– ragsJun 19, 2013 at 12:19
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@rags Sorry for the confusion. My question was directed to pKo.– rk.Jun 19, 2013 at 12:37
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1I've always heard them named as simply a combo box. demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/combobox/examples/overview/…– Matt LavoieJan 7, 2014 at 16:05
2 Answers
Type-ahead Filter:
If the field when entered displays a drop-down of all eligible values, and when the user starts typing into the field the options in the drop-down is reduced by hiding non-matching values, then this is a type-ahead filter.
Auto-Suggest Field:
A type-ahead field which does not display the drop-down when first entered, instead waiting for the user to type some characters before then providing a drop-down of suggestions is known as an auto-suggest field.
Some auto-suggest implementations will do a fuzzy match (see how my typing of "my ach" resulted in "my school" as a suggestion). This typically doesn't occur with type-ahead filters (usually because type-ahead filters are used for fields with a controlled vocabulary, not free-form text, and thus the range of options are defined and limited).
Combo-box:
If the field when entered displays a drop-down of all eligible values, and when the user starts typing into the field the first matching value in the drop-down is selected (without hiding non-matching values), then this is a combo box.
Note that since non-matching values are not hidden the operator can use the arrow keys to move the selected option up or down. I have found this handy in that I might want to select the last of the options that start with the letter "S" and so I type an "T" and then use the up-arrow cursor.