ASP.NET DropDownList AutoPostBack in UpdatePanel using JQuery ComboBox

Question

I have an issue where I am using an asp.net dropdownlist inside of an update panel with autopostback set to true. Here is my drop down list:

<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="dropdownFacility" AutoPostBack="true" OnSelectedIndexChanged="Facility_SelectionChanged" />

In my update panel, the updatemode is set to conditional and I have this for a trigger:

<asp:AsyncPostBackTrigger ControlID="dropdownFacility" EventName="SelectedIndexChanged" />

Issue is that when I turn the drop down list into a JQuery Combobox, then the autopostback functionality doesn't work. I tested it without applying the JQuery combobox functionality and then the autopostback did work. I basically took their script code from the link above and applied it to my drop down:

(function ($)
{
    $.widget("custom.combobox", {
        _create: function ()
        {
            this.wrapper = $("<span>")
          .addClass("custom-combobox")
          .insertAfter(this.element);

            this.element.hide();
            this._createAutocomplete();
            this._createShowAllButton();
        },

        _createAutocomplete: function ()
        {
            var selected = this.element.children(":selected"),
          value = selected.val() ? selected.text() : "";

            this.input = $("<input>")
          .appendTo(this.wrapper)
          .val(value)
          .attr("title", "")
          .addClass("custom-combobox-input ui-widget ui-widget-content ui-state-default ui-corner-left")
          .autocomplete({
              delay: 0,
              minLength: 0,
              source: $.proxy(this, "_source")
          })
          .tooltip({
              tooltipClass: "ui-state-highlight"
          });

            this._on(this.input, {
                autocompleteselect: function (event, ui)
                {
                    ui.item.option.selected = true;
                    this._trigger("select", event, {
                        item: ui.item.option
                    });
                },

                autocompletechange: "_removeIfInvalid"
            });
        },

        _createShowAllButton: function ()
        {
            var input = this.input,
          wasOpen = false;

            $("<a>")
          .attr("tabIndex", -1)
          .attr("title", "Show All Items")
          .tooltip()
          .appendTo(this.wrapper)
          .button({
              icons: {
                  primary: "ui-icon-triangle-1-s"
              },
              text: false
          })
          .removeClass("ui-corner-all")
          .addClass("custom-combobox-toggle ui-corner-right")
          .mousedown(function ()
          {
              wasOpen = input.autocomplete("widget").is(":visible");
          })
          .click(function ()
          {
              input.focus();

              // Close if already visible
              if (wasOpen)
              {
                  return;
              }

              // Pass empty string as value to search for, displaying all results
              input.autocomplete("search", "");
          });
        },

        _source: function (request, response)
        {
            var matcher = new RegExp($.ui.autocomplete.escapeRegex(request.term), "i");
            response(this.element.children("option").map(function ()
            {
                var text = $(this).text();
                if (this.value && (!request.term || matcher.test(text)))
                    return {
                        label: text,
                        value: text,
                        option: this
                    };
            }));
        },

        _removeIfInvalid: function (event, ui)
        {

            // Selected an item, nothing to do
            if (ui.item)
            {
                return;
            }

            // Search for a match (case-insensitive)
            var value = this.input.val(),
          valueLowerCase = value.toLowerCase(),
          valid = false;
            this.element.children("option").each(function ()
            {
                if ($(this).text().toLowerCase() === valueLowerCase)
                {
                    this.selected = valid = true;
                    return false;
                }
            });

            // Found a match, nothing to do
            if (valid)
            {
                return;
            }

            // Remove invalid value
            this.input
          .val("")
          .attr("title", value + " didn't match any item")
          .tooltip("open");
            this.element.val("");
            this._delay(function ()
            {
                this.input.tooltip("close").attr("title", "");
            }, 2500);
            this.input.data("ui-autocomplete").term = "";
        },

        _destroy: function ()
        {
            this.wrapper.remove();
            this.element.show();
        }
    });
})(jQuery);

Does anyone know how to implement the autopostback functionality with the JQuery combobox code? Thanks!!

Answer 1

This might be a late reply. May be it would save your time.

Remove OnSelectedIndexChanged from your drop down list

<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="dropdownFacility" />

You can call _doPostback event on dropdown list item changes,

__doPostBack('<%= upnl.ClientID %>', this.element.attr("id")); 

look for above line in your code for its implementation

(function ($) {
    $.widget("custom.combobox", {
        _create: function () {
            this.wrapper = $("<span>")
              .addClass("custom-combobox")
              .insertAfter(this.element);

            this.element.hide();
            this._createAutocomplete();
            this._createShowAllButton();
        },

        _createAutocomplete: function () {
            var selected = this.element.children(":selected"),
              value = selected.val() ? selected.text() : "";

            this.input = $("<input>")
              .appendTo(this.wrapper)
              .val(value)
              .attr("title", "")
              .addClass("custom-combobox-input ui-widget ui-widget-content ui-state-default ui-corner-left")
              .autocomplete({
                  delay: 0,
                  minLength: 0,
                  source: $.proxy(this, "_source")
              })
              .tooltip({
                  tooltipClass: "ui-state-highlight"
              });

            this._on(this.input, {
                autocompleteselect: function (event, ui) {
                    ui.item.option.selected = true;
                    this._trigger("select", event, {
                        item: ui.item.option
                    });

                    __doPostBack('<%= upnl.ClientID %>', this.element.attr("id"));
                },

                autocompletechange: "_removeIfInvalid"
            });
        },

        _createShowAllButton: function () {
            var input = this.input,
              wasOpen = false;

            $("<a>")
              .attr("tabIndex", -1)
              //.attr("title", "Show All Items")
              //.tooltip()
              .appendTo(this.wrapper)
              .button({
                  icons: {
                      primary: "ui-icon-triangle-1-s"
                  },
                  text: false
              })
              .removeClass("ui-corner-all")
              .addClass("custom-combobox-toggle ui-corner-right")
              .mousedown(function () {
                  wasOpen = input.autocomplete("widget").is(":visible");
              })
              .click(function () {
                  input.focus();

                  // Close if already visible
                  if (wasOpen) {
                      return;
                  }

                  // Pass empty string as value to search for, displaying all results
                  input.autocomplete("search", "");
              });
        },

        _source: function (request, response) {
            var matcher = new RegExp($.ui.autocomplete.escapeRegex(request.term), "i");
            response(this.element.children("option").map(function () {
                var text = $(this).text();
                if (this.value && (!request.term || matcher.test(text)))
                    return {
                        label: text,
                        value: text,
                        option: this
                    };
            }));
        },

        _removeIfInvalid: function (event, ui) {

            // Selected an item, nothing to do
            if (ui.item) {
                return;
            }

            // Search for a match (case-insensitive)
            var value = this.input.val(),
              valueLowerCase = value.toLowerCase(),
              valid = false;
            this.element.children("option").each(function () {
                if ($(this).text().toLowerCase() === valueLowerCase) {
                    this.selected = valid = true;
                    return false;
                }
            });

            // Found a match, nothing to do
            if (valid) {
                return;
            }

            // Remove invalid value
            if (value != '') {
                this.input
                  .val("")
                  .attr("title", value + " didn't match any item")
                  .tooltip("open");
                this.element.val("");
                this._delay(function () {
                    this.input.tooltip("close").attr("title", "");
                }, 2500);
                this.input.data("ui-autocomplete").term = "";
            } else {
                this.input.val("");
                this.element.val("");
                this.input.data("ui-autocomplete").term = "";
            }
            __doPostBack('<%= upnl.ClientID %>', this.element.attr("id"));
        },

        _destroy: function () {
            this.wrapper.remove();
            this.element.show();
        }
    });
})(jQuery);