Dropdown div is now appended directly to body and is absolutely positioned. This should allow the dropdown to overlap height-constrained containers such as modal windows.
Optgroups are now supported in selects. N-level deep nesting of results is supported when attached to input[type=hidden], see the new children property described in the docs.
Signature of initSelection has changed to support initialization from asynchronous requests.
Dropdown will now open below or above the control depending on available screen space. No more scrolling the page to see to see all matched results.
Signature of formatSelection and formatResult changed in a backwards compatible way to support more powerful constructs than supported by strings alone.
Separator in multi-valued selects is now cofigurable, , still the default. See separator option in the docs.
Matching is now customizable. See matcher function in the docs and the Custom Matcher example.
change event now specifies which elements were added/removed
width option now supports various strategies instead of always being copied from the source element
Clicks on a label associated with the source element are now redirected to Select2.
val will now only accept ids, if you want to specify the full object for the selection use the new data method instead. val will also now only work on non-selects if initSelection was specified.
It is now possible to limit the number of options that can be selected in a multi-select component. See the Maximum Selection Size example
Browser Compatibility
IE 7+
Chrome 8+
Firefox 3.5+
Safari 3+
Opera 10.6+
Examples
The Basics
Select2 can take a regular select box like this:
and turns it into:
with support for quick option filtering via a search box
Select2 also supports multi-value select boxes. The select below is declared with the multiple attribute. Select2 automatially picks up on this:
Example Code
Placeholders
A placeholder value can be defined and will be displayed until a selection is made:
The placeholder can be declared via a data-placeholder attribute attached to the select, or via the placeholder configuration element as seen in the example code
Optionally, a clear button (visible once a selection is made) is available to reset the select box back to the placeholder value.
Example Code
Minimum Input
Select2 supports a minimum input setting which is useful for large remote datasets where short search terms are not very useful:
Example Code
Templating
Various display options of the Select2 component can be changed:
Example Code
You can set data- attributes to <option> (or <optgroup>) and use them inside temptlating functions:
Select2 uses a function to load result data. Here is a trivial example that creates choices that consist of user's input repeated a number of times:
In order to take advantage of custom data loading Select2 should be attached to an input type='hidden' tag, otherwise data is parsed from select's option tags.
Example Code
Maximum Selection Size
Select2 allows the developer to limit the number of items that can be selected in a multi-select control.
In the example below only 3 or less items can be selected.
Example Code
Loading Array Data
Select2 provides some shortcuts that make it easy to access local data stored in an array instead of having to write a query function mentioned in the example above.
Example below inlines the data by specifying an array in the data element. Items in such an array must have id and text keys.
If your data does not have a text key, an alternative key can be specified as a string:
or as a function:
Example Code
Loading Remote Data
Select2 comes with AJAX/JSONP support built in. In this example we will search for a movie using Rotten Tomatoes API:
If this example does not work it is probably because the Rotten Tomatoes API key usage of 10000 requests per day has been exhausted. Please try again tomorrow.
Example Code
Select2 uses jQuery's $.ajax function to execute the remote call by default. An alternative transport function can be specified in the ajax settings, or an entirely custom implementation can be built by providing a custom query function instead of using the ajax helper
Infinite Scroll with Remote Data
Select2 supports lazy-appending of results when the result list is scrolled to the end.
In order to enable the remote service must support some sort of a paging mechanism and
the query function given to Select2 must take advantage of it. The following example demonstrates
how this can be set up. Search for some keyword and then scroll the result list to the end to
see more results load:
If this example does not work it is probably because the Rotten Tomatoes API key usage of 10000 requests per day has been exhausted. Please try again tomorrow.
Example Code
Programmatic Access
Select2 supports methods that allow programmatic control of the component
Example Code
Events
change event is triggered on the original element whenever its value is changed by
the user
open event is triggered on the original element whenever the dropdown needs to be opened
Example Code
Tagging Support
Select2 can be used to quickly set up fields used for tagging
Note that when tagging is enabled the user can select from pre-existing tags or create a new tag by
picking the first choice which is what the user has typed into the search box so far.
Example Code
Reacting to external value changes
Select2 can react to external value changes and keep its selection in-sync. This feature allows
Select2 to work seamlessly with front-end frameworks that use data binding between ui components
and model values.
This feature is only available when initSelection() function is provided in
the options. This function is needed to map the choice ids set on the element to objects used by
Select2. This function is set by default when Select2 is attached to a select or when
the tags helper function is used.
Example Code
Select2 Lifecycle
Example Code
Select2 Drag and Drop Sorting
Select2 supports drag and drop sorting of selected choices. Select2 does not, itself, provide the necessary code to perform dragging and dropping, instead it provides hooks that other libraries can use to provide the behavior. In this example we are using JQuery UI's sortable() plugin.
The sorting is only available when Select2 is attached to a hidden input field.
Example Code
Select2 Disabled Mode
Example Code
Custom Matcher
Unlike other dropdowns on this page, this one matches options only if the term appears in the beginning of the string as opposed to anywhere
The dropdown below matches on custom attributes of the option tag. For example, the `blue` option can be matched by entering either `blue` or `cyan`.
Example Code
Responsive Design - Percent Width
Select2's width can be set to a percentage of its parent to support responsive design. The two Select2 boxes below are styled to 50% and 75% width respectively.
Select2 will do its best to resolve the percent width specified via a css class, but it is not always possible. The best way to ensure that Select2 is using a percent based width is to inline the style declaration into the tag.
Example Code
Documentation
Constructor
Parameter
Type
Description
width
string
Controls the width style attribute of the Select2 container div. The following values are supported:
off
No width attribute will be set. Keep in mind that the container div copies classes from the source element so setting the width attribute may not always be necessary.
element
Uses javascript to calculate the width of the source element.
copy
Copies the value of the width style attribute set on the source element
resolve
First attempts to copy than falls back on element
other values
if the width attribute contains a function it will be avaluated, otherwise the value is used verbatim
minimumInputLength
int
Number of characters necessary to start a search
minimumResultsForSearch
int
The minimum number of results that must be initially (after opening the dropdown for the first time)
populated in order to keep the search field. This
is useful for cases where local data is used with just a few results, in which case the search box
is not very useful and wastes screen space.
Only applies to single-value select boxes
maximumSelectionSize
int
The maximum number of items that can be selected in a multi-select control. If this number is less than 1 selection is not limited.
Once the number of selected items reaches the maximum specified the contents of the dropdown will be populated
by the formatSelectionTooBig function
placeholder
string
Initial value that is selected if no other selection is made.
The placeholder can also be specified as a data-placeholder attribute on the select
or input element that Select2 is attached to.
Note that because browsers assume the first option element
is selected in non-multi-value select boxes an empty first option element must be provided (<option></option>)
for the placeholder to work.
separator
string
Separator character or string used to delimit ids in value attribute of the multi-valued selects.
The default delimiter is the , character.
allowClear
boolean
Whether or not a clear button is displayed when the select box has a selection. The
button,
when clicked, resets the value of the select box back to the placeholder, thus this option is
only
available when the placeholder is specified.
This option only works when the placeholder is specified
When attached to a select an option with an empty value must be provided.
This is the option that will be selected when the button is pressed since a select box requires
at least one selection option.
Also, note that this option only works with
non-multi-value based selects because multi-value selects always provide such a button for every
selected option.
multiple
boolean
Whether or not Select2 allows selection of multiple values.
When Select2 is attached to a select element this value will be ignored and select's
multiple attribute will be used instead.
closeOnSelect
boolean
If set to true the dropdown is not closed after a selection is made, allowing for rapid selection of multiple items. By default this option is disabled.
Only applies when configured in multi-select mode.
id
function
Function used to get the id from the choice object or a string representing the key under which the id is stored.
id(object)
Parameter
Type
Description
object
object
A choice object
<returns>
string
the id of the object
The default implementation expects the object to have a id property that is returned.
matcher
function
Used to determine whether or not the search term matches an option when a built-in query function is used.
The built in query function is used when Select2 is attached to a select, or the local or tags helpers are used.
matcher(term, text, option)
Parameter
Type
Description
term
string
search term
text
string
text of the option being matched
option
jquery object
the option element we are trying to match. Only given when attached to select.
Can be used to match against custom attributes on the option tag in addition to matching on the option's text.
<returns>
boolean
true if search term matches the text, or false otherwise
The default implementation is case insensitive and matches anywhere in ther term:
function(term, text) { return text.toUpperCase().indexOf(term.toUpperCase())>=0; }
formatSelection
function
Function used to render the current selection.
formatSelection(object, container)
Parameter
Type
Description
object
object
The selected result object returned from the query function
container
jQuery object
jQuery wrapper of the node to which the selection should be appended
<returns>
string (optional)
Html string, a DOM element, or a jQuery object that renders the selection
The default implementation expects the object to have a text property that is returned.
The implementation may choose to append elements directly to the provided container object, or return a single value and have it automatically appended
When attached to a select the original <option> (or <optgroup>) element is accessible inside the specified function through the property item.element:
format(item) {
var originalOption = item.element;
return item.text
}
formatResult
function
Function used to render a result that the user can select.
formatResult(object, container, query)
Parameter
Type
Description
object
object
One of the result objects returned from the query function
container
jQuery object
jQuery wrapper of the node that should contain the representation of the result
query
object
The query object used to request this set of results
<returns>
string (optional)
Html string, a DOM element, or a jQuery object that represents the result
The default implementation expects the object to have a text property that is returned.
The implementation may choose to append elements directly to the provided container object, or return a single value and have it automatically appended
When attached to a select the original <option> (or <optgroup>) element is accessible inside the specified function through the property item.element:
format(item) {
var originalOption = item.element;
return item.text
}
formatNoMatches
function
Function used to render the "No matches" message
formatNoMatches(term)
Parameter
Type
Description
term
string
Search string entered by user
<returns>
string
Message html
formatInputTooShort
function
Function used to render the "Search input too short" message
formatInputTooShort(term, minLength)
Parameter
Type
Description
term
string
Search string entered by user
minLength
int
Minimum required term length
<returns>
string
Message html
formatSelectionTooBig
function
Function used to render the "You cannot select any more choices" message
formatSelectionTooBig(maxSize)
Parameter
Type
Description
maxSize
string
The maximum specified size of the selection
<returns>
string
Message html
createSearchChoice
function
Creates a new selectable choice from user's search term. Allows creation of choices not available via the query
function. Useful when the user can create choices on the fly, eg for the 'tagging' usecase.
createSearchChoice(term)
Parameter
Type
Description
term
string
Search string entered by user
<returns>
object (optional)
Object representing the new choice.
Must at least contain an id attribute.
If the function returns undefined or null no choice will be created. If a new
choice is created it is displayed first in the selection list so that user may select it by simply pressing
enter.
When used in combination with input[type=hidden] tag care
must be taken to sanitize the id attribute of the choice object, especially stripping
, as it is used as a value separator
initSelection
function
Called when Select2 is created to allow the user to initialize the selection based on the value of the
element select2 is attached to.
Essentially this is an id->object mapping function.
initSelection(element, callback)
Parameter
Type
Description
element
jQuery array
element Select2 is attached to
callback
function
callback function that should be called with the data which is either an object in case of a single select or an array of objects in case of multi-select
This function will only be called when there is initial input to be processed.
Here is an example implementation used for tags. Tags are the simplest form of data where the id is also
the text:
$("#tags").select2({
initSelection : function (element, callback) {
var data = [];
$(element.val().split(",")).each(function () {
data.push({id: this, text: this});
});
callback(data);
}
});
query
function
Function used to query results for the search term.
query(options)
Parameter
Type
Description
options.term
string
Search string entered by user
options.page
int
1-based page number tracked by Select2 for use with infinite scrolling of results
options.context
object
An object that persists across the lifecycle of queries for the same search term (the query to retrieve the initial results, and subsequent queries to retrieve more result pages for the same search term). When this function is first called for a new search term this object will be null. The user may choose to set any object in the results.context field - this object will then be used as the context parameter for all calls to the query method that will load more search results for the initial search term. The object will be reset back to null when a new search term is queried. This feature is useful when a page number is not easily mapped against the server side paging mechanism. For example, some server side paging mechanism may return a "continuation token" that needs to be passed back to them in order to retrieve the next page of search results.
options.callback
function
Callback function that should be called with the result object. The result object:
Parameter
Type
Description
result.results
[object]
Array of result objects. The default renderers expect objects with id and text keys. The id attribute is required, even if custom renderers are used. The object may also contain a childrenkey if hierarchical data is displayed.
result.more
boolean
trueif more results are available for the current search term
results.context
object
A user-defined object that should be made available as the context parameter to the query function on subsequent queries to load more result pages for the same search term. See the description of options.context parameter.
In order for this function to work Select2 should be attached to a input type='hidden' tag instead of a select.
Options for the built in ajax query function. This object acts as a shortcut for having to manually write a function that performs ajax requests. The built-in function supports more advanced features such as throttling and dropping out-of-order responses.
Parameter
Type
Description
transport
function
Function that will be used to perform the ajax request. Must be parameter-compatible with $.ajax. Defaults to $.ajax if not specified.
Allows the use of various ajax wrapper libraries such as: AjaxManager.
url
string
Ajax url
dataType
string
Data type for the request. ajax, jsonp, other formats supported by jquery
quietMillis
int
Number of milliseconds to wait for the user to stop typing before issuing the ajax request
data
function
Function to generate query parameters for the ajax request.
data(term, page)
Parameter
Type
Description
term
string
Search term
page
int
1-based page number tracked by Select2 for use with infinite scrolling of results
Results object. See "options.callback" in the "query" function for format.
In order for this function to work Select2 should be attached to a input type='hidden' tag instead of a select.
data
array/object
Options for the built in query function that works with arrays.
If this element contains an array, each element in the array must contain id and text keys
Alternatively, this element can be specified as an object in which results key must contain the data as an array and a text key can either be the name of the key in data items that contains text or a function that retrieves the text given a data element from the array
tags
array/function
Puts Select2 into 'tagging'mode where the user can add new choices and pre-existing tags are provided via
this options attribute which is either an array or a function that returns an
array of objects or strings. If strings are used instead of objects
they will be converted into an object that has an id and text attribute equal
to the value of the string.
containerCss
function/object
Inline css that will be added to select2's container. Either an object containing css property/value key pairs or a function that returns such an object.
containerCssClass
function/string
Css class that will be added to select2's container tag
dropdownCss
function/object
Inline css that will be added to select2's dropdown container. Either an object containing css property/value key pairs or a function that returns such an object.
dropdownCssClass
function/string
Css class that will be added to select2's dropdown container
val
Gets or sets the selection. If the value parameter is not specified, the id attribute of the currently selected element is returned. If the value parameter is specified it will become the current selection.
Parameter
Type
Description
value (optional)
object
Single-Valued
Multi-Valued
Attached to select
Value of the value attribute of the option that should be selected
Array of the value attributes of the options that should be selected. null for empty.
Attached to input[type=hidden]
Id of the object that should be selected. "" to clear. Can only be used if initSelection() was specified.
An array of objects ids that should be selected. "" to clear. Can only be used if initSelection() was specified.
val method invoked on a single-select with an unset value will return "", while a val method invoked on an empty multi-select will return []
Example:
alert("Selected value is: "+$("#e8").select2("val")); $("#e8").select2("val", {id:"CA", text:"Califoria"});
data
Gets or sets the selection. Analogous to val method, but works with objects instead of ids.
data method invoked on a single-select with an unset value will return null, while a data method invoked on an empty multi-select will return []
destroy
Reverts changes to DOM done by Select2. Any selection done via Select2 will be preserved.
open
Opens the dropdown
close
Closes the dropdown
disable
Disables Select2. During this mode the user is not allowed to manipulate the selection.
enable
Enables Select2.
container
Retrieves the main container element that wraps all of DOM added by Select2
Example: console.log($("#tags").select2("container"));
onSortStart
Notifies Select2 that a drag and drop sorting operation has started. Select2 will hide all non-selection list items such as the search container, etc.
Example: $("#tags").select2("onSortStart");
onSortEnd
Notifies Select2 that a drag and drop sorting operation has finished. Select2 will re-display any elements previously hidden and update the selection of the element it is attached to.
Example: $("#tags").select2("onSortEnd");
Events
change
Fired when selection is changed.
This event is not fired when the selection is changed using Select2's val() method.
The event object contains the following custom properties:
val
the current selection (taking into account the result of the change) - id or array of ids
added
the added element, if any - the full element object, not just the id
removed
the removed element, if any - the full element object, not just the id
open
Fired when the dropdown is shown.
The event listener can prevent the opening by calling preventDefault() on the supplied event object.
Configuring Defaults
Select2 exposes its default options via the $.fn.select2.defaults object. Properties changed in this object (same properties configurable through the constructor) will take effect for every instance created after the change