Can I load data into Select2 using an array?

While Select2 is designed to be used with a <select> tag the data that is used to search through and display the results can be loaded from a JavaScript array using the data option. This option should be passed in during the initialization of Select2.

{% highlight js linenos %} $('select').select2({ data: [ { id: 'value', text: 'Text to display' }, // ... more data objects ... ] }); {% endhighlight %}

What properties are required on the objects passed in to the array?

The id and text properties are required on each object, and these are the properties that Select2 uses for the internal data objects. Any additional paramters passed in with data objects will be included on the data objects that Select2 exposes.

Do the id properties have to be strings?

Because the value attributes on a <select> tag must be strings, the id property on the data objects must also be strings. Select2 will attempt to convert anything that is not a string to a string, which will work for most situations, but it is recommended to force all of your ids to strings ahead of time.

I can't select results with blank ids or an id of 0!

See Do the id properties have to be strings?.

How should nested results be formatted?

Nested results should be specified using the children property on the data objects that are passed in. This children property should be an array of data objects that are grouped under this option, and the label for the group should be specified as the text property on the root data object.

{% highlight js linenos %} { text: 'Group label', children: [ { id: 'nested-1', text: 'First nested option' }, // ... more data objects ... ] } {% endhighlight %}

How many levels of nesting are allowed?

Because Select2 falls back to an <optgroup> when creating nested options, only a single level of nesting is supported. Any additional levels of nesting is not guarenteed to be displayed properly across all browsers and devices.

Why are <option> tags being created?

The data option is a shortcut that Select2 provides which allows you to load options into your select from a data array.

{% include options/not-written.html %}

My objects don't use id for their unique identifiers, what can I do?

Select2 requires that the id property is used to uniquely identify the options that are displayed in the results list. If you use a property other than id (like pk) to uniquely identify an option, you need to map your old property to id before passing it to Select2.

If you cannot do this on your server or you are in a situation where the identifier cannot be changed, you can do this in JavaScript before passing it to Select2.

{% highlight js linenos %} var data = $.map(yourArrayData, function (obj) { obj.id = obj.id || obj.pk; // replace pk with your identifier return obj; }); {% endhighlight %}

My objects use a property other than text for the text that needs to be displayed

Just like with the id property, Select2 requires that the text that should be displayed for an option is stored in the text property. You can map this property from any existing property using the following JavaScript.

{% highlight js linenos %} var data = $.map(yourArrayData, function (obj) { obj.text = obj.text || obj.name; // replace name with the property used for the text return obj; }); {% endhighlight %}