nsIAutoCompleteController

Please add a summary to this article.
1.0
28
Introduced
Gecko 1.7
Inherits from: nsISupports Last changed in Gecko 2.0 (Firefox 4 / Thunderbird 3.3 / SeaMonkey 2.1)

Implemented by: @mozilla.org/autocomplete/controller;1. To use this service, use:

var autoCompleteController = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/autocomplete/controller;1"]
                             .getService(Components.interfaces.nsIAutoCompleteController);

Method overview

AString getCommentAt(in long index);
AString getImageAt(in long index);
AString getLabelAt(in long index);
AString getStyleAt(in long index);
AString getValueAt(in long index);
boolean handleDelete();
void handleEndComposition();
boolean handleEnter(in boolean aIsPopupSelection);
boolean handleEscape();
boolean handleKeyNavigation(in unsigned long key);
void handleStartComposition();
void handleTab();
void handleText();
void setSearchString(in AString aSearchString); Obsolete since Gecko 1.9
void startSearch(in AString searchString);
void stopSearch();

Attributes

Attribute Type Description
input nsIAutoCompleteInput Either the XUL autocomplete textbox that is currently being controlled, or a form fill controller that handles website form history.
matchCount unsigned long The number of matches. Read only.
searchStatus unsigned short State which indicates the status of possible ongoing searches. Read only.
searchString AString

Get or set the current search string.

Note: Setting this attribute will not initiate a search.

Constants

Status Constants

Constant Value Description
STATUS_NONE 1 Default status.
STATUS_SEARCHING 2 Searching for matches.
STATUS_COMPLETE_NO_MATCH 3 Search completed but found no matches.
STATUS_COMPLETE_MATCH 4 Search completed and found matches.

Key Constants

Obsolete since Gecko 1.9 (Firefox 3)
This feature is obsolete. Although it may still work in some browsers, its use is discouraged since it could be removed at any time. Try to avoid using it.

Constant Value Description
KEY_UP 1  
KEY_DOWN 2  
KEY_LEFT 3  
KEY_RIGHT 4  
KEY_PAGE_UP 5  
KEY_PAGE_DOWN 6  
KEY_HOME 7  
KEY_END 8  

Methods

getCommentAt()

Gets the comment of the result at a given index in the last completed search.

AString getCommentAt(
  in long index
);
Parameters
index
The given index.
Return value

The comment of the result at the given index.

Requires Gecko 1.9 (Firefox 3)

getImageAt()

Get the URL of the image of the result at a given index in the last completed search.

AString getImageAt(
  in long index
);
Parameters
index
The given index.
Return value

The image URL of the result at the given index.

Requires Gecko 2.0 (Firefox 4 / Thunderbird 3.3 / SeaMonkey 2.1)

getLabelAt()

Gets the label for the result at a given index in the last completed search. Normally this is the same as the value, except when autocompleting a datalist in a web page.

AString getLabelAt(
  in long index
);
Parameters
index
The given index.
Return value

The label for the result at the given index.

getStyleAt()

Get the style hint for the result at a given index in the last completed search.

AString getStyleAt(
  in long index
);
Parameters
index
The given index.
Return value

The style hint for the result at the given index.

getValueAt()

Gets the value of the result at a given index in the last completed search.

AString getValueAt(
  in long index
);
Parameters
index
The given index value.
Return value

The value of the result at the given index.

handleDelete()

Notifies the controller that the user chose to delete the current auto-complete result.

boolean handleDelete();
Parameters

None.

Return value

Returns true if the event that called handleDelete() should be canceled, otherwise returns false.

Requires Gecko 1.8 (Firefox 1.5 / Thunderbird 1.5 / SeaMonkey 1.0)

handleEndComposition()

void handleEndComposition();
Parameters

None.

handleEnter()

Notifies the controller that the user wishes to enter the current text.

boolean handleEnter(
  in boolean aIsPopupSelection 
);
Parameters
aIsPopupSelection
true if a selection was made from the popup (That is the currently selected entry's value will entered into the input). false to indicate that the input's current value should be used. Typically used to differentiate between selections made with the mouse (which do not result in the input value being changed) and selections made with the keyboard (which may or may not result in the input's value changing, depending on the nsIAutocompleteInput's completeSelectedIndex attribute). See bug 408723 for more information.
Return value

true if the controller wishes to prevent event propagation and default event.

handleEscape()

Notifies the controller that the user wishes to revert autocomplete.

boolean handleEscape();
Parameters

None.

Return value

true if the controller wishes to prevent event propagation and default event.

handleKeyNavigation()

Notifies the controller of the following key navigation events: up, down, left, right, page up, page down.

boolean handleKeyNavigation(
  in unsigned long key
);
Parameters
key
The key for the navigation event.
Return value

true if the controller wishes to prevent event propagation and default event.

Requires Gecko 1.8 (Firefox 1.5 / Thunderbird 1.5 / SeaMonkey 1.0)

handleStartComposition()

Notify the controller that the user wishes to start composition.

void handleStartComposition();
Parameters

None.

handleTab()

Handles tab; this just closes autocomplete.

void handleTab();
Parameters

None.

handleText()

Notifies the controller that the user has changed text in the textbox. This includes all means of changing the text value, including typing a character, backspacing, deleting, or pasting in an entirely new value.

void handleText(
  in boolean aIgnoreSelection  Obsolete since Gecko 1.9.2
);
Parameters

Requires Gecko 1.8 (Firefox 1.5 / Thunderbird 1.5 / SeaMonkey 1.0)

setSearchString()

Obsolete since Gecko 1.9 (Firefox 3)
This feature is obsolete. Although it may still work in some browsers, its use is discouraged since it could be removed at any time. Try to avoid using it.

Note: This method was replaced by the searchString attribute in Gecko 1.9.
void setSearchString(
  in AString aSearchString
);
Parameters
aIgnoreSelection Obsolete since Gecko 1.9.2
true to allow the text handling to occur regardless of where the caret is in the text box; false to only start the search to begin or resume if the caret is at the end of the text box.
aSearchString
A string to use in searches.

startSearch()

Starts a search on a string, assuming the input property is already set.

void startSearch(
  in AString searchString
);
Parameters
searchString
The string to start searching on.

Requires Gecko 1.9 (Firefox 3)

stopSearch()

Stops all asynchronous searches.

void stopSearch();
Parameters

None.

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: Sheppy, EricYChu, Neil, trevorh, Varmaa, GavinSharp, Eff2k5
 Last updated by: Sheppy,