Make focused dropdowns searchable without first opening

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 ## Fixed
 - [#3629](https://github.com/plotly/dash/pull/3629) Fix date pickers not showing date when initially rendered in a hidden container.
+- [#3627][(](https://github.com/plotly/dash/pull/3627)) Make dropdowns searchable wheen focused, without requiring to open them first
 
 
 

components/dash-core-components/src/fragments/Dropdown.tsx

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {isNil, without, isEmpty} from 'ramda';
+import {isNil, without, append, isEmpty} from 'ramda';
 import React, {
     useState,
     useCallback,
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
         document.createElement('div')
     );
     const searchInputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
+    const pendingSearchRef = useRef('');
 
     const ctx = window.dash_component_api.useDashContext();
     const loading = ctx.useLoading();
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
                 setVal(newValue);
             } else {
                 setVal(newValue);
-                setProps({ value: newValue });
+                setProps({value: newValue});
             }
         },
         [debounce, isOpen, setProps]
@@ -102,6 +103,8 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
         (selection: OptionValue[]) => {
             if (closeOnSelect !== false) {
                 setIsOpen(false);
+                setProps({search_value: undefined});
+                pendingSearchRef.current = '';
             }
 
             if (multi) {
@@ -257,12 +260,15 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
 
     // Focus first selected item or search input when dropdown opens
     useEffect(() => {
-        if (!isOpen || search_value) {
+        if (!isOpen) {
             return;
         }
-
         // waiting for the DOM to be ready after the dropdown renders
         requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+            // Don't steal focus from the search input while the user is typing
+            if (pendingSearchRef.current) {
+                return;
+            }
             // Try to focus the first selected item (for single-select)
             if (!multi) {
                 const selectedValue = sanitizedValues[0];
@@ -279,9 +285,14 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
                 }
             }
 
-            // Fallback: focus search input if available and no selected item was focused
-            if (searchable && searchInputRef.current) {
-                searchInputRef.current.focus();
+            if (searchable) {
+                searchInputRef.current?.focus();
+            } else {
+                dropdownContentRef.current
+                    .querySelector<HTMLElement>(
+                        'input.dash-options-list-option-checkbox:not([disabled])'
+                    )
+                    ?.focus();
             }
         });
     }, [isOpen, multi, displayOptions]);
@@ -374,29 +385,30 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
     }, []);
 
     // Handle popover open/close
-   const handleOpenChange = useCallback(
-    (open: boolean) => {
-        setIsOpen(open);
+    const handleOpenChange = useCallback(
+        (open: boolean) => {
+            setIsOpen(open);
 
-        if (!open) {
-            const updates: Partial<DropdownProps> = {};
+            if (!open) {
+                pendingSearchRef.current = '';
+                const updates: Partial<DropdownProps> = {};
 
-           if (!isNil(search_value)) {
-                updates.search_value = undefined;
-            }
+                if (!isNil(search_value)) {
+                    updates.search_value = undefined;
+                }
 
-            // Commit debounced value on close only
-            if (debounce && !isEqual(value, val)) {
-                updates.value = val;
-            }
+                // Commit debounced value on close only
+                if (debounce && !isEqual(value, val)) {
+                    updates.value = val;
+                }
 
-            if (Object.keys(updates).length > 0) {
-                setProps(updates);
+                if (Object.keys(updates).length > 0) {
+                    setProps(updates);
+                }
             }
-        }
-    },
-    [debounce, value, val, search_value, setProps]
-);
+        },
+        [debounce, value, val, search_value, setProps]
+    );
 
     const accessibleId = id ?? uuid();
     const positioningContainerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
@@ -425,6 +437,14 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
                         ) {
                             handleClear();
                         }
+                        if (e.key.length === 1 && searchable) {
+                            pendingSearchRef.current += e.key;
+                            setProps({search_value: pendingSearchRef.current});
+                            setIsOpen(true);
+                            requestAnimationFrame(() =>
+                                searchInputRef.current?.focus()
+                            );
+                        }
                     }}
                     className={`dash-dropdown ${className ?? ''}`}
                     aria-labelledby={`${accessibleId}-value-count ${accessibleId}-value`}
@@ -508,6 +528,31 @@ const Dropdown = (props: DropdownProps) => {
                                 value={search_value || ''}
                                 autoComplete="off"
                                 onChange={e => onInputChange(e.target.value)}
+                                onKeyUp={e => {
+                                    if (
+                                        !search_value ||
+                                        e.key !== 'Enter' ||
+                                        !displayOptions.length
+                                    ) {
+                                        return;
+                                    }
+                                    const firstVal = displayOptions[0].value;
+                                    const isSelected =
+                                        sanitizedValues.includes(firstVal);
+                                    let newSelection;
+                                    if (isSelected) {
+                                        newSelection = without(
+                                            [firstVal],
+                                            sanitizedValues
+                                        );
+                                    } else {
+                                        newSelection = append(
+                                            firstVal,
+                                            sanitizedValues
+                                        );
+                                    }
+                                    updateSelection(newSelection);
+                                }}
                                 ref={searchInputRef}
                             />
                             {search_value && (

components/dash-core-components/src/types.ts

@@ -741,7 +741,7 @@ export interface DropdownProps extends BaseDccProps<DropdownProps> {
         clear_selection?: string;
         no_options_found?: string;
     };
-     /**
+    /**
      * If True, changes to input values will be sent back to the Dash server only when dropdown menu closes.
      * Use with `closeOnSelect=False`
      */