Documentation

You are viewing documentation for Vaadin 23. View latest documentation

Documentation

Select

Source: TypeScript / Java

Select allows users to choose a single value from a list of options presented in an overlay.

Open in a
new tab
<vaadin-select
  label="Sort by"
  .items="${this.items}"
  .value="${this.items[0].value}"
></vaadin-select>

The drop-down can be opened with a click, up/down arrow keys, or by typing the initial character of one of the options.

Common Input Field Features

Select includes all Text Field and shared input field features.

Dividers

Dividers can be used to group related options. Use dividers sparingly to avoid creating unnecessary visual clutter.

Open in a
new tab
private items = [
  {
    label: 'Most recent first',
    value: 'recent',
  },
  {
    component: 'hr',
  },
  {
    label: 'Rating: high to low',
    value: 'rating-desc',
  },
  {
    label: 'Rating: low to high',
    value: 'rating-asc',
  },
  {
    component: 'hr',
  },
  {
    label: 'Price: high to low',
    value: 'price-desc',
  },
  {
    label: 'Price: low to high',
    value: 'price-asc',
  },
];
Note
Use Combo Box for long lists
For large data sets, it’s preferable to use Combo Box instead of Select, as it allows users to filter the list of options.

Disabled Items

Items can be disabled. This prevents users from selecting them, while still showing that these items would be available for selection under different circumstances.

Open in a
new tab
private items = [
  {
    label: 'XS (out of stock)',
    value: 'xs',
    disabled: true,
  },
  {
    label: 'S',
    value: 's',
  },
  {
    label: 'M',
    value: 'm',
  },
  {
    label: 'L',
    value: 'l',
  },
  {
    label: 'XL',
    value: 'xl',
  },
];
Caution
Accessibility
Some assistive technologies might not announce disabled options.

Placeholder

Use the placeholder feature to provide an inline text prompt for the field. Don’t create, or use, a separate item for this purpose.

Open in a
new tab
<vaadin-select label="Size" placeholder="Select size" .items="${this.items}"></vaadin-select>

Empty Selection Item (Flow Only)

An empty item can be set as the first option. Use it in cases where you want to allow users to clear their selection. The value of the empty item is represented as null.

Open in a
new tab
select.setEmptySelectionAllowed(true);

Customizing the Empty Selection Caption

The label for the empty item is customizable.

The caption that you set replaces the placeholder for the empty selection item.

Open in a
new tab
select.setEmptySelectionAllowed(true);
select.setEmptySelectionCaption("Unknown size");

Custom Item Label

When using complex values, a label can be set to represent the item value as plain text.

Open in a
new tab
this.items = people.map((person) => ({
  label: `${person.firstName} ${person.lastName}`,
  value: `${person.id}`,
}));

When using custom item renderers with rich content, a label can be set to represent the item value when it’s selected.

Open in a
new tab
<!-- Use the label attribute to display full name of the person as selected value label -->
<vaadin-item value="${person.id}" label="${formatPersonFullName(person)}">
  <div style="display: flex; align-items: center;">
    <img
      src="${person.pictureUrl}"
      alt="Portrait of ${formatPersonFullName(person)}"
      style="width: var(--lumo-size-m); margin-right: var(--lumo-space-s);"
    />
    <div>
      ${formatPersonFullName(person)}
      <div
        style="font-size: var(--lumo-font-size-s); color: var(--lumo-secondary-text-color);"
      >
        ${person.profession}
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</vaadin-item>
Note
Flow-specific

When using setItemLabelGenerator() in combination with setEmptySelectionAllowed(), ensure that the implementation is capable of handling null values, as the empty selection item has the value null.

select.setEmptySelectionAllowed(true);
select.setItemLabelGenerator(person -> {
  if (person == null) {
      return "No assignee";
  }
  return person.getFullName();
});

The same applies when using a data source that may contain null values.

Custom Item Presentation

Items can be rendered with rich content instead of plain text. This can be useful to provide information in a more legible fashion than appending it to the item text.

Open in a
new tab
<vaadin-select
  label="Choose doctor"
  ${selectRenderer(this.renderer, this.people)}
></vaadin-select>

...

private renderer = () => html`
  <vaadin-list-box>
    ${this.people.map(
      (person) => html`
        <vaadin-item value="${person.id}">
          <!--
          NOTE
          We are using inline styles here to keep the example simple.
          We recommend placing CSS in a separate style sheet and
          encapsulating the styling in a new component.
        -->
          <div style="display: flex; align-items: center;">
            <img
              src="${person.pictureUrl}"
              alt="Portrait of ${person.firstName} ${person.lastName}"
              style="width: var(--lumo-size-m); margin-right: var(--lumo-space-s);"
            />
            <div>
              ${person.firstName} ${person.lastName}
              <div
                style="font-size: var(--lumo-font-size-s); color: var(--lumo-secondary-text-color);"
              >
                ${person.profession}
              </div>
            </div>
          </div>
        </vaadin-item>
      `
    )}
  </vaadin-list-box>
`;

Best Practices

Set a Default Value

Where applicable, set the most common choice as the default value.

Don’t Use as a Menu

Select is an input field component, not a generic menu component. Use Menu Bar to create overlays for actions.

Component Usage recommendations

Radio Button

Better accessibility than Select, as all options are visible without user interaction.

Combo Box

Filterable list of options. Appropriate for large sets of options. Supports lazy-loading entry of custom values.

List Box

Scrollable inline list of options. Supports single and multi-select.

Menu Bar

Overlay menus for items that trigger actions.

F53C23C7-4798-402A-A7C9-47416795D4C5