How to patch *just one* instance of Autocomplete on a page?

Question

This answer -- jQueryUI: how can I custom-format the Autocomplete plug-in results? -- describes how to monkeypatch the jqueryUI autocomplete widget, so that it displays th

Answer 1

Check out the custom data and display demo. This demo is not modifying the prototype object of the autocomplete widget, meaning that only that instance of the widget is effected:

$("selector").autocomplete({ ... }).data( "autocomplete" )._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
    return $( "<li></li>" )
        .data( "item.autocomplete", item )
        .append( "<a>" + item.label + "<br>" + item.desc + "</a>" )
        .appendTo( ul );
};

Here's a working demo: http://jsfiddle.net/vJSwq/

Answer 2

For recent versions of jQuery(1.8+) / jQuery UI (1.10+), you should use:

$("selector").autocomplete({ ... }).data('uiAutocomplete')._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
    return $( "<li></li>" )
        .data( "item.autocomplete", item )
        .append( "<a>" + item.label + "<br>" + item.desc + "</a>" )
    .appendTo( ul );
};

Answer 3

The code from Andrew Whitaker just work for one autocomplete input. If you select more than one input-element, the second autocomplete widget dosn't show any entrys. You have to add a foreach to handel all selected input elements like mentioned here

$("selector")
.autocomplete({ ... })
.each(function () {
    $(this).data("autocomplete")._renderItem = function( ul, item ) {
        return $("<li></li>")
            .data("item.autocomplete", item)
            .append("<a>" + item.label + "<br>" + item.desc + "</a>")
            .appendTo(ul);
    };
);