jQuery UI Selectable

The jQuery UI Selectable plugin allows for elements to be selected by dragging a box (sometimes called a lasso) with the mouse over the elements. Also, elements can be selected by click or drag while holding the Ctrl/Meta key, allowing for multiple (non-contiguous) selections.

Dependencies

UI Core
UI Widget
UI Mouse

A simple jQuery UI Selectable.

$("#selectable").selectable();

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <link href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8/themes/base/jquery-ui.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
  <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5/jquery.min.js"></script>
  <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>
  <style type="text/css">
#selectable .ui-selecting {
	background: silver;
}
#selectable .ui-selected {
	background: gray;
}
</style>

  <script>
  $(document).ready(function() {
    $("#selectable").selectable();
  });
  </script>
</head>
<body style="font-size:62.5%;">
  
<ul id="selectable">
<li>Item 1</li>
<li>Item 2</li>
<li>Item 3</li>
<li>Item 4</li>
<li>Item 5</li>
</ul>

</body>
</html>

disabled

Type:

Boolean

Default:

false

Disables (true) or enables (false) the selectable. Can be set when initialising (first creating) the selectable.
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the disabled option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ disabled: true });
```
Get or set the disabled option, after init.
```
//getter
var disabled = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "disabled" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "disabled", true );
```
autoRefresh

Type:

Boolean

Default:

true

This determines whether to refresh (recalculate) the position and size of each selectee at the beginning of each select operation. If you have many many items, you may want to set this to false and call the refresh method manually.
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the autoRefresh option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ autoRefresh: false });
```
Get or set the autoRefresh option, after init.
```
//getter
var autoRefresh = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "autoRefresh" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "autoRefresh", false );
```
cancel

Type:

Selector

Default:

":input,option"

Prevents selecting if you start on elements matching the selector.
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the cancel option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ cancel: ":input,option" });
```
Get or set the cancel option, after init.
```
//getter
var cancel = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "cancel" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "cancel", ":input,option" );
```
delay

Type:

Integer

Default:

0

Time in milliseconds to define when the selecting should start. It helps preventing unwanted selections when clicking on an element.
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the delay option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ delay: 20 });
```
Get or set the delay option, after init.
```
//getter
var delay = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "delay" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "delay", 20 );
```
distance

Type:

Integer

Default:

0

Tolerance, in pixels, for when selecting should start. If specified, selecting will not start until after mouse is dragged beyond distance.
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the distance option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ distance: 20 });
```
Get or set the distance option, after init.
```
//getter
var distance = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "distance" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "distance", 20 );
```
filter

Type:

Selector

Default:

"*"

The matching child elements will be made selectees (able to be selected).
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the filter option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ filter: "li" });
```
Get or set the filter option, after init.
```
//getter
var filter = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "filter" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "filter", "li" );
```
tolerance

Type:

String

Default:

"touch"
Possible values: 'touch', 'fit'.
- fit: draggable overlaps the droppable entirely
- touch: draggable overlaps the droppable any amount
Code examples
Initialize a selectable with the tolerance option specified.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({ tolerance: "fit" });
```
Get or set the tolerance option, after init.
```
//getter
var tolerance = $( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "tolerance" );
//setter
$( ".selector" ).selectable( "option", "tolerance", "fit" );
```

create

Type:

selectablecreate

This event is triggered when selectable is created.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the create event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   create: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the create event by type: selectablecreate.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectablecreate", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```
selected

Type:

selectableselected

This event is triggered at the end of the select operation, on each element added to the selection.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the selected event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   selected: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the selected event by type: selectableselected.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectableselected", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```
selecting

Type:

selectableselecting

This event is triggered during the select operation, on each element added to the selection.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the selecting event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   selecting: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the selecting event by type: selectableselecting.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectableselecting", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```
start

Type:

selectablestart

This event is triggered at the beginning of the select operation.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the start event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   start: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the start event by type: selectablestart.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectablestart", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```
stop

Type:

selectablestop

This event is triggered at the end of the select operation.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the stop event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   stop: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the stop event by type: selectablestop.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectablestop", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```
unselected

Type:

selectableunselected

This event is triggered at the end of the select operation, on each element removed from the selection.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the unselected event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   unselected: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the unselected event by type: selectableunselected.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectableunselected", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```
unselecting

Type:

selectableunselecting

This event is triggered during the select operation, on each element removed from the selection.
Code examples
Supply a callback function to handle the unselecting event as an init option.
```
$( ".selector" ).selectable({
   unselecting: function(event, ui) { ... }
});
```
Bind to the unselecting event by type: selectableunselecting.
```
$( ".selector" ).bind( "selectableunselecting", function(event, ui) {
  ...
});
```

destroy

Signature:

.selectable( "destroy" )

Remove the selectable functionality completely. This will return the element back to its pre-init state.
disable

Signature:

.selectable( "disable" )

Disable the selectable.
enable

Signature:

.selectable( "enable" )

Enable the selectable.
option

Signature:

.selectable( "option" , optionName , [value] )

Get or set any selectable option. If no value is specified, will act as a getter.
option

Signature:

.selectable( "option" , options )

Set multiple selectable options at once by providing an options object.
widget

Signature:

.selectable( "widget" )

Returns the .ui-selectable element.
refresh

Signature:

.selectable( "refresh" )

Refresh the position and size of each selectee element. This method can be used to manually recalculate the position and size of each selectee element. Very useful if autoRefresh is set to false.

The jQuery UI Selectable plugin uses the jQuery UI CSS Framework to style its look and feel, including colors and background textures. We recommend using the ThemeRoller tool to create and download custom themes that are easy to build and maintain.

If a deeper level of customization is needed, there are widget-specific classes referenced within the jquery.ui.selectable.css stylesheet that can be modified. These classes are highlighed in bold below.

Sample markup with jQuery UI CSS Framework classes

Note: This is a sample of markup generated by the selectable plugin, not markup you should use to create a selectable. The only markup needed for that is
<ul>
   <li></li>
   <li></li>
   <li></li>
</ul>.

jQuery UI Selectable

Overview

Dependencies

Example

Options

Code examples

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Events

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Code examples

Methods

Theming

Sample markup with jQuery UI CSS Framework classes