Making autosuggest top layer

[Claus Mygind]

I am adding autosuggest to my code. My problem is the autosuggest response appears behind my other <div>'s and when I try to assign a higher z-index I get a "invalid assignment left-hand side" error.

Here is the section of code that is giving me trouble. The entire context is at the bottom of this post in the section title "autosugges t code" where I have also highlighted the code.

    this.layer.style.left = this.getLeft() + "px";
    this.layer.style.top = (this.getTop()+this.textbox.offsetHeight) + "px";
	this.layer.style.position = "absolute";
	[B][U]this.layer.style.z-index = 200;[/U][/B]
    this.layer.style.visibility = "visible";

};

Here is the relevant code (I hope)
CSS

#fullWidth {
	position: absolute;
	white-space: nowrap; 
	left: 0%; 
	top: 25px;
	width: 99%;
	color: #333333;
	padding:5px;
	font-size: 10pt;
	overflow: hidden;
	z-index: 98;
}
.subHeading3 {
  color: black;
  font-size: 12pt;
  font-weight: 900;
}

HTML

<body id="coverPage" onload="myStartUp();">
 <form id="expForm" 	name="expForm"	onSubmit="return false"	>
  <div id="fullWidth" nowrap="nowrap">
   <table>
    <tbody class="subHeading3">
      ...... more form elements ......
      <tr>
  	<input type="text" id="PAYEE" size="60" maxlength="50" />	
      </tr>
      ...... more form elements .......
    </tbody>
   </table>
  </div>
 </form>
</body>

JS

function myStartUp(){
 var oTextbox = new AutoSuggestControl(document.getElementById("PAYEE"), new PayeeSuggestions());        
}

function PayeeSuggestions() {
	this.payee = ["List","Of","Suggestions","For","This","Field"];
}

PayeeSuggestions.prototype.requestSuggestions = 
	function (oAutoSuggestControl /*:AutoSuggestControl*/) {
		var aSuggestions = [];
		var sTextboxValue = oAutoSuggestControl.textbox.value;

		if (sTextboxValue.length > 0){

			//search for matching record
			for (var i=0; i < this.payee.length; i++) { 
				if (this.payee[i].indexOf(sTextboxValue.toUpperCase()) == 0) {
					aSuggestions.push(this.payee[i]);
				} 
			}
		}

		//provide suggestions to the control
		oAutoSuggestControl.autosuggest(aSuggestions);
	}

The autosuggest code.

/**
 * An autosuggest textbox control.
 * @class
 * @scope public
 */
function AutoSuggestControl(oTextbox /*:HTMLInputElement*/, 
                            oProvider /*:SuggestionProvider*/) {
    
    /**
     * The currently selected suggestions.
     * @scope private
     */   
    this.cur /*:int*/ = -1;

    /**
     * The dropdown list layer.
     * @scope private
     */
    this.layer = null;
    
    /**
     * Suggestion provider for the autosuggest feature.
     * @scope private.
     */
    this.provider /*:SuggestionProvider*/ = oProvider;
    
    /**
     * The textbox to capture.
     * @scope private
     */
    this.textbox /*:HTMLInputElement*/ = oTextbox;
    
    //initialize the control
    this.init();
    
}

/**
 * Autosuggests one or more suggestions for what the user has typed.
 * If no suggestions are passed in, then no autosuggest occurs.
 * @scope private
 * @param aSuggestions An array of suggestion strings.
 * @param bTypeAhead If the control should provide a type ahead suggestion.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.autosuggest = function (aSuggestions /*:Array*/,
                                                     bTypeAhead /*:boolean*/) {
    
    //make sure there's at least one suggestion
    if (aSuggestions.length > 0) {
        if (bTypeAhead) {
           this.typeAhead(aSuggestions[0]);
        }
        
        this.showSuggestions(aSuggestions);
    } else {
        this.hideSuggestions();
    }
};

/**
 * Creates the dropdown layer to display multiple suggestions.
 * @scope private
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.createDropDown = function () {

    var oThis = this;

    //create the layer and assign styles
    this.layer = document.createElement("div");
    this.layer.className = "suggestions";
    this.layer.style.visibility = "hidden";
    this.layer.style.width = this.textbox.offsetWidth;
    
    //when the user clicks on the a suggestion, get the text (innerHTML)
    //and place it into a textbox
    this.layer.onmousedown = 
    this.layer.onmouseup = 
    this.layer.onmouseover = function (oEvent) {
        oEvent = oEvent || window.event;
        oTarget = oEvent.target || oEvent.srcElement;

        if (oEvent.type == "mousedown") {
            oThis.textbox.value = oTarget.firstChild.nodeValue;
            oThis.hideSuggestions();
        } else if (oEvent.type == "mouseover") {
            oThis.highlightSuggestion(oTarget);
        } else {
            oThis.textbox.focus();
        }
    };
    
    
    document.body.appendChild(this.layer);
};

/**
 * Gets the left coordinate of the textbox.
 * @scope private
 * @return The left coordinate of the textbox in pixels.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.getLeft = function () /*:int*/ {

    var oNode = this.textbox;
    var iLeft = 0;
    
    while(oNode.tagName != "BODY") {
        iLeft += oNode.offsetLeft;
        oNode = oNode.offsetParent;        
    }
    
    return iLeft;
};

/**
 * Gets the top coordinate of the textbox.
 * @scope private
 * @return The top coordinate of the textbox in pixels.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.getTop = function () /*:int*/ {

    var oNode = this.textbox;
    var iTop = 0;
    
    while(oNode.tagName != "BODY") {
        iTop += oNode.offsetTop;
        oNode = oNode.offsetParent;
    }
    
    return iTop;
};

/**
 * Handles three keydown events.
 * @scope private
 * @param oEvent The event object for the keydown event.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.handleKeyDown = function (oEvent /*:Event*/) {

    switch(oEvent.keyCode) {
        case 38: //up arrow
            this.previousSuggestion();
            break;
        case 40: //down arrow 
            this.nextSuggestion();
            break;
        case 13: //enter
            this.hideSuggestions();
            break;
    }

};

/**
 * Handles keyup events.
 * @scope private
 * @param oEvent The event object for the keyup event.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.handleKeyUp = function (oEvent /*:Event*/) {

    var iKeyCode = oEvent.keyCode;

    //for backspace (8) and delete (46), shows suggestions without typeahead
    if (iKeyCode == 8 || iKeyCode == 46) {
        this.provider.requestSuggestions(this, false);
        
    //make sure not to interfere with non-character keys
    } else if (iKeyCode < 32 || (iKeyCode >= 33 && iKeyCode < 46) || (iKeyCode >= 112 && iKeyCode <= 123)) {
        //ignore
    } else {
        //request suggestions from the suggestion provider with typeahead
        this.provider.requestSuggestions(this, true);
    }
};

/**
 * Hides the suggestion dropdown.
 * @scope private
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.hideSuggestions = function () {
    this.layer.style.visibility = "hidden";
};

/**
 * Highlights the given node in the suggestions dropdown.
 * @scope private
 * @param oSuggestionNode The node representing a suggestion in the dropdown.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.highlightSuggestion = function (oSuggestionNode) {
    
    for (var i=0; i < this.layer.childNodes.length; i++) {
        var oNode = this.layer.childNodes[i];
        if (oNode == oSuggestionNode) {
            oNode.className = "current"
        } else if (oNode.className == "current") {
            oNode.className = "";
        }
    }
};

/**
 * Initializes the textbox with event handlers for
 * auto suggest functionality.
 * @scope private
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.init = function () {

    //save a reference to this object
    var oThis = this;
    
    //assign the onkeyup event handler
    this.textbox.onkeyup = function (oEvent) {
    
        //check for the proper location of the event object
        if (!oEvent) {
            oEvent = window.event;
        }    
        
        //call the handleKeyUp() method with the event object
        oThis.handleKeyUp(oEvent);
    };
    
    //assign onkeydown event handler
    this.textbox.onkeydown = function (oEvent) {
    
        //check for the proper location of the event object
        if (!oEvent) {
            oEvent = window.event;
        }    
        
        //call the handleKeyDown() method with the event object
        oThis.handleKeyDown(oEvent);
    };
    
    //assign onblur event handler (hides suggestions)    
    this.textbox.onblur = function () {
        oThis.hideSuggestions();
    };
    
    //create the suggestions dropdown
    this.createDropDown();
};

/**
 * Highlights the next suggestion in the dropdown and
 * places the suggestion into the textbox.
 * @scope private
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.nextSuggestion = function () {
    var cSuggestionNodes = this.layer.childNodes;

    if (cSuggestionNodes.length > 0 && this.cur < cSuggestionNodes.length-1) {
        var oNode = cSuggestionNodes[++this.cur];
        this.highlightSuggestion(oNode);
        this.textbox.value = oNode.firstChild.nodeValue; 
    }
};

/**
 * Highlights the previous suggestion in the dropdown and
 * places the suggestion into the textbox.
 * @scope private
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.previousSuggestion = function () {
    var cSuggestionNodes = this.layer.childNodes;

    if (cSuggestionNodes.length > 0 && this.cur > 0) {
        var oNode = cSuggestionNodes[--this.cur];
        this.highlightSuggestion(oNode);
        this.textbox.value = oNode.firstChild.nodeValue;   
    }
};

/**
 * Selects a range of text in the textbox.
 * @scope public
 * @param iStart The start index (base 0) of the selection.
 * @param iLength The number of characters to select.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.selectRange = function (iStart /*:int*/, iLength /*:int*/) {

    //use text ranges for Internet Explorer
    if (this.textbox.createTextRange) {
        var oRange = this.textbox.createTextRange(); 
        oRange.moveStart("character", iStart); 
        oRange.moveEnd("character", iLength - this.textbox.value.length);      
        oRange.select();
        
    //use setSelectionRange() for Mozilla
    } else if (this.textbox.setSelectionRange) {
        this.textbox.setSelectionRange(iStart, iLength);
    }     

    //set focus back to the textbox
    this.textbox.focus();      
}; 

/**
 * Builds the suggestion layer contents, moves it into position,
 * and displays the layer.
 * @scope private
 * @param aSuggestions An array of suggestions for the control.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.showSuggestions = function (aSuggestions /*:Array*/) {
    
    var oDiv = null;
    this.layer.innerHTML = "";  //clear contents of the layer
    
    for (var i=0; i < aSuggestions.length; i++) {
        oDiv = document.createElement("div");
        oDiv.appendChild(document.createTextNode(aSuggestions[i]));
        this.layer.appendChild(oDiv);
    }
    
    this.layer.style.left = this.getLeft() + "px";
    this.layer.style.top = (this.getTop()+this.textbox.offsetHeight) + "px";
	this.layer.style.position = "absolute";
	[B]this.layer.style.z-index = 200;[/B]
    this.layer.style.visibility = "visible";

};

/**
 * Inserts a suggestion into the textbox, highlighting the 
 * suggested part of the text.
 * @scope private
 * @param sSuggestion The suggestion for the textbox.
 */
AutoSuggestControl.prototype.typeAhead = function (sSuggestion /*:String*/) {

    //check for support of typeahead functionality
    if (this.textbox.createTextRange || this.textbox.setSelectionRange){
        var iLen = this.textbox.value.length; 
        this.textbox.value = sSuggestion; 
        this.selectRange(iLen, sSuggestion.length);
    }
};

[JKing]

In javascript, having a variable/property with a '-' is illegal as it is interpreted as mathematical operation.

The proper syntax for the z-index property is as follows:

this.layer.style.zIndex = 200;

[Claus Mygind]

Well that solved the first problem. But my layer is still buried behind the first layer. How can I make my suggestions appear on top?

[Claus Mygind]

Well I solved the problem by removing the z-index in the .css file for the <div> that was covering the autosuggest response

 #fullWidth {
     position: absolute;
     white-space: nowrap; 
     left: 0%; 
     top: 25px;
     width: 99%;
     color: #333333;
     padding:5px;
     font-size: 10pt;
     overflow: hidden;
[B]     z-index: 98;[/B]
 }

Not sure why that should fix it as the z-index for the autosuggest was set to 200 and both had absolute positioning. but it worked.