# jQuery UI Selectable

## Overview

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

### Example

- Demo
- View Source

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/1.4/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>

## Options

- ### 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' );

## Events

- ### selected

  Type:
    selected

  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: `selected`.

        $( ".selector" ).bind( "selected", function(event, ui) {
          ...
        });

- ### selecting

  Type:
    selecting

  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: `selecting`.

        $( ".selector" ).bind( "selecting", 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:
    unselected

  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: `unselected`.

        $( ".selector" ).bind( "unselected", function(event, ui) {
          ...
        });

- ### unselecting

  Type:
    unselecting

  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: `unselecting`.

        $( ".selector" ).bind( "unselecting", function(event, ui) {
          ...
        });

## Methods

- ### 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.

## Theming

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

<ul class="ui-selectable">
<li class="ui-selectee"></li>
<li class="ui-selectee"></li>
<li class="ui-selectee"></li>
</ul>

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>.